A transmitter-receiver having a means for automatically determining the status of transmission medium such as optical fiber, and a means for automatically setting and resetting the transmission rate and/or output power according to the status of the transmission medium, a transmission loss and gain measurement method, and a transmitting-receiving system. A transmitter-receiver comprises at least: an output power controller for controlling the output power of a transmitter; an input power measuring section for measuring the strength of input signals; and an information processor for deriving the loss or gain of a path to change the output power of the transmitter and/or the rate of data transmission according to the derived loss or gain of the path. A transmission loss and gain measurement method applied to a system comprising transmission media and a plurality of the transmitter-receivers connected via the transmission media, comprises the steps of: transmitting information on the output power of a first transmitter-receiver from the first transmitter-receiver to a second transmitter-receiver; measuring reception strength by the second transmitter-receiver when the second transmitter-receiver receives the output power information; reading the output power information by the second transmitter-receiver; and comparing the reception strength with the output power information to calculate a transmission loss or gain by the second transmitter-receiver.