Half-duplex vs Full-duplex

[mosdef]

On my Win2k server with a phoneline NIC, I saw that the NIC was set to half-duplex so I tried out full-duplex. However, it no longer appeared in the network neighborhood, so I changed it back. What exactly does duplex mean and why did what happened happen?

-mosdef

 

[cz]

Half-duplex means the NIC can either "send" or "receive" signals at any moment but not both. A full-duplex NIC can "send" and "receive" signals at same time.

 

[CTR]

And I think you lost communication because a shared medium like a phoneline network or a hub doesn't support full-duplex communication.