ATM switches are much more expensive than Ethernet hubs, and they require a significant effort to configure. Ethernet Almost all small networks will use some type of Ethernet, the most inexpensive and flexible option. Network communications catalogs are stuffed with Ethernet products from a variety of vendors. As a reflection of Ethernet's dominance, most business-class desktop computers come with Ethernet ports built directly onto the motherboard. These network rules describe how devices on the network communicate with one another.
Ethernet is a broadcast network, in which all nodes have access to all datagrams or data packets.
Each packet has an origin and destination address, and each computer should open the packet only if the destination address matches its own network address. The network supports multiple devices per segment, and each device can transmit on the network at any time. If devices transmit exactly at the same time, however, a collision occurs and the transmissions are lost. Therefore, each station must check after it transmits to see if a collision occurred and, in the event of a collision, wait a random interval and retransmit. Most varieties of Ethernet operate at 10 Mbps, and each of the nodes on a segment share this bandwidth.