A technique for transmitting signals as direct-current pulses rather than as modulated signals. The entire bandwidth of the transmission medium is used by a single digital signal, so computers in a baseband network can transmit only when the channel is not busy. However, the network can use techniques such as multiplexing to allow channel sharing.
A baseband network can operate over relatively short distances (up to 2 miles if network traffic is light) at speeds from 50Kbps to 100Mbps. Ethernet, AppleTalk, and most PC local-area networks (LANs) use baseband techniques.
See also bandwidth; broadband network; frequency-division multiplexing; statistical multiplexing; time-division multiplexing.