What is a Network?
2 or more devices connected together
What are the advantages of using networks?
- Software and file sharing
- Hardware sharing (e.g printers)
- Communication
- Roaming access
What are the advantages on using larger networks?
- Centralised maintenance and updates
- Centralised security
- User monitoring
What are the disadvantageds of using Networks?
- Cost
- Management
- Hacking
What is a LAN?
A LAN is a network that is geographically confined to a single site. Examples include networks employed by small businesses
What are LAN’s connected by?
LANs are connected by a wired medium such as cables, or by a wireless medium such as Wi-Fi.
What does LAN stand for?
Local area networks
What are WANs?
A wide area network (WAN) is a network that is spread over a wide geographical area. It can cover more than one site, or be spread across a country, or even the world. WANs are usually made up of two or more LANs.
What does WANs stand for?
Wide area networks?
What are wired connections?
A wired network uses copper cable or fibre optic cable to form the connections between the networked devices(nodes)
What are Wireless connections?
Wireless networks tend to use radio signals as their communication medium but could use other wireless methods such as infrared light.
Advantages of wireless networks?
- new nodes can easily be added without interruption to the network
- users can move around freely and still stay connected
Disadvantage of wireless networks?
- Radio signals can suffer from electromagnetic interference from other devices and even other radio signals.
- The greater the number of nodes that are connected, the less bandwidth each receives and the slower communication becomes.
What is an advantage of using wired networks?
- generally faster data transfer compared to wireless networks
- much less likely to suffer from interference than wireless networks
- more difficult for unauthorised users to intercept data
Disadvantages of using wired networks?
- They are expensive to install or reconfigure
- Users can’t instantly move a device from one location to another as there may not be a network connection available
What is Wifi used for?
Many different types of device, such as laptops, tablets, smartphones, interactive TVs, media centres, games consoles and security cameras, can easily connect to a network when needed, without having to run a cable to each device.
