Media Converters

Simple Media Converter

A media converter is a simple networking device that makes it possible to connect two dissimilar media types such as twisted pair with fiber optic cable. Media converters support many different data communication protocols including Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1/J1, DS3/E3, as well as multiple cabling types such as coax, twisted pair, multi-mode and single-mode fiber optics. Simple converters – when the speed and duplex settings on both media is identical – consist of two pairs of transmitters/receivers, each with their medium-dependent interfaces (when no data recoding is necessary) or their media-independent interfaces joined together back-to-back in a dual-simplex fashion. They can transport either half-duplex or full-duplex traffic but both sides must match.