A method of data-aided timing recovery for Ethernet systems is disclosed. A first device negotiates a pseudorandom number sequence with a second device and receives a data signal from the second device. The first device samples the received data signal to recover a first training sequence. The first device also generates a second training sequence based on the pseudorandom number sequence. The second training sequence is then synchronized with the first training sequence. The synchronized second training sequence is used to align a receive clock signal of the first device with the data signal received from the second device.