Network Recap
First a recap on networks What is a stand alone PC What is a LAN Name 5 advantages of a LAN What is a WAN Name 1 advantage and 1 disadvantage with a WAN
Star Networks How good is a star network?
What type of network is this and how good is it?
What is this network and how does it work?
Network Speed Transmission speeds in a network are measured in (Kbps or now Mbps or even Gbps) The faster the transmission speed, the more data can be transferred. Transmission speed is called ‘bandwidth’ If a network does not have enough bandwidth, it will be slow!
High Bandwidth Network with high bandwidth This network has enough bandwidth to cope with all of the data travelling across it!
Low Bandwidth Network with low bandwidth As the amount of data travelling between computers increases, the network gets slower and slower!
Making a LAN into a WAN How would you connect a LAN to the Internet or make a LAN into a WAN? The internet or another LAN Gateway: A gateway is used to translate data between one network and another.
Network Components How would you connect a stand alone PC to the Internet? THE INTERNET Modems: To access the internet a modem is needed A modem sends and receives analogue information through phone lines Broadband carry digital signals so rather than a modem you would use a terminal adapter
Internet Speed Computers connected to the internet have different transmission speeds (measured in Kbps or now Mbps) If a computer has low bandwidth, its connection to the internet will be slow!
How to get more bandwidth You can get more bandwidth than you can from a standard 56K modem? Get an ISDN or ADSL line and subscribe to broadband These newer lines are not analogue but digital – this means they are much faster You need a special broadband modem which is actually called a terminal adaptor But –typically this is more expensive