Few computers come equipped with RS-232 ports, so one must use either an external USB-to-RS-232 converter or an internal expansion card with one or more serial ports to connect to RS-232 peripherals. In modern personal computers, USB has displaced RS-232 from most of its peripheral interface roles. Personal computers used them for connections not only to modems, but also to printers, computer mice, data storage, uninterruptible power supplies, and other peripheral devices.Ĭompared with later interfaces such as RS-422, RS-485 and Ethernet, RS-232 has lower transmission speed, shorter maximum cable length, larger voltage swing, larger standard connectors, no multipoint capability and limited multidrop capability.

The RS-232 standard had been commonly used in computer serial ports and is still widely used in industrial communication devices.Ī serial port complying with the RS-232 standard was once a standard feature of many types of computers. The current version of the standard is TIA-232-F Interface Between Data Terminal Equipment and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange, issued in 1997. The standard defines the electrical characteristics and timing of signals, the meaning of signals, and the physical size and pinout of connectors. It formally defines signals connecting between a DTE ( data terminal equipment) such as a computer terminal, and a DCE ( data circuit-terminating equipment or data communication equipment), such as a modem. In telecommunications, RS-232, Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data.

Telefonnetz refers to a telephone network EIA-232 is an old name for RS-232, the serial communication standard. Data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE) and data terminal equipment (DTE) network.

Uart rs232