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vampire tap Last modified: Thursday, March 27, 2003

A cable connection used to connect transceivers to a Thicknet coaxial cable in an Ethernet network in a bus topology. Instead of cutting the cable and attaching connectors to both ends of the severed coaxial cable, a vampire tap pierces through (hence the name vampire) the insulating layer of the cable and makes direct contact with the cable’s conducting core. Also called a piercing tap.