Turning Point Academy · Network Essentials

Ethernet and Cable Labels Reference

How to read any Ethernet standard name on sight.

Decode the label: `<rate><signaling><medium>`

1000BASE-T = 1000 Mb/s · BASEband (one signal owns the wire at a time — every Ethernet you'll meet is BASE) · T = twisted-pair copper. Medium suffixes: T/TX twisted pair, SR short-range fiber (multimode), LR long-range fiber (single-mode).

The ladder a beginner meets

Name	Rate	Medium	Distance
10BASE-T	10 Mb/s	UTP (Cat3+)	100 m
100BASE-TX	100 Mb/s	UTP Cat5	100 m
1000BASE-T	1 Gb/s	UTP Cat5e+	100 m
2.5G/5GBASE-T	2.5 / 5 Gb/s	Existing Cat5e/Cat6	100 m
10GBASE-T	10 Gb/s	Cat6a (Cat6 short runs)	100 m (Cat6: 37 m always, 55 m only if alien crosstalk is low)
10GBASE-SR	10 Gb/s	Multimode fiber	~300–400 m
10GBASE-LR	10 Gb/s	Single-mode fiber	10 km

25/40/100/400GBASE-… — one-line summary: families of fiber (and short direct-attach copper) variants for data centers and carrier backbones; the suffix still names the optics.
800G — standardized as 802.3df-2024; 1.6 Tb/s is in progress. The ladder keeps climbing.

Bandwidth vs throughput

Bandwidth = the pipe's rated capacity. Throughput = what actually got through.

Tp = Fs / Ts — throughput = file size ÷ transfer time. A 500 MB file that takes 80 s: 500 × 8 = 4,000 Mb ÷ 80 s = 50 Mb/s — even on a "1 Gb/s" link. Overheads, sharing and the slowest hop set the real number.

Which cable? (decision path)

Run ≤ 100 m, inside one building? → Copper. New install → Cat6/6a; existing Cat5e → fine for 1G, and 2.5/5GBASE-T-capable.
Device needs power over the same cable (AP, camera, phone)? → Copper + PoE.
Longer than 100 m, between buildings, or heavy EMI? → Fiber. In-building/short → multimode; kilometers → single-mode.
Can't cable it at all (mobile users, historic walls)? → Wi-Fi — then cable the access point.

Labels you will never install (history box)

10BASE5 ("thicknet") and 10BASE2 ("thinnet") — coax bus Ethernet; the last digit hinted at reach (500 m / ~200 m). Token Ring (802.5) — IBM's ring that lost the LAN war; withdrawn, like 802.9 and 802.10. Recognize the names in old documentation; never buy them.