Ethernet Cabling
Several types of cabling are used for Ethernet:
10 Base 5, or Thicknet, uses a single
75-ohm coaxial cable
in a bus topography, connecting each device with a
"vampire tap" clamped over a hole drilled in the cable.
Segments may be up to 500 meters in length.
Not recommended for new installations.
10 Base 2, or Thinnet, uses a string of
RJ-58 coaxial cables in a bus topography,
with BNC T connectors attached to each device, and 52-ohm terminators
at each end. Maximum segment length is 200 meters.
10 Base T uses twisted pair wiring (preferably shielded)
in a star topography, with each segment
connecting a single device to a repeater, usually referred to as a hub.
Unlike other Ethernet cabling schemes, which specify physical cable types,
10-Base-T specifies requirements for various electrical properties
of the wiring. The only reliable way to meet these requirements is
by checking wiring with a cable tester,
an essential tool for large 10-Base-T installations.
10 Broad 36, the only broadband Ethernet design,
permits operation over closed-circuit cable
television systems, requiring three adjacent TV channels to
be allocated for a single Ethernet segment.
Fiber optic Ethernet segments have been developed by several
companies, though there is no fiber standard to my knowledge.
