The different types of FireWire® connectors can be identified by the number of pins they have, although some different physical formats are also used. Two of the common versions of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 standard are FireWire® 400 and 800. The numbers refer primarily to transfer speeds, but each standard also uses a different number of pins. FireWire® 800 also uses a type of connector that is substantially different from the others in that it is more square in shape, whereas earlier types were flat with a notch or pointed tip. Some FireWire® connectors use different configurations, although they are less common.
One USB cable to the left of two Firewire® cables.
Each version of the FireWire® standard uses a unique number of pins, offers variable transfer speeds, and in some cases also uses differently shaped connectors. These different connectors are not always directly compatible with each other due to different pin configurations, sizes, and physical shapes. All versions of the FireWire® standard are compatible, which means you can connect different FireWire® connectors using a variety of adapters and cables.
One FireWire® port.
When FireWire® was first introduced, the connectors used four pins. This version of the standard is known as FireWire® 400 and uses the smallest connector of all the different versions of the standard. A variation of this type of connector uses six pins, although the additional connections only provide power to external devices and do not provide additional transfer speed. The four-pin and six-pin FireWire® connectors are called alpha connectors, and the six-pin version is considerably larger.
The third type of FireWire® connector is commonly known as a beta connector. This connector uses nine pins and is physically larger than the four or six pin versions. Beta connectors are used with FireWire® 800 devices, although they are compatible with the correct adapters. When a FireWire® 800 device designed to use a beta connector is connected to a FireWire® 400 device or port, performance and transfer speeds are often affected.
There are a few other types of FireWire® connectors, including proprietary connector types that use different versions of the IEEE 1394 standard. One example is IEEE 1394c, which is a variation of the specification designed to use a traditional Ethernet connector and twisted-pair cable. . This version of the standard allows a port to function as both an Ethernet connection and an IEEE 1394c connection at the same time.
