Hardware
Ethernet hardware currently falls general into three big categories: 10Mbps Ethernet, 100Mbps Fast Ethernet, and 1000Mbps gigabit Ethernet.
NOTE
There are the legacy "thick" and "thin" coaxial 10Mbps Ethernet standards, but almost no one uses them anymore except to impress people with how antiquated stuff really was in the 1980s. There are even more esoteric forms, such as 10Broad36 10Mbps Ethernet over broadband cable and 802.3e 1Mbps Ethernet. Although you're not likely to run across 10Base5 outside of a museum or the ceiling of a really old building, you still might find active installations of 10Base2. Because it is so difficult to maintain in today's dynamic environments and doesn't support speeds greater than 10 Mbps, usually the most cost-effective thing to do is rip it out like a dandelion.
The most obvious difference among the three is the speed. All three Ethernet groups have specifications for transmitting over unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable, single-mode fiber (SMF), multimode fiber (MMF), and half- and full-duplex operating modes.
Table 1 Matrix of Ethernet Standards and Cabling Mediums
Common Name |
Standard |
Speed |
Cabling Medium |
10Base5 |
802.3 |
10Mbps |
50-ohm 10mm coaxial |
10Base2 |
802.3a |
10Mbps |
50-ohm 5mm coaxial RG58 |
10BaseT |
802.3i |
10Mbps |
100-ohm Cat 3 UTP, two-pair |
10BaseFL/10BaseFB |
802.3j |
10Mbps |
850nm light over multimode fiber (62.5/125 micron) |
100BaseTX |
802.3u |
100Mbps |
100-ohm Cat 5 UTP, two-pair |
100BaseFX |
802.3u |
100Mbps |
1300nm light over multimode fiber (62.5/125 micron) |
100BaseT4 |
802.3u |
100 Mbps |
100-ohm Cat 3 UTP, four-pair |
100BaseT2 |
802.3y |
100 Mbps |
100-ohm Cat 3 UTP, two-pair |
1000BaseSX |
802.3z |
1Gbps |
850nm light over 62.5/125 multimode fiber |
1000BaseLX |
802.3z |
1Gbps |
1300nm light over 62.5/125 multimode fiber, or 10-micron single-mode fiber. |
1000BaseCX |
802.3z |
1Gbps |
Short-haul copper |
1000BaseT |
802.3ab |
1Gbps |
100-ohm Cat 5/Cat 5e UTP, four-pair |