Allied Telesis AT-GS900/8E - Manual (Page 18)

Chapter 1: Overview
18
Ports
The AT-GS900/8 and AT-GS900/8E switches feature eight twisted pair
ports.
The twisted pair ports feature 8-pin RJ-45 connectors. (For the port
pinouts, refer to “Connectors and Port Pinouts” on page 48.
The ports are 10Base-T, 100Base-TX, and 1000Base-T compliant and are
capable of 10 megabits per second (Mbps), 100 Mbps, and 1000 Mbps
speeds. The ports are IEEE 802.3u Auto-Negotiation compliant. With
Auto-Negotiation, the switch automatically matches the highest possible
common speed between each switch port and each end node. For
example, if an end node is capable of only 10 Mbps, the switch sets the
port connected to the end node to 10 Mbps.
Each twisted pair port on the switch can operate in either half- or full-
duplex mode. The twisted pair ports are IEEE 802.3u-compliant and will
Auto-Negotiate the duplex mode setting.
Note
In order for the switch to set the duplex mode for each port correctly,
the end nodes that you connect to the switch ports should also use
Auto-Negotiation. Otherwise, a duplex mode mismatch can occur,
affecting network performance. For further information, refer to
“Duplex Mode” on page 22.
Each twisted pair port has a maximum operating distance of 100 m
(328 feet).
For 10 Mbps operation, Category 3 or better 100 ohm shielded or
unshielded twisted pair cabling is required. For 100 or 1000 Mbps
operation, Category 5 and Enhanced Category 5 (5E) 100 ohm shielded
or unshielded twisted pair cabling is required.
The twisted pair ports are auto-MDI. They automatically configure
themselves as either MDI or MDI-X. This feature allows you to use either
straight-through or crossover twisted pair cables to connect devices to the
ports.