I'm not sure what that means. Network interfaces (NICs or
mobo chips) are protocol-specific. Surely we are actually
talking about ethernet here. I can't imagine token ring,
for instance. You can't just interchange anything with
anything, you know.
correct, token ring, arcnet, pc net, fddi, and ATM are all layer 2 network protocols that have nothing to do with ethernet. The words ethernet and network are hardly interchangeable.
BTW, terms: 10baseT is 10mb unshielded twisted pair (the 10
is mbits, the T is twisted pair). 10base2 is thin coax (10
mbits, two-conductor coax. These use BNC connectors). 5base2
is thick net coax, which is still 10mb but can have a much
longer run than thin coax. I guess I don't know where the
5 comes from. It uses 15-pin sockets. 10baseT uses RJ45,
as does 100baseT and 100baseTx. 10 baseT can run over
category 3 or higher UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cable. 100baseT
and 100baseTX require category 5 or higher UTP. This distinction
used to be important, but now if you got to the store
and buy anything less than cat 5, you're getting obsolete
stuff and you should tell your supplier to, well, stuff it.
FYI...
10Base5 - 10Mbps, Base Band, 500Meters/Segment without repeater Thick Coax, Uses F Connectors and Vampire Taps.
10Base2 - 10Mbps, Base Band, 200 Meters/Segment without repeater. Thin Coax uses BNC Connectors.
10Base-T - 10Mbps, Base Band, Twisted Pair generally less than 100 Meters max to hub or repeater. Uses RJ-45 or IBM Cabling System Type 1 connectors.
Cat5 is a definetly the standard now. Certain Phy's that conform to the IEEE 802.3 Spec for 100M Ethernet CAN run over Cat3. (little known, but its in the spec).
BTW: Never buy Ethernet Twisted Pair cables without the boots on the RJ-45's. Well worth the extra buck.
Sean |
