From Coaxial to Fiber: The Evolution of Network Cables and Speeds As a network engineer or tech enthusiast, you probably know about coaxial cables , UTP , fiber optics , and wireless connections. But what was the first cable used to network computers—and how far have we come since then? 📡 Was Coaxial Cable the First Network Cable? Yes— coaxial cable (or coax ) was the first type of cable used for computer networking . Introduced in the 1970s , it was used in Ethernet Version 1 (10BASE5) , also called Thicknet . Later came 10BASE2 , or Thinnet , a thinner, more flexible version. 🔌 Original Coaxial Ethernet Specs (10BASE5 & 10BASE2) Cable Type Name Speed Max Length Connector 10BASE5 Thicknet 10 Mbps 500 meters N-type or AUI 10BASE2 Thinnet 10 Mbps 185 meters BNC Both used bus topology , meaning one long cable connecting all computers in line. A break in the cable often took down the whole network—a major downside by today's standards. 🧬 What Came A...
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