Ethernet
The standard way to connect computers to a network with a cable.
Ethernet is the technology behind the network cable you plug into the back of a router, a desktop computer or a TV. It defines the cable, the connector, how fast bits travel through it and how devices on the same local network take turns sending data. Each device is identified by its MAC address, and data travels in small frames that carry the sender and the receiver.
It was created at Xerox PARC in the 1970s and became the IEEE 802.3 standard. The connector most people know is the rectangular one with a little plastic clip, called RJ45. Home equipment usually runs at 1 gigabit per second, and offices and data centers use much faster versions, many of them over fiber optic instead of copper.
Wi-Fi is more convenient, but a cable is still the safe bet when the connection really matters: it does not suffer interference from walls or neighbors, its latency is lower and steadier, and nobody can listen in from the street. That is why gamers, streamers and almost every server in a data center are plugged in with Ethernet.
Keep in mind
- Ethernet is the standard for wired local networks, defined as IEEE 802.3.
- Typical home cables and ports run at 1 Gbps; data centers use far faster links.
- A cable gives lower and more stable latency than Wi-Fi.
- The common connector is RJ45, the one with the plastic clip.
