The Ethernet and IEEE 802.3 standard for baseband LANs (local area networks) using a thick coaxial cable (3/8 inch) up to 500 meters long and carrying 10 Mbps (megabits per second) in a bus topology. A network node is equipped with a transceiver that plugs into a 15-pin AUI connector on the adapter card and taps into the cable. This form of Ethernet is generally used for network backbones. Also called: thick Ethernet, ThickNet, ThickWire. See also coaxial cable, Ethernet (definition 1), IEEE 802.x.