What is unguided transmission media? What are the drawbacks of this?

Unguided transmission media: Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor. This types of communication is often referred to as wireless communication. Signals are normally broadcast through free space and thus are available to anyone who has a device capable of receiving them.

There are three types of unguided media which are commonly used. They are-

(i) Radio wave

(ii) Micro wave

(iii) Infrared

The drawback of unguided transmission media:

(i) It is very costly.

(ii) Radio waves travel through lowest portion of atmosphere.

(iii) Radio wave communication is an insecure communication.

(iv) Radio wave propagation is susceptible to weather effects like rain, thunder and storm etc.

(v) The cost of design, implementation and maintenance of microwave links is high.

(vi) Bandwidth allocation is extremely limited in case of microwave.

(vii) Over-crowding of available bandwidths sue to low gain antennae.