IEEE 802.3 Physical-Layer Specifications

If you are a Network Engineer or doing Cisco Certification Course you need to be aware of different Ethernet Cabling Standard used in Networking. This Ethernet Cabling Standards are known as IEEE Ethernet 802.3 Standards.

Original IEEE Ethernet 802.3 Standards consist of 10Base2, 10Base5, 10BaseT. Later list is expanded to include various technologies like Fast Ethernet(IEEE 802.3u), Gigabit Ethernet(IEEE 802.3ab), 10Gbps Ethernet(IEEE 802.3ae) over Fiber and Coax. Thus expanded  IEEE 802.3 Standards include 100BaseTX, 100BaseFX, 1000BaseCX, 1000BaseT, 1000BaseSX, 1000BaseLX, etc

Original IEEE Ethernet 802.3 Standards:

10Base2: 

10Mbps, baseband technology, up to 185 meters in length. Known as thinnet and can support up to 30 workstations on a single segment. Uses a physical and logical bus with AUI connectors. The 10 means 10Mbps, Base means baseband technology (which is a signaling method for communication on the network), and the 2 means almost 200 meters. 10Base2 Ethernet cards use BNC (British Naval Connect, Bayonet Neill Concelman, or Bayonet Nut Connector) and T-connectors to connect to a network.

10Base5:

10Mbps, baseband technology, up to 500 meters in length. Known as thicknet. Uses a physical and logical bus with AUI connectors. Up to 2,500 meters with repeaters and 1,024 users for all segments.

10BaseT:

10Mbps using category 3 UTP wiring. Unlike with the 10Base2 and 10Base5 networks, each device must connect into a hub or switch, and you can have only one host per segment or wire. Uses an RJ45 connector (8-pin modular connector) with a physical star topology and a logical bus.

100BaseTX(IEEE 802.3u)

EIA/TIA category 5, 6, or 7 UTP two-pair wiring. One user per segment; up to 100 meters long. It uses an RJ45 connector with a physical star topology and a logical bus.

100BaseFX (IEEE 802.3u)

Uses fiber cabling 62.5/125-micron multimode fiber. Point-to-point topology; up to 412 meters long. It uses an ST or SC connector, which are media-interface connectors.

1000BaseCX (IEEE 802.3z)

Copper twisted-pair called twinax (a balanced coaxial pair) that can only run up to 25 meters.

1000BaseT (IEEE 802.3ab)

Category 5, four-pair UTP wiring up to 100 meters long.

1000BaseSX (IEEE 802.3z)

MMF using 62.5- and 50-micron core; uses an 850 nano-meter laser and can go up to 220 meters with 62.5-micron, 550 meters with 50-micron.

1000BaseLX (IEEE 802.3z)

Single-mode fiber that uses a 9-micron core and 1300 nano-meter laser and can go from 3 kilometers up to 10 kilometers.