Specifications

Combining thin/thick ethernet cable in networks CP143 H1 / TCP/IP manual
3-14 Rev. 00/07
3.4 Combining thin/thick ethernet cable in networks
It is possible to combine thin-ethernet and thick-ethernet cabling in a single network.. The lower
price of the thin-ethernet cable may provide a more cost-effective solution than a system that is
purely based on thick-ethernet cable.
When thick-ethernet cable is used to link repeaters the distance may be substantially larger than if
the link was provided by a thin-ethernet cable.
You may use one of the two methods below to establish a network that combines thick and thin-
ethernet cable:
• Connecting the thin-ethernet cable segment to a network based on thick-ethernet cable via
a repeater. It is possible to combine a maximum of five unlike network segments (using
four repeaters) in this manner.
• It is also possible to use thin and thick-ethernet cables within the same network segment.
The structure of such a network is described below under the heading “Combination
thin/thick ethernet cable hardware".
3.4.1 Combination of thin/thick ethernet cable hardware
Networks that use a combination of thin and thick ethernet cable employ the network hardware as
the individual thin-ethernet and the thick-ethernet networks would if they are not combined. It is
however necessary to include adapters that provide the interconnection between the different types
of cable. Fig. 3-6 shows two such adapters.
• N-type jack to BNC-jack
• N-type plug to BNC-plug
Thick Ethernet jack
on
BNC jack
Thick Ethernet plug
on
BNC plug
Fig. 3-6:Adapters for linking unlike segments