Introduction to Data Communications
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39b. Repeater's OSI Operating Layer

Repeaters operate at the OSI Model Physical Layer.

39c. Repeater's Segment to Segment Characteristics

Repeaters do not "de-segment" a network. All traffic that appears on one side of the repeater appears on both sides. Repeaters handle only the electrical and physical characteristics of the signal.

Repeaters work only on the same type of Physical Layer: Ethernet to Ethernet or Token Ring to Token Ring. They can connect 10Base5 to 10BaseT because they both use the same 802.3 MAC layer.

You can run into problems connecting 1Base5 to 10BaseT with the transfer rate (1 Mbps vs. 10 Mbps). A repeater cannot connect Token Ring to Ethernet because the Physical Layer is different for each.

Introduction to Data Communications
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