If your computer came with the 10/100Base-T Ethernet option, a 10/100Base-T Ethernet card is installed in one of your computer's PCI slots. You can connect a cable for a 10/100Base-T Ethernet network to this card.
Note: The type of twisted-pair cable you use depends on whether you connect to 10Base-T or 100Base-T Ethernet. Category 5 twisted-pair cable must be used to connect to 100Base-T if you want to get the maximum speed from this connection.
Checking the Status of a 10/100Base-T Network Connection
If you connect your computer to a network using the 10/100 Fast Ethernet card, you can check the card's LED indicators to monitor network activity. There are four indicators:
| ACT (Activity) | Blinks when the 10/100 Fast Ethernet card is active. |
| COL (Collision) | Glows when a network collision has occurred (a temporary condition that occurs when two computers on a network try to send date simultaneously). |
| LNK (Link) | Glows when a reliable 10 megabit (Mbit) or 100 Mbit network connection has been established. |
| 100Mb | Glows when a reliable 100 Mbit link is established |
10/100Base-T Ethernet Card Specifications
| Open Transport | Mac OS 7.5.2 or later, AppleShare, AppleTalk, NetWare for Macintosh, TCP/IP |
| Connector | RJ-45 (for 10Base-T and 100Base-T) |
| Media,10Base-T | Cat 3, 4, or 5 UTP on 2 pairs up to 100 meters (m) |
| Media, 100Base-T | Cat 5 UTP on 2 pairs up to 100m |
| Bus interface | PCI revision 2.0 and 2.1, share interrupt A |
| Channel speeds | IEEE Auto Negotiation of 10Base-T and 100Base-TX |
| Communications | IEEE 802.3u 100Base-TX; IEEE 802.3i 10Base-T |
| Controllers | DECchip 21140, 32-bit internal processor per channel |
| Power | 1.2 amperes (A) @ 5V typical |