Collisions are normal on CSMA/CD LANs and not usually the result of errors. True or False?

The statement is indeed true. In Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) networks, such as those using traditional Ethernet, collisions are a normal part of the communication process. This protocol operates under the assumption that multiple devices may attempt to send data simultaneously over the same communication medium.

When devices sense the carrier (the network signal) and find it free, they begin transmitting. However, if two devices transmit at the same time, a collision occurs. The protocol includes mechanisms to detect these collisions and handle them appropriately by stopping the transmission and retransmitting data after a random backoff period.

Collisions are not typically indicative of errors in the network; they are rather a normal occurrence in a shared medium where multiple devices may compete for bandwidth. This behavior is expected and accounted for in the design of CSMA/CD, differentiating it from error conditions that would typically signal a malfunction or fault in the network. Hence, the statement accurately reflects the nature of collisions in CSMA/CD environments.