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A number of big names have joined the NBASE-T Alliance over the last few weeks, with companies such as Intel, Qualcomm and Brocade signing up to the umbrella group, which itself was founded seven weeks ago by Cisco, Aquantia, Freescale and Xilinx.
The group's existence has been brought about by players across the industry to promote the development of 2.5 and 5 Gigabit Ethernet over existing Cat5e and Cat6 cabling.
Soon after it was founded, the quartet of companies seemed to strike a chord with other names in the sector, with Aruba Networks, Cavium, Centec Networks, CME Consulting, Microsemi Corp, Ruckus Wireless, GLGNET Electronics, Tehuti Networks, and Vitesse Semiconductor all deciding to come on board.
Diversity is key
There seems to be something of an upbeat mood among the experts involved in the idea, with chairman Peter Jones, who is also the principal engineer at Cisco, stating that the sheer variety of organisations expressing an interest in the project could prove vital in its potential success.
He said in a statement: “Our diverse membership ensures that the broadest range of opinions and perspectives will be reflected when our working groups gather.
"We believe this level of diversity and collaboration is a requirement when driving new standards and building the product ecosystem required to support them.”
Small changes needed
The group claims that only small alterations would be needed in order to achieve such Ethernet speeds on such standard hardware.
It claims that connections can be ramped up by simply changing parameters like baud rates and frame duration.
Put simply, were it to be a success, it could see existing networks switch to multi-gigabit speed without the need for 10G Ethernet hardware.
The standard is still under the consideration of the IEEE, particularly in regards to the 802.3 working group, which formed a smaller study group to help lay the foundations for an eventual specification.
Going mobile
Achieving faster speeds is also something that is being looked at for those in mobile networks.
The success of 4G across the UK has meant that many Brits now no longer need to worry about ever not being connected again. But that has by no means dampened the enthusiasm among experts to go even faster.
Research has already begun into how 5G can be implemented, with many analysts predictably claiming that if successful, it could be something of a game-changer.
Some claim it could allow for connected smart cities, remote surgery, driverless cars and gadgets working within the "internet of things".
Those possibilities alone will excite a number of people within the industry, but if such services can be combined with cheap and lightning fast Ethernet speeds, the possibilities could be nearly limitless.
