These numbers indicate the maximum rate that a port on a switch can transfer data. 100Mbps is often referred to as “Fast Ethernet”, 1000Mbps as “Gigabit Ethernet” and 10000Mbps as “10Ge” or 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
The number of channels that can traverse one link in a network is proportional to the link speed. A link will always slow down to the lowest speed connector on that link; for example if a Gigabit port on switch A is connected to a Fast Ethernet port on switch B, the link speed will be 100Mbps Fast Ethernet. This is good, because it allows you to mix link speeds in a network without having to do anything complicated.
Naturally the faster the links in your network, the higher the performance, and for this reason we recommend that you use gigabit Ethernet as much as possible, especially when switches are being linked together. Many Dante enabled devices use Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, for this reason it is a good idea to use gigabit switches throughout your Dante network.