Ethernet is a wired networking technology first standardized in the 1980s. Most NETGEAR products use Ethernet technology to transfer information over your wired LAN connections. You might already be familiar with Ethernet ports and cables, as they have been used in wired networking for many years. Ethernet ports and cables look similar to legacy phone jacks and cables, but are larger and have more pins.
Ethernet technology divides data into smaller pieces, called packets or frames, before transmitting it on your network. Ethernet technology also includes methods to check for data transmission errors. Ethernet standards have evolved over the years to support increased speeds; for example, modern Gigabit and Terabit Ethernet devices support speeds 100 to 1000 times faster than the 10BASE-T Ethernet standard many devices used in the 1990s.
The following image shows the Ethernet ports on a NETGEAR Nighthawk RAXE500 router:
For more information, see How do I connect the cables to my NETGEAR router?