[1] The name StarLAN was coined by the IEEE task force based on the fact that it used a star topology from a central hub in contrast to the bus network of the shared cable 10BASE5 and 10BASE2 networks that had been based on ALOHAnet.
A major design goal in StarLAN was reduction in Ethernet installation costs by the reuse of existing telephone on-premises wiring and compatibility with analog and digital telephone signals in the same cable bundle.
Reuse of existing wires was critical in many buildings where rewiring was cost prohibitive, where running new wire would disturb asbestos within the building infrastructure, and where the bus topology of coaxial bus Ethernet was not installable.
This arrangement prevented harm to private branch exchange (PBX) equipment in the event that a StarLAN cable was plugged into the wrong device.
Since 1BASE5 reused existing wiring, maximum link distance was only approximated at 250 m; depending on cable performance up to 500 m was possible.