Ethernet Media Standards and Distances

Reference chart for common ethernet media types. Most of the distances listed are average. Quality fiber and quality vendor optics can typically perform better. This chart is not an exclusive list, and is notably missing WAN PHY and special CWDM and DWDM optics now commonly available.

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
Standard Media distance notes
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

100Gbit
Optic 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

400Gbit
Optic Distance Media Technology Standard Transceiver type
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

Keywords:
distance multimode singlemode media fiber copper speed 
Doc ID:
7829
Owned by:
Michael H. in Network Services
Created:
2008-05-29
Updated:
2026-04-23
Sites:
Network Services