Understand the use of other common
network devices, including: network
interface
cards, hubs, bridges, switches, modems
• Understand the use of WiFi and Bluetooth
Network interface card (NIC) is a hardware
component, typically a circuit board or chip,
which is installed on a computer so it can
connect to a network.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
A hub is a physical layer networking
device which is used to connect multiple
devices in a network. They are generally
used to connect computers in a LAN.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
A bridge in a computer network is a device used to connect
multiple LANs together with a larger Local Area Network
(LAN). The mechanism of network aggregation is known as
bridging. The bridge is a physical or hardware device but
operates at the OSI model's data link layer and is also known
as a layer of two switches.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Switches are key building blocks for any network.
They connect multiple devices, such as computers,
wireless access points, printers, and servers; on the
same network within a building or campus. A switch
enables connected devices to share information and
talk to each other.
T
hi
A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer
hardware device that converts data from a digital
format into a format suitable for an
analog transmission medium such as telephone or
radio.
Wi-Fi (/ˈwaɪfaɪ/)[1][a] is a family of wireless
network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of
standards, which are commonly used for local area
networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby
digital devices to exchange data by radio waves
.
Bluetooth—named for a 10th-century Danish king,
incidentally—uses radio waves to transmit information
between two devices directly. The radio waves used by
Bluetooth are much weaker than those involved with Wi-Fi or
cellular signals, two other common ways to connect devices.