Advantages of RS232 | disadvantages of RS232
This page covers advantages and disadvantages of RS232. It mentions RS232 advantages or benefits and RS232 disadvantages or drawbacks.
What is RS232?
Introduction:
• RS232 is full duplex serial communication protocol.
• It uses voltage +/- 12V for transmission of binary data (0 or 1).
• RS232 cables have length of about 15 meters or 50 ft.
• The interface is widely used using DB9 and DB25 connectors.
• The following table mentions technical specifications of
serial RS232 interface.

Refer RS232 interface>> for more information.
Benefits or advantages of RS232
Following are the benefits or advantages of RS232:
➨RS232 interface is supported in many compatible legacy devices due to its simplicity.
It is widely used for point to point connection between DTE and DCE devices.
➨It supports long distances of about 50 feet (for low baud rates) and
with error correction capabilities.
➨RS232 is immune to noise due to use of +/-5 Volts or higher for binary logic 0 and logic 1.
➨RS232 is low cost interface.
➨Converters or adaptors are available at cheaper rates for
conversion from RS232 to RS485/USB/Ethernet etc.
Drawbacks or disadvantages of RS232
Following are the disadvantages of RS232:
➨It is suitable for system to system communications.
It is not suitable for chip to chip or chip to sensor device communications.
➨Supports lower speed for long distances. Higher speed (i.e. 115200 baud) can be achieved for short
distances only.
➨RS232 interface requires separate transceiver chips which will add cost to the system.
➨It is used for single master and single slave configuration and
not for single master-multiple slaves mode.
➨It is unbalanced transmission.
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