Networking Devices
Network devices or networking hardware, are physical devices that are required for communication and
interaction between hardware on a computer network.
Router Hub
It is used to connect two or more
It is a device that controls the traffic in devices.
the network. It is a multi-port repeater in which,
Its main purpose is to find a congestion- signals received at a port and
free path and then travels data through floods/broadcasts out that signal to all
that path. It uses an algorithm to do other ports connected to the devices
this. except the one that originated the
The data transmission rate is high in the signal.
router. It works in both wired and Hub is less intelligent, and less costly.
wireless network. It is used in local area network (LAN).
It connects two similar or dissimilar Its transmission mode is of half-duplex.
networks. It does not provide extra security.
It works in both local area network
(LAN) and wide area network (WAN). Switch
It is more expensive than any other
network device.
It also connects two networks that have
a large distance, i.e. between two
different countries that are far apart.
It is used to connect multiple computers
in the network.
It sends a private message from the
sender to the receiver.
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It stores the Media Access Control through the ceiling back to the server
(MAC) address of all the connected room.
devices and upon receiving a message
from the sender it first checks the MAC Modem
address of the message and then sends A modem is a short form of modulator-
the message to the receiver that matches demodulator.
the MAC address. It provides internet to the network that
Switch do unicast meaning it sends a is connected through a hub or switch.
message to only one receiver and not a A modem converts the digital data from
broadcast message. our computer to the analogue data that
It has high security than a hub. is understandable by the telephone
It uses full-duplex transmission mode cables.
The modem also converts analogue data
Access Point (AP) from cables to the digital form that is
understandable by the computer.
Modem receives/sends data from/to
coaxial cables. The broadband or DSL
network uses a modem.
Bridge
An access point (AP) is used to connect
a wired network to a wireless
computing device. Suppose there are It connects two LANs, or two segments
four computers, a printer and a scanner of the same LAN.
connected to a wired network. And When the connection is made then the
there is another wireless network with bridge stores all the MAC addresses
four laptops. Now laptop computer and port numbers of destinations
cannot access the printer in a wired computers in the LAN. When any
network. So to make this type of computer wants to send data then the
connection from wireless to wired bridge checks the MAC address from
network access points are used. The the receiver and then find the LAN that
shape of AP looks like a modem. Old has that MAC address. Then bridge
AP devices had antennas connected to transfer data to that LAN that has that
them while new AP device comes with MAC address matched.
inbuilt antennas within device. It works on both physical and data link
An access point is a device that creates a layers of the OSI model.
wireless local area network, or WLAN, Bridge broadcast the message like hub
usually in an office or large building. and repeater, but data collision does not
It connects to a wired router, switch, or occur.
hub via an Ethernet cable, and projects a The bridge is an intelligent device.
WiFi signal to a designated area. For While routing allows multiple networks
example, if you want to enable WiFi to communicate independently and yet
access in your company's reception area remain separate, bridging connects two
but don’t have a router within range, separate networks as if they were a
you can install an access point near the single network.
front desk and run an Ethernet cable
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You cannot connect to the internet
without NIC.
Gateway NIC stores the MAC address of the
computer but when you connect your
computer to the internet then it uses an
IP address or LAN address to identify
Gateway is a the computer. There are two types of
network device NIC:-
that connects dissimilar Internal NIC: Internal NIC is attached to
computers or networks. the motherboard and it is connected to
It also connects similar networks but in the Rj45 cable.
most cases, it connects dissimilar External NIC: External NIC is connected
devices. via USB or by wireless connection to the
Sometimes switch also behaves as a computer.
gateway. Suppose a computer in the
LAN network wants some data. If that Repeater
data is present in the LAN then it will A repeater is a device that
be provided by the gateway but if the boosts/regenerate the data signals of
data is not present in the LAN then the the network.
gateway will connect to the WAN and If a data signal travels a long distance
gets and transfer data to that computer. then it becomes weak. To make the
Gateway works in all 7 layers of the OSI signal in its original shape we use the
model. You cannot access the internet repeater.
without using the gateway. The repeater can be used in both wired
It is expensive to buy a gateway and it and wireless network.
provides some security. The repeater is unable to connect
It is difficult to maintain a gateway and dissimilar network.
is less intelligent.
The data transfer rate is slow in the Firewall
gateway. Firewall stops unwanted traffic to come
to your PC or laptop.
Brouter A firewall is attached to protect the
Brouter is also known as bridge router whole network or individual
and it works as bridge and router. computer/device.
If the brouter behaves as a bridge then it You can stop data that comes from
works on the data link layer. specific ports. Suppose you want to
If brouter works as a router then it prevent traffic that comes from 40 and
works on the network layer. 133 ports. So when traffic comes from 40
or 133 ports then it will not reach your
RJ45 Connector network or computer because the
Rj45 connector is used to making firewall blocks that traffic. And only
connections in Ethernet cable or any traffic from the trusted ports you allow
other network connection. will come to your network.
It has 8 wires inserted into it. It is used
to make network connection in the Wi-Fi card
LAN. Wi-Fi is also known as wireless fidelity.
Wi-Fi card is used to connect different
NIC devices wirelessly in the LAN.
NIC is a short form of the network The physical area which provides
interface card. internet access to the devices is known
as a Wi-Fi hotspot.
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