The problem however was that the ARCNET daisy chain had a fairly short maximum physical length before you got signal degradation.
No offense, but, I NEVER deployed ARCNET in a "daisy chain" configuration, EVER. ARCNET, by definition, was a token-passing network, deployed upon a physical star topology [1], and was VERY flexible with regards to cabling..., and it MIGHT have supported such, but *I* never used it, ever, in such a configuration as you state.
We ran RG-62 coax, from end nodes, to active hubs, in the early days, and occasionally split those with 4-port passive hubs, which, while allowed, DID limit overall cable length. By specification, any active to active run (whether end point or active hub ) run could be up to 2000 feet [2], which was one of the great things about ARCNET back then: You could use the same coax cable, everywhere, so long as you abided by the overall length per network segment rules. And, 2000 feet is a LONG distance, in the real world, especially when you're running cable to tie together buildings on a campus, for example. I could do that, with ARCNET, and DID, using just RG-62 coax, and judiciciously-placed active hubs.
I, for one, welcomed Ethernet when it became affordable. I had become so tired of crawling through ceilings and fishing down walls whenever someone moved to a different office
No offense, but that's not a failure of ARCNET, as a cabling system, but rather, a failure of planning, I think. Certainly, I had my share of "cabling angst", back in the day: Ran *miles* of ARCNET coax cabling, NO lie. Later, the same for Ethernet twisted pair: CAT 3, then CAT 5, when I had my own business, I finally subbed it out, because I couldn't do it properly: I couldn't cost-justify the time, labor, nor tools needed to do it properly, for my customers, myself. So, I gave all my cabling jobs, back then, to a small, local company whose owner I knew, and I knew they'd do a good job. Never asked for a kickback, nor anything other than they take care of my customer, and remember me for referring them. Never got a ounce of business from him in return, but it didn't matter to me: He does good work, and so my customers were well served, as I wished.
However, to wrap this up? Regardless of time, network cabling is just something to be done. In the OLD days, we did it ourselves, as part of being nerds, we ran the cabling, connected it, tested it - how else were we going to connect everything, and be sure that it was done correctly?
Now days, it's just another "thing", like electricity.
Still, I *miss* those days, you know: Networking was NEW, and people appreciated it...
,
Regards,
Notes:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARCNET
[2] ibid
[3] This note has no reference. However, I have, in a filing cabinet, the complete specifications for ARCNET, as published by Datapoint Corporation, circa 1980. Send me an email at djloweathotmaildotcom and I'll scan them and email them to you :)
