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Comment by reorder9695

1 day ago

Is avoiding a collision always preferable? CSMA/CA has significant overhead (backoff period) for every single frame sent, on a less congested line CSMA/CD has less overhead.

But CSMA/CD also has a backoff period.

  • CSMA/CD only requires that you back off if there actually is a collision. CSMA/CA additionally requires that for every frame sent, after sensing the medium as clear, that you wait for a random amount of time before sending it to avoid collisions. If the medium is frequently clear, CA will still have the overhead of this initial wait where CD will not.