1.8 Describe the characteristics and purpose of the media used in IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 802.5 standards.
802.3 is an IEEE standard for a CSMA/CD LAN access method, which is widely implemented in Ethernet. Ethernet is normally a shared media LAN. All the computers on the same segment share the total bandwidth, which can be 10Mbps (Ethernet), 100Mbps (Fast Ethernet) or 1Gbps (Gigabit Ethernet). However a switched Ethernet can provide the full bandwidth between the sender and the receiver.
10Base5 is also called Standard Ethernet or ThickNet. Here '10' means 10Mbps transmission rate and '5' means that it has a limitation of 500 meters (1640 feet) per segment without using the repeater. 10Base5 uses a thick coaxial cable (Figure 1.15) as the communication media.
Figure 1.15 Coax cable
Figure 1.16 10Base5 network
Figure 1.16 shows a typical 10Base5 network. First, you need to install two terminators (50-ohm resistance) at the each end of the coaxial cable. To connect a computer or network device to the coaxial cable o the network, you need to follow this procedure:
ThickNet also has a 10Mbps-speed limitation, however, because ThickNet supports a longer distance than 10BaseT and 10Base2, it is sometimes used as the backbone to connect several smaller thinnet-based networks.
10Base2 is also called ThinNet or CheapterNet. It uses a thinner and less-expensive coaxial cable for the connection. 10Base2 has a limitation of 185 (rounded to 200 as represented by "2" in 10Base2, while 10 still means 10Mbps speed limitation) or 607 feet per segment. Figure 1.17 shows how to build a 10Base2 network.
Figure 1.17 10Base5 network
You need two terminators with 50-ohm resistance at the each end of the coaxial cable. A T-connector (Figure 1.18) is used to connect the NIC to the coaxial cable. Sometime, the coaxial cable in 10Base2 network is also referred to as a BNC cable and the T-connector is called BNC T-connector.
Figure 1.18 T connector
Figure 1.19 Twist pair
Figure 1.20 RJ-45
100BaseT is also called Fast Ethernet, which is similar with the 10BaseT. It uses UTP and RJ-45 connector but only category 5 cable that can support 100Mbps maximum speed for the communication. Same as 10BaseT, 100BaseT also uses CSMA/CD as the transmission mechanism.
If you want to upgrade to a 100BaseT network from a 10BaseT network using Category 5 cables, you need to change both the NIC and hub to 100BaseT products. If you use category 3 cables before, the cables also need to be replaced.
100VG-AnyLAN is a 100Mbps Ethernet (IEEE 802.12 standard) developed by HP that supports Token Ring as well as 10BaseT networks. It employs the Demand Priority access method rather than CSMA/CD. Demand Priority is suited to videoconferencing, because it allows real-time voice and video packets to be given a higher priority than data. Because it is not compatible with CSMA/CD, it doesnt do well on the market nowadays.
Some people may confuse with the internal signaling of 10BaseT, 100BaseT and 100VG-AnyLAN. Because 10BaseT and 100BaseT still use CSMA/CD, although they have star topologies, they are still using bus signaling. In fact, most hubs function as a repeater to extend the network length. 100VG-AnyLAN uses demand priority with star topology, it doesnt use bus signaling at all.
10BaseF is referred to as Fiber Optic Ethernet, which still works on 10Mbps transmission speed while extends the Ethernet segment up to 1.2 miles. Because it uses fiber optic to transmit the data, it is well recommended in a noisy environment or a secure network preventing eavesdropping.
802.5 is an IEEE standard for a token ring LAN access method, which is widely implemented in Token Ring network. It connects up to 255 computers at 4 or 16Mbps transmission speed.
There are two kinds of Token Ring networks. Type 1 allows up to 255 stations per network and uses shielded twisted pair wires with IBM style Type 1 connectors. Type 3 allows up to 72 devices per network and uses unshielded twisted pair such as category 3, category 4 (16Mbps) or category 5 with RJ-45 connectors.
In a Token ring network, MAU (Multistation Access Unit) is used as a Hub in a 10BaseT network. Token ring uses token passing as the media access method. It is a data link layer (MAC layer) protocol and works at physical and data link layer of the OSI Model.
External transceiver can change the connection type of a network card and you don't need any other reconfiguration on the network adapter because the transceiver will do all works. Most NICs can be software jumped, which means that you can change the propriety of the connection type by changing the adapter setting in Network applet of the control panel. Some obsolete NICs require you change the jumps on the network card to change the connection type. But for FTQ 1.8.9, your network adapter doesn't have RJ-45 interface at all, which means change the jumps on the NIC will not work.