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Glossary 10BASE-T
Unshielded, twisted pair cable with an RJ-45 connector, used with Ethernet LAN.
“10” indicates the speed (10 Mbps), “Base” refers to baseband technology, and “T”
means twisted pair cable.
Cable TV Coax
Cable that allows wide bandwidth transmission over long distances. Coaxial cable
(coax) comprises an inner conductor surrounded by insulation. An outer conductor
wraps around the insulation, which, in turn, is covered by an outer plastic covering.
Ethernet card
A plug-in circuit board installed in an expansion slot of a personal computer. The
Ethernet card (sometimes called a Network Interface Card, or NIC) takes parallel
data from the computer, converts it to serial data, puts it into a packet format, and
sends it over the 10BASE-T LAN cable.
F connector
A type of coaxial connector, labeled RF on the rear of the Toshiba Cable Modem,
that connects the modem to the cable system.
Head-end
The equipment, in the central office of the service provider, where the cable
signals originate.
Hybrid Fiber/ Coaxial (HFC) system
A system where the trunk of the cable plant is of fiber technology. Somewhere
near the subscriber’s home, the fiber is connected to a coaxial cable, and the
signal is converted so that it’s compatible with the fiber media. The coaxial cable
then runs through the branches of the network and is finally dropped into the
home.
HUB
A device used to connect multiple computers to the cable modem.
Internet
A collection of interconnected networks used for worldwide computer-based
communications.