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Ethernet is a frame-based computer networking technology for local area networks (LANs). The name comes from the physical concept of ether. It defines wiring and signaling for the physical layer, and frame formats and protocols for the media access control (MAC)/data link layer of the OSI model.

Ethernet is mostly standardized as IEEEs 802.3. It has become the most widespread LAN technology in use during the 1990s to the present, and has largely replaced all other LAN standards such as token ring, FDDI, and ARCNET

Ethernet has many varieties that vary both in speed and physical medium used. The most common forms used are 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, and 1000BASE-T. All three utilize twisted pair cables and run at 10 mbps, 100 mbps, and 1 gpbs, respectively.

Ethernet is based on the idea of peers on the network sending messages in what was essentially a radio system, captive inside a common wire or channel, sometimes referred to as the ether, which is how Ethernet came to be named.

Each peer has a unique 48-bit key known as the MAC address to ensure that all systems in an Ethernet network have distinct addresses.

Despite the huge changes in Ethernet from the early days of a thick coaxial cable bus running at 10 Mbit/s to point-to-point links running at 1 Gbit/s and beyond, the different variants remain essentially the same from the programmer's point of view and are easily interconnected using readily available inexpensive hardware.

The inherant robustness of Ethernet has now established it as the preferred choice for field bus networks in industrial applications, and there are now several implementations of field bus protocols that run on top of Ethernet. Examples are Profinet (Profibus over Ethernet) and Modbus over Ethernet.