Ethernet Media Standards and Distances
Reference chart for common ethernet media types. Most of the distances listed are average. Quality fiber and quality vendor optics can typically perform better. This chart is not an exclusive list, and is notably missing WAN PHY and special CWDM and DWDM optics now commonly available.
10/100/1000 on Copper
| Standard | Media | distance | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10BASE-T | Cat-3 (2 pair) | 100m | |
| 100BASE-T | Cat-5 (2 pair) | 100m | |
| 1000BASE-T | Cat-5 (4 pair) | 100m | Cat-5e recommended |
100 Mbit Fiber
| Standard | Media | distance | wavelength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100BASE-FX | 62.5µm MMF | 2km | 1300nm |
Gigabit Fiber
| Standard | Media | distance | wavelength | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000BASE-SX | 62.5µm MMF | 220m | 850nm | |
| 1000BASE-SX | 50µm MMF | 500m | 850nm | |
| 1000BASE-LX | 62.5µm MMF | 550m | 1310nm | requires launch conditioning |
| 1000BASE-LX | 50µm MMF | 550m | 1310nm | requires launch conditioning |
| 1000BASE-LX/LH | SMF | 10km | 1310nm | typical distance |
| 1000BASE-ZX | SMF | 70km | 1550nm | not standardized |
10 Gigabit Fiber
| Standard | Media | distance | wavelength | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10GBASE-SR | 62.5µm MMF | 26m-82m | 850nm | |
| 10GBASE-LRM | 62.5µm MMF | 220m | 1310nm | |
| 10GBASE-LX4 | 62.5µm MMF | 300m | 1300nm CWDM | |
| 10GBASE-SR | 50µm OM3 | 300m | 850nm | |
| 10GBASE-LRM | 50µm OM3 | 260m | 1310nm | |
| 10GBASE-LX4 | 50µm OM3 | 300m | 1300nm CWDM | |
| 10GBASE-LR | SMF | 10km | 1310nm | known to do ~15km |
| 10GBASE-LRM | SMF | 300m | 1310nm..? | not standardized but certified
by some manufacturers such as Cisco |
| 10GBASE-LX4 | SMF | 10km | 1300nm CWDM | |
| 10GBASE-ER | SMF | 40km | 1550nm | |
| 10GBASE-ZR | SMF | 80-120km | 1550nm | not standardized, be careful about chromatic dispersion penalty |
10 Gigabit Copper
| Standard | Media | distance | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10GBASE-CX4 | Cat-5e | 15m | 802.3ap |
| 10GBASE-T | Cat-6 Unshielded | 55m | 802.3an |
| 10GBASE-T | Cat-6 Shielded | 100m | 802.3an |
| 10GBASE-T | Cat-6a | 100m | 802.3an |
| 10GBASE-T | Cat-7 | 100m | 802.3an |
| 10GBASE-TSR10 | ? | < 10m | Low power autonegotiation. Pre-standard |
| 10GBASE-TSR30 | ? | < 30m | Low power autonegotiation. Pre-standard |
| SFP+ Direct Attach | twin-ax | 1-10m |
40 Gigabit
| 40GBASE-CR4 | Cat-7? | 10m | 802.3ba |
| 40GBASE-SR4 | OM3 MMF | 100m | 850nm, 4 strands |
| 40GBASE-SR4 | OM4 MMF | 125m | 850nm, 4 strands |
| 40GBASE-LR4 | SMF | 10km | (4) 10G ~1310nm waves |
| 40GBASE-FR | SMF | 10km | (1) 40G 1550nm wave |
below information graciously provided by a colleague at ESNet on 2019/07/10
|
Distance |
Media |
Technology |
Standard |
Transceiver type |
|
|
100GBASE-LR4 |
10 km |
SMF |
4x25G
CWDM NRZ 4 wavelengths around
1300nm |
802.3ba |
QSFP28 CFP4 |
|
100GBASE-ER4 |
40 km |
SMF |
4x25G
CWDM NRZ 4 wavelengths around
1300nm |
802.3ba |
QSFP28 |
|
100GBASE-SR10 |
100 m
OM3 150 m OM4 |
MMF MPO |
10x10G
parallel NRZ 850 nm |
802.3ba |
CFP2 |
|
100GBASE-SR4 |
70 m
OM3 100 m OM4 |
8-pair
MMF MPO |
4x25G
parallel NRZ 850 nm |
802.3bm |
QSFP28 CFP4 |
|
100GBASE-SR2 |
100 m |
2-pair
Multimode |
2x50G
PAM-4 850nm |
802.3cd |
CFP2 |
|
100GBase-SWDM4 |
75m OM3
100m OM4 |
MMF |
4x25
WDM waves: 850, 880, 910, 940 nm |
QSFP28 |
|
|
100GBase-CWDM4 |
2km |
SMF |
4 x 25 1310 nm λs FEC is mandatory |
QSFP28 |
|
|
100GBase-CLR4 |
2km |
SMF |
4 x 25 1310 nm λs Compatibility with CWDM4, except FEC is optional |
QSFP28 |
|
|
100GBase-PSM4 |
500m |
2-pair
SMF |
QSFP28 |
||
|
100GBASE-DR2 |
500m |
Parallel
SMF (MPO12) |
802.3cd |
||
|
100GBASE-DF2 |
500m |
SMF |
2 x 50 |
802.3cd |
|
400GBASE-LR8 |
10 km |
SMF |
8x50G
CWDM PAM4 8 wavelengths around
1300nm |
802.3bs |
QSFP-DD CFP8 |
|
400GBASE-FR8 |
2 km |
SMF |
8x50G
CWDM PAM4 8 wavelengths around
1300nm |
802.3bs |
QSFP-DD CFP8 |
|
400GBASE-DR4 |
500 m |
4-pair
SMF |
4x100G
parallel PAM4 1300nm |
802.3bs |
CFP8 |
|
400GBASE-SR16 |
100 m
OM4/OM5 |
16-pair
MMF MPO |
16x25G
parallel NRZ 850nm |
802.3bs |
|
|
400GBASE-DCO Q1-2020 |
100km |
2-pair |
tbd |
OSFP |
|
|
400GBASE-SR8 |
100m |
8-pair MMF |
8x50G parallel NRA or PAM-4 (projected to replace -SR16) |
tbd |
QSFP-DD |