Network Hardware

Starter

You will have 15 minutes to complete a mini-assessment.

Learning Objectives

• To be able to identify and name various pieces of network hardware.

• To be able to explain the purpose of individual pieces of hardware.

Keywords:

• Wireless Access Point

• Network Interface Card

• Router

• Switch

• Hub

Think – Pair - Share

We have mentioned two different types of cable so far?

Should these cables be considered network hardware?

Do most people in the UK have Fibre Optic or Ethernet connecting their

house/flat to the central network?

Wireless Access Point - WAP

You might have a WAP as part of your hub/router at home, we will get to those later. You might also see a WAP in public locations like a Café or Library.

The WAP allows devices to be connected wirelessly. It sends out and receives radio waves using either 2.4 or 5Ghz as a frequency. Some WAPs will allow both to be run at the same time with effectively doubles the number of devices which can be connected. Each frequency has advantages and disadvantages relating to range and interference.

WAP Continued

A WAP operating on the 2.4 GHz band can generally reach up to 150 feet indoors or

300 feet outdoors while those on the 5GHz band can reach around 50-100 meters.

The trade off is that the 5Ghz band is usually faster, so for a house this may be better

suited. The reason that the 5Ghz band has a lower range is that it can’t penetrate walls

or objects as well as 2.4GHz.

Each device you connect to the WAP – be it a phone, tablet, laptop or computer will

slow the connection for all devices. Using both frequencies allows more devices to be

used with higher speeds.

Network Interface Card - NIC

Nobody really says the full name, they are just called NIC cards.

NIC cards allow you to connect your device to a WAP. If you don’t have a NIC card then you simply cannot connect to a wireless network. This is true for phones, tablets, laptops and computers. If your device doesn’t come with an NIC card then you can buy memory stick versions which plug into a USB port.

NIC cards allows your device to send and receive radio signals to and from the WAP and come pre-built with the required software and protocols to do so.

Router

The purpose of the router is to send and receive data to/from destinations outside of the LAN. I.E. they allow you to receive information from websites or send information to those websites. They also allow for data to be sent between devices on the same network, e.g. sending data from one computer in the house to another.

The router in your home will have a direct cabled connection (usually Ethernet but can now also be Fibre Optic). The router is then connected to devices via cable (usually Ethernet) or connect to a WAP which allows devices to connect Wirelessly. Either way, all connections go through the router. No ifs, no buts.

If you don’t have a router then you are using a PAN, E.G. connecting a smartphone to a computer by cable. Any larger networks, LANs, MANs and WANs all rely on routers.

Extension task

Plenary

• Complete the learning log for lesson 1.

Homework

Complete pages ?? and ??

Lesson 5 - Starter

• Complete the page ?? Of the booklet.

• The Learning objectives and key words are the same as lesson 4.

Switch

Switches allow you to connect potentially dozens of devices to the router. Switches can have a number of Ethernet ports E.G. 16, 32 or 64. Each port can allow one device to be connected via Ethernet Cable. When data is sent to the switch by the router, the switch determines which device to send the data onto.

One of the main benefits of a switch is that the bandwidth (data capacity/speed) can be equally shared between devices OR controlled. For example, if I want my PC in the office to have a better connection speed that the PCs in CR1 or CR2 I could set it up at the switch so that my PC has priority.

Switches also allow you to monitor the data usage of each device and control which devices have access to different parts of the network.

Read if in CR1

Read if in CR2

In CR2 you can see the outer rows of computers are directly connected via

Ethernet into a white plastic shielding which leads to a box in the top left

corner as you look towards CR1. Inside this box is a switch, this connects to

the main switch in the server room. Therefore, in effect there are two switches

between the router and the computers which reduces the internet speed (Each

switch + distance of cables reduces the speed available).

The two central rows go into the ceiling. (Find out if this goes directly to the

server)

Hubs

A hub is similar to a switch but less intelligent. Multiple devices can be connected to the hub which in turn is connected to the router. When the router sends data to a hub, the hub sends that data to every device it is connected to, whether it requested it or not. When a device sends a request to the hub, E.G. for a website, that request is sent to all devices connected to the hub, not just the router.

A really good website for this can be found here: https://askleo.com/whats_the_difference_between_a_hub_a_switch_and_a_router/

The really annoying part is that at home whether you have BT, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, Sky etc they probably call your device a “home hub” or something similar. This actually contains a router, switch and WAP in one device.

Extension task

Plenary

• Complete the learning log for lesson 1.

Homework

Complete pages ?? and ??