LAN Hardware

What is a LAN?

Local Area Network

Describe what is meant by a LAN

A collection of computers and peripherals connected together within a single site

Where do LANs operate?

On a single site such as a school, business or home

What do LANs do?

They connect devices within a small area via wires or wireless connections

What hardware are required to connect devices to a LAN?

NIC, router, switch, WAP

What is a NIC?

Network Interface Card

What kind of device is a NIC built into?

Every device that requires the use of a network

What does a NIC include?

A MAC address which is assigned when created and used when sending data across a LAN

What does a switch do?

Connects multiple devices together on a LAN and reduces traffic and data collisions

How does a switch transmit data around a LAN?

It identifies each new device by its MAC address so any data around a LAN is transmitted to the correct device directly

What is a WAP?

Wireless Access Point

What does the WAP do?

It allows devices to connect wirelessly to a LAN

How is the WAP connected?

Via wires to the network which allows it to convert radio frequencies into electrical signals

What is the main use of a router in a LAN?

To connect it to a WAN (The Internet)

What do routers do?

They look at data packets and reroutes them closer to their intended location

How do routers do their role?

They send and receive data packets if the IP address matches the router’s IP address and constructs data into packets ready to be sent

What is transmission media?

The physical pathway or channel used to carry data signals between devices in a network

What are the three common types of transmission media?

Ethernet cables, fibre optic cables, twisted copper cables

What are characteristics of twisted copper cable?

Cheaper, breaks more often, good bandwidth and transmission, affected by electromagnetic interference, can lose 94% of signal strength over 100m

What are characteristics of fibre optic cable?

Expensive, harder to break, high bandwidth and faster transmission, not affected by electromagnetic interference, only loses 3% of signal strength over 100m

What does Ethernet refer to?

A collection of protocols widely used in LANs

What does Ethernet describe?

How devices should format data for transmission

How do nodes work with Ethernet?

Nodes will wait until the connection is quiet before attempting to transmit and two nodes are trying to transmit at the same time, they will stop and each wait a random period before reattempting

What does Ethernet do?

It divides data into frames and each frame contains MAC addresses and error checking data