DFE-650 Series Fast Ethernet PC Card User's Guide
2
Introduction
the media coupler. The DFE-650 requires no pre-installation setup
––
simply insert its front end into the notebook PC's PC-Card slot.
The DFE-650 is supplied with a media coupler which plugs into the
back end (15-pin receptacle) of the DFE-650. The other end of the
media coupler has an RJ-45 receptacle which receives the network
cable. The media coupler features LED indications for linkage and
activity states, and for the speed and duplex settings.
About Fast Ethernet
Fast Ethernet is a network technology specified by IEEE Standard
802.3u. It extends the traditional 10Mbps (10 megabit/sec)
Ethernet technology to achieve 100Mbps (100 megabit/sec)
transmission and reception. Because Fast Ethernet retains the
traditional Ethernet CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense, Multiple Access,
Collision Detect) protocol, it remains wholly compatible with
10Mbps Ethernet while providing a tenfold increase in network
capacity.
The Fast Ethernet standard specifies three subtypes, corresponding
to three media types:
100Base-TX (using two twisted pairs in EIA 568 Category 5
UTP or STP cable)
100Base-T4 (using four twisted pairs in a Category 3,
Category 4, or Category 5 UTP cable)
100Base-FX (using two fiber-optic strands).
D-Link DFE-650 Series Fast Ethernet PC Cards offer half-duplex
100Base-TX operation (in Category 5 twisted-pair cable
environments). These products do not support 100Base-T4 or
100Base-FX operation. To provide for traditional 10Mbps Ethernet
operation in twisted-pair cable environments, the DFE-650 series
