What is Fast Ethernet?
Fast Ethernet is a local area network (LAN) transmission standard, initiated in 1995 as IEEE 802.3u, and it also can be referred to as FE. Fast Ethernet is aiming to improving the speed of network and reducing the bit, and it has the speed of 100 Mbps.
It is designed for 100 Base-T networks and is also compatible with 10 Base-T networks, allowing users to benefit from faster Ethernet speeds without the need to completely upgrade their network systems.
Fast Ethernet devices can operate on unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables, such as category 5 and higher rated cables, so the transmission of the optical fiber can be longer. It also supports both full-duplex and half-duplex modes.
What is Gigabit Ethernet?
Gigabit Ethernet is another version of local area network (LAN) transmission standard, and it is also the latest one, initiated in 1999 as IEEE 802.3ab and in 2004 as IEEE 802.3ah. The standard IEEE 802.3ab defines the applicability of Gigabit Ethernet to 1000 Base-T networks and allows the use of existing UTP cabling.
Gigabit Ethernet supports the speed of 1000 Mbps, and this is ten times faster than Fast Ethernet. Gigabit Ethernet can meet increasingly complex network requirements, such as connecting multiple bandwidth-intensive devices and broadband Internet connections for video streaming.
Gigabit Ethernet devices can transmit data packets at a much faster rate than Fast Ethernet. Fast Ethernet switches can transmit data packets at a rate of 10 megabits per second. Gigabit Ethernet switches transmit data packets at a relatively high speed of one gigabit per second.
Difference between Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet
There are many different aspects to compare Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet, as shown in the following table:
| Aspects | Fast Ethernet | Gigabit Ethernet |
| Speed | 100 Mbit/s | 1000 Mbit/s |
| Coverage | Up to 10 km | Up to 70 km |
| Round Trip Delay | 100-500 bit times | 4000 bit times |
| Delay | More delay | Less Delay |
| Configuration | Simple and economical | Complicated and more errors |
| Price | Cost effective | More expensive |
Conclusion
All networks can support Fast Ethernet but Gigabit Ethernet has to be in specific networks. So if you don’t need your network speed faster than 100 Mbps, then you can choose Fast Ethernet. If you have a lot of users on the network, you can consider Gigabit Ethernet.
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