Ethernet is a family of networking technologies defined by the IEEE 802.3 standard. It governs how devices communicate over wired local area networks (LANs), including electrical signaling, frame structure, media access control (MAC), and physical cabling types. Ethernet supports speeds ranging from 10 Mbps to 100 Gbps+, using copper twisted‑pair cables, fiber‑optic links, or legacy coaxial systems.
Key Characteristics:
- Uses baseband signaling (the entire channel is dedicated to Ethernet traffic).
- Uses MAC addressing for device identification.
- Supports star, extended star, and point‑to‑point topologies.
- Backward‑compatible across generations (10/100/1000/10G).
- Operates at OSI Layer 1 (Physical) and Layer 2 (Data Link).
Common Variants:
- 10BASE‑T — 10 Mbps over Cat3+
- 100BASE‑TX — 100 Mbps over Cat5+
- 1000BASE‑T — 1 Gbps over Cat5e+
- 10GBASE‑T — 10 Gbps over Cat6a+
- 100GBASE‑LR4 — 100 Gbps over SMF
Ethernet is the dominant LAN technology used in homes, businesses, data centers, and industrial networks.