Auto-Negotiation is a technology that was introduced by National Semiconductor
to the IEEE802.3u
100BASE-T working group in the Spring of 1994 as a result of
the need for a mechanism to accommodate multi-speed network
devices. It's
a mechanism that takes control of the cable when a connection is established to
a network device. Auto-Negotiation detects the various modes that exist in the
device on the other end of the wire and advertises it own abilities to
automatically configure the highest performance mode of interoperation. As a
standard technology, this allows simple, automatic connection of devices that
support a variety of modes from a variety of manufacturers. [Source: An Introduction to
Auto-Negotiation]
Auto-Negotiation was previously called NWay. The term is often seen written as either Auto-Negotiation or as one word, autonegotiation.
Ethernet Autonegotiation Best Practices This paper discusses the advantages of using Ethernet autonegotiation when connecting Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) and Gigabit Ethernet (1000Mbps) NICs to network switches, routers, and hubs.
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