X-no-Archive:yes
You can connect a dumb terminal to a 10BASE-T network somehow, but it will not
be able to participate in a broadband network, it will be only point to point
and will probably so interfere with the network that it will crash it.  You
will notice that the OSI model refers to computers all the time, and that is
because there needs to be processing power to participate in the network.

You need to have some sort of method to connect the terminal to the 10BASE-T
network so that it is recognized as a node.  PCs, servers and some printers do
this with a NIC (Network Interface Card), other printers do this via something
like a JetDirect box or card.

The NIC (if you could stuff one in a terminal) will take care of layers 1 and 2
 (the NIC does the Ethernet stuff and handles the CSMA/CD and the Medium Access
Control), but the rest of the work is done by the computer.  Layers 3 and up
are handled by the computer.  A dumb terminal cannot do any of this nor are any
terminal I have ever seen able to receive NIC.  I am not saying they don't
exist, I just have never heard of them.

On the other hand, you now have printers which can participate in a network.
 However, this is a highly specialized task.   The printer has a processor on
board that will make it play nice on the network and simply receive the data to
be printed.

You may be able to physically connect a dumb terminal to an existing 10BASE-T
network, but it will be useless and probably detrimental to the entire network.

If you want to connect your terminal to the network so that it can perform
useful work, you have to go through a DTC.  You can use Cat3 or Cat5 cabling to
get to the DTC, but just stay away from the live network.

Bottom line, the answer to the original question is: no, you cannot connect a
dumb terminal to an existing 10BASE-T network.  You must connect it to a medium
access device, such as a DTC.

Kind regards,

Denys. . .

Denys Beauchemin
HICOMP
(800) 323-8863  (281) 288-7438         Fax: (281) 355-6879
denys at hicomp.com                             www.hicomp.com


-----Original Message-----
From:   Johnson, Tracy [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Thursday, 08 July, 1999 2:57 PM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re: can you make terminals work on a network?

Does this mean that we can go back to the original statement and connect dumb
HP terminals using 10BaseT?

-----Original Message-----
From:   Denys Beauchemin [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]

X-no-Archive:yes
10BASE-T is an implementation of the Ethernet IEEE standard on 24 gauge
unshielded twisted-pair wiring, a baseband medium, at 10 megabits per second.