Types of Ethernet Cable

In this tutorial, we are going to see the different types of Ethernet cable. Ethernet (also known as the IEEE 802.3 standard) is a data transmission standard for local area networks. It is based on packet switching and twisted-pair cables to connect several machines together.
 

 
There are various versions of Ethernet technologies based on the type and diameter of the cables used:

• 10Base2: The cable used is a thin coaxial cable of small diameter, called thin Ethernet,
• 10Base5: The cable used is a coaxial cable of large diameter, called thick Ethernet,
• 10Base-T: The cable used is a twisted pair (the T stands for twisted pair), the speed reached is about 10 Mbps,
• 100Base-FX: Allows to get a speed of 100Mbps by using a multimode optical fiber (F means Fiber).
• 100Base-TX: Like 10Base-T but with a speed 10 times higher (100Mbps),
• 1000Base-T: Uses a double twisted pair of category 5e and allows a speed of one Gigabit per second.
• 1000Base-SX: Based on a multimode optical fiber using a short wavelength signal (S stands for short) of 850 nanometers (770 to 860 nm).
• 1000Base-LX: Based on a multimode optical fiber using a high wavelength signal (L means long) of 1350 nm (1270 to 1355 nm).

 

 

Types of Ethernet Cable:

Acronym	Name	Cable	Connector	Debit	Scope
10Base2	Thin Ethernet	Coaxial cable (50 Ohms) of small diameter	BNC	10 Mb/s	185m
10Base5	Thick Ethernet	Coaxial cable of large diameter (0.4 inch)	BNC	10 Mb/s	500m
10Base-T	Standard Ethernet	Twisted pairs (category 3)	RJ-45	10 Mb/s	100m
100Base-TX	Fast Ethernet	Dual twisted pair (category 5)	RJ-45	100 Mb/s	100m
100Base-FX	Fast Ethernet	Multi-mode optical fiber type (62.5/125)		100 Mb/s	2 km
1000Base-T	Ethernet Gigabit	Dual twisted pair (category 5e)	RJ-45	1000 Mb/s	100m
1000Base-LX	Ethernet Gigabit	Single mode or multimode optical fiber		1000 Mb/s	550m
1000Base-SX	Ethernet Gigabit	Multimode optical fiber		1000 Mb/s	550m
10GBase-SR	Ethernet 10Gigabit	Multimode optical fiber		10 Gbit/s	500m
10GBase-LX4	Ethernet 10Gigabit	Multimode optical fiber		10 Gbit/s	500m

 

 

Transmission concept:

All computers in an Ethernet network are connected to the same transmission cable, and communication is done using a protocol called CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detect).

With this protocol, any machine is authorized to transmit on the cable at any time and without any notion of priority between the machines. This communication is done in a simple way:

• Each machine checks that there is no communication on the cable before transmitting
• If two machines transmit simultaneously, then there is a collision (i.e. various data frames are on the cable at the same time)
• The two machines interrupt their communication and wait for a random delay, then the first one having passed this delay can then retransmit

 

 
This principle is based on several constraints:

• The data packets must have a maximum size
• there must be a waiting time between two transmissions

The waiting time varies according to the frequency of collisions:

• After the first collision a machine waits one unit of time
• After the second collision the machine waits two units of time
• After the third collision the machine waits four units of time
• with of course a little random extra time

 
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