Automatic adjustment to transmission type or speed. (See also autosensing).

Capability of a sending station to sense the duplex mode (full or half) and the highest wire speed (for example, 100 Mbps) of the receiving station.

The process by which two computers (or a computer and a switch) connected by gigabit Ethernet determine the speed and other parameters with which they will communicate.

A protocol through which two connected devices can communicate common capabilities, for example, speed and duplex mode, to each other. Once common capabilities are communicated, the highest common capabilities for both devices, for example, 100 Mbps and full-duplex mode, are chosen as the operating modes.

Enabling two devices that share a common link to advertise their speed capabilities, acknowledge receipt and understanding of shared modes of operation, and reject modes of operation that are not shared.

Autonegotiation (formerly NWay) is an Ethernet procedure by which two connected devices choose common transmission parameters, such as speed and duplex mode. In this process, the connected devices first share their capabilities as for these parameters and then choose the fastest transmission mode they both support.