Computers and routers are required for any computer online grid.
They generate and propagate web link traffic, respectively.
However, none of that is possible without some form of communication medium.
Wi-Fi is the dominant standard in the wireless space, at least for home and enterprise networking.
Wireless networking can be very convenient for use with devices that need to be able to move while connected.
This isnt the case for all devices, though.
Desktop computers are rarely moved, and even then, they are not used while being moved.
While they can be networked via Wi-Fi, there is a better option.
Wireless networking has to deal with signal degradation due to obstructions such as walls.
A wired online grid doesnt necessarily have to deal with these issues.
The only downside is that connected devices must be physically cabled into the web connection.
The dominant standard for wired networks is called Ethernet.
It is used in home networks, enterprise networks, supercomputer systems, and automotive devices.
Ethernet standards are currently available for web link speeds of up to 40Gb/s.
Note:web link speeds are typically listed in units of megabits per second or gigabits per second.
This is distinct from megabytes and gigabytes.
Units using bytes are always denoted with a capital B.
Bits, the smaller unit, use a lowercase b.
Contents
Origins
Ethernet was first developed in the mid-1970s at Xerox PARC.
The original design had a bandwidth of 2.94Mb/s.
This was then upgraded to 10Mb/s, the speed at which Ethernet was first commercialized in 1980.
IEEE also standardized it as 802.3 in 1983.
The early 10BASE5 standard used thick coaxial cable, which was relatively expensive.
10BASE2 was standardized in 1985 using thinner, cheaper coaxial cabling to reduce implementation costs.
Tip:The XBASE-X notation is somewhat clumsy but has some logic.
The first number indicates the class of data pipe speed.
For example, 10BASE5 has a 10Mb/s class web link speed.
The second X is slightly more loosely used but generally notates the cable throw in.
The 10BASE2 cable is narrower than the 10BASE5 cable.
100BASET uses a twisted pair cable rather than coaxial.
In 1987 the 1BASE5 standard offered the first version of Ethernet to use twisted pair cabling.
While a commercial failure, this standard set the basis for future developments.
In 1990 10BASE-T was standardized.
It was trendy thanks to its speed and support for existing cable infrastructure.
The coaxial cable standards were essentially one shared cable.
This meant that all hosts shared the bandwidth and that one issue could affect the whole online grid.
Signal collisions in the online grid meant that the colliding frames needed to be retransmitted.
The collision domain was shortened from the entire internet to each link.
Twisted pair cabling is still used for electrical ethernet cables, though standards exist for fibreoptic connections too.
Other Standards
Ethernet is a broad conglomeration of standards required to make the whole thing work.
The types of cables are standardized, physical connectors, signaling methods, collision handling, and addressing.
For example, cables are standardized into categories based on bandwidth for the length of the cable.
The exact specifics, such as shielding and materials, are left up to the manufacturer.
Physical connectors are well standardized, with the 8P8C connector being the near-universal ethernet connector.
Some variants are offered, including one for use in harsh environments and one designed for fiber optic connections.
The 8P8C connector has eight pins, of which speeds at and below 100BASETX only use 4.
Ethernet uses 48-bit MAC addresses to route web connection traffic.
Tip:Thats 2.5Gb/s, 100Mb/s and 1000Mb/s respectively.
40GBASE-T is the current fastest ethernet standard with speeds of 40Gb/s.
Additionally, 40GBASE-T requires a Cat8 cable to provide sufficient bandwidth.
Conclusion
Ethernet is a collection of standards mostly directly recognizable by the ethernet cable.
The standards not only define how to physically connect devices over a connection but also how to transfer data.
Ethernet is the dominant wired networking standard.
