Bounce is an effect that happens to signals on a bus topology network when the ends of the bus are improperly terminated or unterminated.

What is Bounce (in computer networking)?

An effect that happens to signals on a bus topology network when the ends of the bus are improperly terminated or unterminated. A signal that is placed on a bus that is unterminated will continue to reflect from the end of the bus until that signal is attenuated by the impedance of the cable. Another situation that can cause signals to bounce is a break in the cable, which essentially creates two unterminated ends for the two segments.

The effect of signal bounce on baseband networks such as Ethernet is serious, since the transceivers on the network interface cards (NICs) attached to the bus interpret the problem as a collision and stop transmitting.

This collision occurs because the signal is colliding with its own reflection. Once the proper termination is applied to the bus, network communication can resume.