Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Wired Ethernet
With tens of millions of computers connected by Ethernet cards and cables, Ethernet is
the most widely used data-link layer protocol in the world. You can buy Ethernet adapters
from dozens of competing manufacturers, and most systems sold in the past decade in-
corporate one or more built-in Ethernet ports. Older adapters supported one, two, or all
threeofthecabletypesdefinedinthestandard:Thinnet,Thicknet,andunshieldedtwisted
pair (UTP). Current adapters support only UTP. Traditional Ethernet operates at a speed
of 10Mbps, but the more recent standards push this speed to 100Mbps (Fast Ethernet) or
