Often abbreviated as NIC, an expansion board you insert into a computer so the computer can be connected to a network. 100BASE-T, a networking standard that supports data transfer rates up to 100Mbps (100 megabits per second). 100BASE-T is based on the older Ethernet standard. Because it is 10 times faster than Ethernet or 10BASE-T, it is often referred to as Fast Ethernet. Officially, the 100BASE-T standard is IEEE 802.3u. There are several different cabling schemes that can be used with 100BASE-T, including: 100BASE-TX: two pairs of high-quality twisted-pair wires 100BASE-T4: four pairs of normal-quality twisted-pair wires 100BASE-FX: fiber optic cables