Speaking 3

How computer networks connect and work

Networking is the word people use when they're talking about connecting computers together so they can share data with each other and all connect to the internet at the same time let's take a closer look at the key components that make up a simple easy to set up network think of a network is something similar to your body central nervous system at the top of the network is a brain that handles all the traffic coming through this is called a router the brain is connected to a spain that send signals throughout your network this device is called a switch and it distributes signals to all of your computers and devices via network cables now let's check out each of the components of a wired network and more detail we'll start with the router a router has a smart little computer inside that identifies all of the computers and devices on your network and assigns a unique number to each one take people call this an IP address a router also connects to the internet outside your home via a modem that can be provided by your dsl or cable internet provider a router is always at work managing the tons and tons of information your computers and devices send and receive and controlling which computers and devices get what information and when so how does a router actually send information from the internet to your computers and devices and how does it enable your computers to share information with each other the answer lies with that device we mentioned earlier a switch a switch sins traffic through your network to the places it needs to go every netgear home router has a switch with four ports built right into it you can also get wireless routers from netgear that use radio signals to do the same thing as a switch but these still have those four ports built into them so you can use wires with them too when you're buying a router for use in a wired Network pay attention to the speed of the built-in switch the fastest switches are called gigabit and they're perfect for applications like streaming video in your home meanwhile routers switches called fast ethernet are great for essential tasks like web surfing email and online gaming now say you have more than four idea as you'd like to plug into a router you need more ports the solution is easy you'll need an additional switch which again is that thing that's already built into your router in this case though you just need to switch portion and not another router because your network doesn't need two brains after all netgear has switches with as few as five ports as well as some that feature 24 ports or more once again if you need the fastest speeds go for a gigabit switch your smarty pants netgear router will recognize these new connections and start sending data to them right away here's one more thing to keep in mind some people often confuse a switch with a related device called a hub which is obsolete you just need to know that hubs were replaced by switches because switches do the same thing but with a lot more speed and smarts a router a switch and network cables all come together to create a fast and reliable wired network that works a lot like your body's nervous system fortunately you don't have to be super brainy to understand how it all works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWTJKcg7Pj8