Ethernet Media Standards and Distances
10/100/1000 on Copper
| Standard | Media | distance | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10BASE-T | Cat-3 (2 pair) | 100m | |
| 100BASE-T | Cat-5 (2 pair) | 100m | |
| 1000BASE-T | Cat-5 (4 pair) | 100m | Cat-5e recommended |
100 Mbit Fiber
| Standard | Media | distance | wavelength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100BASE-FX | 62.5µm MMF | 2km | 1300nm |
Gigabit Fiber
| Standard | Media | distance | wavelength | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000BASE-SX | 62.5µm MMF | 220m | 850nm | |
| 1000BASE-SX | 50µm MMF | 500m | 850nm | |
| 1000BASE-LX | 62.5µm MMF | 550m | 1310nm | requires launch conditioning |
| 1000BASE-LX | 50µm MMF | 550m | 1310nm | requires launch conditioning |
| 1000BASE-LX/LH | SMF | 10km | 1310nm | typical distance |
| 1000BASE-ZX | SMF | 70km | 1550nm | not standardized |
10 Gigabit Fiber
| Standard | Media | distance | wavelength | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10GBASE-SR | 62.5µm MMF | 26m-82m | 850nm | |
| 10GBASE-LRM | 62.5µm MMF | 220m | 1310nm | |
| 10GBASE-LX4 | 62.5µm MMF | 300m | 1300nm CWDM | |
| 10GBASE-SR | 50µm OM3 | 300m | 850nm | |
| 10GBASE-LRM | 50µm OM3 | 260m | 1310nm | |
| 10GBASE-LX4 | 50µm OM3 | 300m | 1300nm CWDM | |
| 10GBASE-LR | SMF | 10km | 1310nm | known to do ~15km |
| 10GBASE-LRM | SMF | 300m | 1310nm..? | not standardized but certified
by some manufacturers such as Cisco |
| 10GBASE-LX4 | SMF | 10km | 1300nm CWDM | |
| 10GBASE-ER | SMF | 40km | 1550nm | |
| 10GBASE-ZR | SMF | 80-120km | 1550nm | not standardized, be careful about chromatic dispersion penalty |
10 Gigabit Copper
| Standard | Media | distance | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10GBASE-CX4 | Cat-5e | 15m | 802.3ap |
| 10GBASE-T | Cat-6 Unshielded | 55m | 802.3an |
| 10GBASE-T | Cat-6 Shielded | 100m | 802.3an |
| 10GBASE-T | Cat-6a | 100m | 802.3an |
| 10GBASE-T | Cat-7 | 100m | 802.3an |
| 10GBASE-TSR10 | ? | < 10m | Low power autonegotiation. Pre-standard |
| 10GBASE-TSR30 | ? | < 30m | Low power autonegotiation. Pre-standard |
| SFP+ Direct Attach | twin-ax | 1-10m |
40 Gigabit
| 40GBASE-CR4 | Cat-7? | 10m | 802.3ba |
| 40GBASE-SR4 | OM3 MMF | 100m | 850nm, 4 strands |
| 40GBASE-SR4 | OM4 MMF | 125m | 850nm, 4 strands |
| 40GBASE-LR4 | SMF | 10km | (4) 10G ~1310nm waves |
| 40GBASE-FR | SMF | 10km | (1) 40G 1550nm wave |
below information graciously provided by a colleague at ESNet on 2019/07/10
|
Distance |
Media |
Technology |
Standard |
Transceiver type |
|
|
100GBASE-LR4 |
10 km |
SMF |
4x25G
CWDM NRZ 4 wavelengths around
1300nm |
802.3ba |
QSFP28 CFP4 |
|
100GBASE-ER4 |
40 km |
SMF |
4x25G
CWDM NRZ 4 wavelengths around
1300nm |
802.3ba |
QSFP28 |
|
100GBASE-SR10 |
100 m
OM3 150 m OM4 |
MMF MPO |
10x10G
parallel NRZ 850 nm |
802.3ba |
CFP2 |
|
100GBASE-SR4 |
70 m
OM3 100 m OM4 |
8-pair
MMF MPO |
4x25G
parallel NRZ 850 nm |
802.3bm |
QSFP28 CFP4 |
|
100GBASE-SR2 |
100 m |
2-pair
Multimode |
2x50G
PAM-4 850nm |
802.3cd |
CFP2 |
|
100GBase-SWDM4 |
75m OM3
100m OM4 |
MMF |
4x25
WDM waves: 850, 880, 910, 940 nm |
QSFP28 |
|
|
100GBase-CWDM4 |
2km |
SMF |
4 x 25 1310 nm λs FEC is mandatory |
QSFP28 |
|
|
100GBase-CLR4 |
2km |
SMF |
4 x 25 1310 nm λs Compatibility with CWDM4, except FEC is optional |
QSFP28 |
|
|
100GBase-PSM4 |
500m |
2-pair
SMF |
QSFP28 |
||
|
100GBASE-DR2 |
500m |
Parallel
SMF (MPO12) |
802.3cd |
||
|
100GBASE-DF2 |
500m |
SMF |
2 x 50 |
802.3cd |
|
400GBASE-LR8 |
10 km |
SMF |
8x50G
CWDM PAM4 8 wavelengths around
1300nm |
802.3bs |
QSFP-DD CFP8 |
|
400GBASE-FR8 |
2 km |
SMF |
8x50G
CWDM PAM4 8 wavelengths around
1300nm |
802.3bs |
QSFP-DD CFP8 |
|
400GBASE-DR4 |
500 m |
4-pair
SMF |
4x100G
parallel PAM4 1300nm |
802.3bs |
CFP8 |
|
400GBASE-SR16 |
100 m
OM4/OM5 |
16-pair
MMF MPO |
16x25G
parallel NRZ 850nm |
802.3bs |
|
|
400GBASE-DCO Q1-2020 |
100km |
2-pair |
tbd |
OSFP |
|
|
400GBASE-SR8 |
100m |
8-pair MMF |
8x50G parallel NRA or PAM-4 (projected to replace -SR16) |
tbd |
QSFP-DD |