Thicknet This coaxial cable, also known as RG-8, gets its name by being
a thicker cable than thinnet. Thicknet cable is about ½-inch thick and can
support data transfer over longer distances than thinnet. Thicknet has a
maximum cable length of 500 meters and usually is used as a backbone to
connect several smaller thinnet-based networks. Due to the thickness of
½ inch, this cable is harder to work with than thinnet cable. A transceiver
often is connected directly to the thicknet cable using a connector known as
a vampire tap. Connection from the transceiver to the network adapter
card is made using a drop cable to connect to the adapter unit interface
(AUI) port connector. Table 1-1 summarizes the characteristics of thicknet
and thinnet.