Ethernet isn’t just a single technology—it’s a family of standards that have grown to meet the world’s demand for faster, more reliable networks. In this episode, we explore how Ethernet has evolved from 10BASE-T to Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and beyond, reaching speeds of 40 and 100 Gigabits per second.

You’ll learn about the role of the IEEE 802.3 committee, the naming conventions behind standards like 1000BASE-SX or 10GBASE-T, and the practical differences between copper and fiber implementations. We’ll also break down connector types—RJ-45, SC, LC, and QSFP+—and the cabling requirements that support each standard.

By the end, you’ll understand how to decode Ethernet’s alphabet soup of standards and apply that knowledge to both the Network+ exam and real-world networking environments.