said by Kearnstd:(In 1992 I bet that fiber would replace Cat5)
I could see it gaining ground in a few limited spaces. video and graphics editing where huge huge files need to be moved.
But I cannot see the average cube monkey needing more than copper based links. FTTD(fiber to the department) I am sure is getting common though. so if each floor is broken up into sections the network closets have a fiber link but its ethernet to the desktops.
In 1992, all copper is 10 meg half duplex, shared. I will have as many as 144 users on one hub. To get as much as 100 meg, (still shared) I need fiber.
10 meg switching is $10,500 in 1994 for 8 ports
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www.networkcomputing.com ··· s_5.htmlIt will be 1996, before I can get 100 meg copper, I start getting $9000 16 port switches. (they don't autodetect speed or duplex, and at least one port has to be 10 meg or they won't boot)
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www.channelweb.co.uk/crn ··· cs-28115(Here is a March 1996 review, it 'only' costs 16,000 pounds)
In 1998, I put my FDDI network down, and use gig ethernet over fiber for my core and 100 meg switched copper to every desktop.