Patent ID: 8472340

Claim:
A network device comprising: a transceiver module configured to communicate with a second network device via a wire medium; an autonegotiation module configured to detect a selector field of the second network device, transmit, in response to the selector field of the second network device matching a first predetermined value, a first base page to the second network device via the transceiver module, wherein the first base page includes the first predetermined value, and transmit, in response to the selector field of the second network device matching a second predetermined value, a second base page to the second network device via the transceiver module, wherein the second predetermined value is different than the first predetermined value, and wherein the second base page includes the second predetermined value; and a cable length estimator configured to, in response to the selector field of the second network device matching the second predetermined value, determine a physical length of the wire medium, wherein the autonegotiation module is configured to enable autonegotiation using one of a first rate and a second rate in response to the physical length being less than a predetermined length, wherein the second rate is less than the first rate, and selectively enable autonegotiation using the second rate in response to the physical length being greater than the predetermined length.