10BASE5

10BASE5 was superseded by much cheaper and more convenient alternatives: first by 10BASE2 based on a thinner coaxial cable (1985), and then, once Ethernet over twisted pair was developed, by 10BASE-T (1990) and its successors 100BASE-TX and 1000BASE-T.

The BASE is short for baseband signaling (as opposed to broadband[a]), and the 5 stands for the maximum segment length of 500 meters (1,600 ft).

This is a stiff, 0.375-inch (9.5 mm) diameter cable with an impedance of 50 ohms, a solid center conductor, a foam insulating filler, a shielding braid, and an outer jacket.

This distance was chosen to not correspond to the signal's wavelength; this ensures that the reflections from multiple taps are not in phase.

Typically this resistor is built into a male N connector and attached to the cable's end just past the last device.

With termination missing, or if there is a break in the cable, the signal on the bus will be reflected, rather than dissipated when it reaches the end.