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Note: most of the rules for 10BaseT are also valid for
Twisted Pair Ethernet (10baseT),
sometime also called "UTP" from "", is based on using a cable similar to phone-wiring. The cable is connected via an
connectors to the network card installed in the PC.
If you have a Combo / Multi-Connector network Board, check whether you need to configure the
RJ45 plug (it is not always done automatically ! ).
These Twisted Pair cables connect now each PC to the "hub":
which is amplifying and distributing the signal to other connected systems.
Hubs are available in different configuration, with 4, 8, 12, 15 or 24 RJ-45 connections (and most models
offer also a BNC-connector for connection of a 10base2 Thin Ethernet cable).
You can plug in the RJ45-connector into a
hub while the network is running on the other connected systems, allowing to move / add systems without having to shutdown
the network (see : Twisted Pair versus Coax: Reliability / Advantages )
When the network grows, you may need a second
hub:
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Warning: there are different cable to connect the hubs !
If the hub
has only regular connectors, the cable MUST be a cross-cable !
However, some hubs offer special connectors for use
of 'Standard' cables
to connect between hubs (that depends on the hub, check the hub's manual)
or a switch, able to
select : 'workstation' or ' hub' connection.
Have a look at the back of your hub:
Usually the ports are numbered, and the highest port has a switch labeled"
"Uplink" or something like "MDI/X" in the
picture above, allowing you
to configure the port for connection to another hub using a regular cable.
Note: if you
use a regular cable to connect 2 hubs, ONLY one hub must
configure the port for this purpose, on the other hub you MUST
connect
the cable to a regular port :
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For even larger networks, more hubs are required:
Again, watch out for the type of cable required to connect the hubs.
Often , you find a combination
of Twisted-Pair and Thin Ethernet (10base2) cabling:
A Thin-Ethernet cable is used to connect the hubs, such a cable is then often called "the backbone", because it carries
all the traffic to/from the server.
Warning: the Thin Ethernet (10base2) backbone MUST follow the 10base2 specifications
(length, terminators,...).
Warning: a network cannot grow unlimited in the number of hubs and repeaters
(see: Large
Networks: 5-4-3 Rule) and on very large network configurations, it may be required to install Switches to optimize the network
utilisation.
When connecting just 2 PC's together, there is a possibility to do it without a hub:
BUT: it is now a different type of cable: it is a "crossed" 10baseT cable !
Using
a 'regular' cable (which is supposed to be used for connection to a hub) is a common
cause of error, such a 'regular' or
'straight' 10baseT cable does NOT work in such a configuration
without a hub.
I strongly suggest to purchase a cable,
but if you think you can make it properly, here is the layout
of such a crossed 10baseT-cable (i.e 10 MHz,
this cable is NOT for 100baseT/100Mhz, for that look at Twisted Pair Ethernet (100baseTX/100BaseT4) )
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