What type of device is the network card. What is a network card for a computer? Review of Zyxel GN680-T

network card for computer is part of the PC hardware configuration. This device will allow you to connect a personal computer or laptop to networks of any scale and provide interaction with them. network card for computer commonly referred to as an Ethernet card, it also has an alternative name - network interface card ("network interface cards" or NIC), network adapter or LAN adapter.

Standard Components

network card for computer at first it was one of the components of the add-on, which can be purchased and installed on a computer not immediately with all the components, but after some time when the need arises. But by now it has become clear that network card for computer becomes one of the standard components that are installed in the absolute number of all manufactured desktop computers, laptops and NET-books. Network cards are integrated into a large number of modern motherboards and other devices during the initial manufacturing process. If network card for computer was installed in the system when assembling the system unit, then when connected to the local network, it will detect itself with small flickering indicators located near the network connector on the back of the system unit.

NIC Identification

Absolutely every network card for computer must be unique and for all this it is in the order of things equipped with the so-called "media access control" address or otherwise - MAC, which helps to identify each computer that transmits data packets over the network. This address is a 48-bit digital-character sequence, which is set by the firmware method to the permanent memory of the chip (ROM) soldered on the network board. The first row is the 24 bits of the MAC address and is called the Organizationally Unique Identifier or OUI. Usually the MAC address is tied to the manufacturer of the network card. Subsequently, it can be replaced with another using MAC spoofing technology.

OSI model

The network card mutually functions at two levels of the open systems interaction model, or otherwise OSI. The first level is usually the physical level, which quite naturally defines the fact that network card for computer can provide physical access to the network. A network card for a computer can also work at the second level of the OSI model, which is called the link layer and is responsible for addressing. The main task of addressing using these two levels is to encode the MAC address in data packets sent by each network card of any computer.

Types of network cards

Today, network cards can connect their computers both via a cable (physical) connection and via a wireless interface. When connected via cable, a standard network port with an RJ-45 connector is usually used. Wireless network connection does not require the use of any physical ports and interfaces.

Characteristics and capabilities of network cards

Both types of network cards, wired and wireless, currently allow you to develop approximately the same data transfer rate. It typically ranges from 10 megabits per second to 1,000 megabits per second (Mbps) depending on the manufacturer and model. Also, network card for computer serves to connect to the Internet, again through network protocols. , You can find out by clicking on the link.

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network card, also known as a network card, network adapter, Ethernet adapter, NIC (English network interface card) - a peripheral device that allows a computer to interact with other network devices. At present, especially in personal computers, network cards are quite often integrated into motherboards for the convenience and cheapening of the entire computer as a whole.

Types

According to the constructive implementation, network cards are divided into:

• internal - separate boards inserted into the ISA, PCI or PCI-E slot;

• external, connected via USB or PCMCIA interface, mainly used in laptops;

• * built into the motherboard.

On 10-Mbit NICs, 3 types of connectors are used to connect to the local network:

• 8P8C for twisted pair;

• BNC connector for thin coaxial cable;

• 15-pin transceiver AUI connector for thick coaxial cable.

• optical connector (en:10BASE-FL and other 10 Mbit Ethernet standards)

On 100-megabit boards, either a twisted-pair connector (8P8C, erroneously called RJ-45) or an optical connector (SC, ST, MIC) is installed.

Next to the twisted pair connector, one or more information LEDs are installed to indicate the presence of a connection and the transfer of information.

One of the first mainstream network cards was Novell's NE1000/NE2000 series with a BNC connector.

Network adapter settings

When configuring a network adapter card, the following options may be available:

• IRQ line number

• DMA channel number (if supported)

• base I/O address

• RAM base address (if used)

• support for duplex/half duplex auto-negotiation standards, speed

• support for tagged VLAN packets (802.1q) with the ability to filter packets of a given VLAN ID

• WOL (Wake-on-LAN) parameters

• Auto-MDI/MDI-X function automatic selection of the operating mode for straight or cross twisted pair crimping

Depending on the power and complexity of the network card, it can implement computational functions (mainly calculation and generation of frame checksums) in hardware or software (by a network card driver using a central processor).

Server network cards can be supplied with two (or more) network connectors. Some NICs (built into the motherboard) also provide firewall functionality (eg nforce).

Functions and characteristics of network adapters

The network adapter (Network Interface Card (or Controller), NIC), together with its driver, implements the second, channel level of the open systems model in the end node of the network - a computer. More precisely, in a network operating system, the adapter/driver pair performs only the functions of the physical and MAC layers, while the LLC layer is usually implemented by an operating system module that is common to all drivers and network adapters. Actually, this is how it should be in accordance with the IEEE 802 protocol stack model. For example, in Windows NT, the LLC level is implemented in the NDIS module, which is common to all network adapter drivers, regardless of which technology the driver supports.

The network adapter, together with the driver, performs two operations: transmitting and receiving a frame. Transferring a frame from a computer to a cable consists of the following steps (some may be missing, depending on the encoding methods used):

• The design of the MAC layer data frame into which the LLC frame is encapsulated (with flags 01111110 discarded). Filling in the destination and source addresses, calculating the checksum. Receiving an LLC data frame through the inter-layer interface along with the address information of the MAC layer. Usually, interaction between protocols inside a computer occurs through buffers located in RAM. Data for transmission to the network is placed in these buffers by upper-layer protocols that retrieve them from disk memory or from the file cache using the I / O subsystem of the operating system.

• Formation of code symbols when using redundant codes of the 4V/5V type. Scrambling codes to obtain a more uniform spectrum of signals. This stage is not used in all protocols - for example, 10 Mbps Ethernet technology does without it.

• Issuance of signals to the cable in accordance with the accepted line code - Manchester, NRZ1. MLT-3 etc.

• Isolation of signals against the background of noise. This operation can be performed by various specialized chips or DSP signal processors. As a result, a certain bit sequence is formed in the adapter's receiver, with a high degree of probability coinciding with the one that was sent by the transmitter.

• If the data was scrambled before being sent to the cable, then it is passed through the descrambler, after which the code symbols sent by the transmitter are restored in the adapter.

• Frame checksum check. If it is incorrect, then the frame is discarded, and the corresponding error code is transmitted to the LLC protocol through the interlayer interface upwards. If the checksum is correct, then the LLC frame is extracted from the MAC frame and transmitted through the inter-layer interface upstream, to the LLC protocol. The LLC frame is buffered in RAM.

The distribution of responsibilities between the network adapter and its driver is not defined by standards, so each manufacturer decides this issue on its own. Typically, network adapters are divided into adapters for client computers and adapters for servers.

In adapters for client computers, much of the work is offloaded to the driver, thereby making the adapter simpler and cheaper. The disadvantage of this approach is the high degree of loading of the computer's central processor with routine work on transferring frames from the computer's RAM to the network. The central processor is forced to do this work instead of performing user application tasks.

Therefore, adapters designed for servers usually have their own processors, which do most of the work of transferring frames from RAM to the network and vice versa. An example of such an adapter is the SMC EtherPower network adapter with an integrated Intel i960 processor.

Depending on which protocol the adapter implements, adapters are divided into Ethernet adapters, Token Ring adapters, FDDI adapters, etc. Since the Fast Ethernet protocol allows, due to the auto-negotiation procedure, to automatically select the network adapter speed depending on hub, many Ethernet adapters today support two speeds and have the prefix 10/100 in their name. Some manufacturers call this property auto-sensing.

The network adapter must be configured before being installed on the computer. When configuring an adapter, you typically specify the IRQ number used by the adapter, the DMA channel number (if the adapter supports DMA mode), and the base address of the I/O ports.

If the network adapter, computer hardware, and operating system support the Plug-and-Play standard, then the adapter and its driver are configured automatically. Otherwise, you must first configure the network adapter, and then repeat its configuration settings for the driver. In general, the details of the procedure for configuring a network adapter and its driver largely depend on the manufacturer of the adapter, as well as on the capabilities of the bus for which the adapter is designed.

Classification of network adapters

As an example of the classification of adapters, we use the 3Com approach. 3Com believes that Ethernet network adapters have gone through three generations in their development.

First generation

Adapters first generation were performed on discrete logic microcircuits, as a result of which they had low reliability. They had buffer memory for only one frame, which led to poor performance of the adapter, since all frames were transmitted from the computer to the network or from the network to the computer sequentially. In addition, the first generation adapter was configured manually using jumpers. Each type of adapter used its own driver, and the interface between the driver and the network operating system was not standardized.

Second generation

On network adapters second generation to improve performance began to apply the method of multi-frame buffering. In this case, the next frame is loaded from the computer's memory into the adapter's buffer simultaneously with the transfer of the previous frame to the network. In receive mode, after the adapter has fully received one frame, it can begin to transfer this frame from the buffer to the computer's memory at the same time as receiving another frame from the network.

Second-generation network adapters make extensive use of highly integrated chips, which improves the reliability of the adapters. In addition, the drivers for these adapters are based on standard specifications. Second-generation adapters typically come with drivers that work in both the NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification) standard developed by 3Com and Microsoft and approved by IBM, and the ODI (Open Driver Interface Specification) standard developed by Novell.

third generation

Third-generation adapters are based on application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), which increase the performance and reliability of the adapter while reducing its cost. 3Com called its frame-pipelining technology Parallel Tasking, and other companies have implemented similar schemes in their adapters. Improving the performance of the "adapter-memory" link is very important for improving the performance of the network as a whole, since the performance of a complex frame processing route, including, for example, hubs, switches, routers, global links, etc., is always determined by the performance of the slowest element of this route. Therefore, if the network adapter of the server or client computer is slow, no fast switches will be able to speed up the network.

Network adapters produced today can be attributed to fourth generation. These adapters necessarily include an ASIC that performs the functions of the MAC-level (English MAC-PHY), the speed is developed up to 1 Gbit / s, as well as a large number of high-level functions. The set of such functions may include support for the RMON remote monitoring agent, a frame prioritization scheme, remote computer control functions, etc. In server versions of adapters, a powerful processor is almost required, which offloads the central processor. An example of a fourth-generation network adapter is the 3Com Fast EtherLink XL 10/100 adapter.

Let's touch on such a topic as the network card of our computer. Let's start with the fact that network cards are different and may differ both in terms of the range of tasks to be solved and in terms of form factor (appearance). A network card is also often referred to as an (ethernet controller, network or NIC (Network Interface Card) adapter).

First of all, let's divide network cards into two large groups:

• External network cards
• Embedded or integrated (onboard)

Let's start with the outside. From the name itself it follows that network cards of this type are installed in the computer additionally (with a separate expansion card) or as another external device.

First, let's talk about PCI network cards. The abbreviation stands for (Peripheral Component Interconnect) - the relationship of peripheral components or - an I / O bus for connecting peripheral devices to. These cards are called so because they are installed in one of the PCI slots (connectors). These are, in fact:

The PCI interface itself has a peak bandwidth for a 32-bit version running at 33.33 MHz at 133 MB / s, the connector voltage is 3.3 or 5V. It is used to install additional expansion cards into the computer (old video cards, modems, network adapters, TV tuners, various video capture and video conversion cards, etc.).

So, what kind of network cards are installed there? And here are the most common dollars for five or six:

There are adapters of another variety - Wi-Fi (for organizing wireless networks).

As you can see, there is only one connection interface (PCI), but the principle of operation is different.

Now, due to the gradual "withering away" of this interface, network cards of the "Pci Express 1X" form factor are being produced.

This is with regard to external network cards. There are also built-in (integrated into the motherboard) cards. You can determine the presence of a built-in network by looking at the back wall of the system unit.

Here we can visually observe the output of the integrated network card. Next to the twisted pair connector, one or more information LEDs are installed, by which you can find out if there is a connection and general network activity.

By the way, these LEDs can indirectly get an idea of ​​the performance of the device. Let me explain my idea: when the computer is turned on and the network cable (twisted pair) is connected to the card, the LED on it blinks, as they say, in time with the reception (transmission) of information data packets by the adapter to the network.

If the network adapter is not working, the behavior of the indicators may be as follows:

1. None of the LEDs light up at all
2. The LED is permanently on (not blinking)
3. The indicator blinks, but absolutely uniformly. The period and amplitude of this "blinking" are the same throughout the entire time.

So - note such moments. The details are everything! :)

By marking, we see that this is an RTL chip (from Realtek) under the number 8211BL.

Notes e: built-in solutions, unfortunately, are not reliable. In our organization, for example, failures of integrated network cards happen regularly. I can’t say that often, but it is stable. By the way, just the other day my work computer (bought half a year ago) burned out a network card, which once again strengthened my opinion about the unreliability of integrated components. I had to put in an external one.

I want you to take a closer look at the following photo:

Here we look inside the network card connector. Notice the difference? One connector (in the photo - on the right) has four contact pads, and in the other (on the left) - eight. Moreover, both cards are designed for network transmission speed of 100 megabits per second.

What is the catch here? And he, in any case, is present here :) Let's remember what the twisted-pair cable itself looks like, with the help of which we laid networks in one of our free lessons.

According to the correct name, it is called a UTP cable (Unshielded Twisted Pair - unshielded twisted pair). The fact that it is twisted (twisted) we perfectly see from the photo above. Its individual conductors are twisted with each other to improve the noise immunity of the entire cable as a whole.

The designation "unshielded" implies that there is no additional protective screen (braid) of foil or metal over the veins. Again - for better cable security. And "pair" because the conductors in the cable are twisted in pairs and - by color (white-orange - orange, white-green - green, white-brown - brown, white-blue - blue).

Now - the most important: to ensure data transmission over the network at a speed of 100 megabits per second, you do not need to use all four pairs (eight conductors-cores), two pairs (four cores) are enough! Moreover, strictly defined numbers are used: first, second, third And sixth postings.

Directly from the side of the RJ-45 connector, it looks like this:

According to the above, to ensure a speed of 100 megabits, we use "veins" numbered 1, 2, 3 and 6. Look at the figure above. These are two pairs: orange and green.

Note: Naturally, it is up to us to decide which veins to use when terminating the cable. The main thing to remember is that it should be the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th conductor (for networks with a transfer rate of 100 megabits / s).

And now look again at the photo, which shows the connectors of the network cards of the computer. On the right image, there are only four contact pads: the first, second, third, the next two are omitted and then ... which one? That's right - the sixth! :)

When are all eight sites used? In networks with a transfer rate of one gibabit per second (and higher). That's where all the conductors of the network cable are used to their fullest :)

So, something you and I (or rather, I'm the only one :)) "steered" away from the main topic. What else are network cards? Let's look at an external laptop adapter based on the PCMCIA standard. This is an external expansion card that is inserted into the corresponding slot.

PCMCIA stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (International Association of Computer Memory Cards). Initially, the standard was developed for memory expansion cards. After some time, the specification was expanded and it became possible to use "PCMCIA" to connect various peripheral devices. As a rule, network cards, modems or hard drives are connected through it.

Imagine an unpleasant picture: your laptop (three times "ugh" it to the left) has a built-in card out of order. What to do? The solution is in the photo below:

There are, however, other solutions that are no longer suitable only for mobile computers, but also for stationary ones. These are USB network cards.

They can be performed in different ways, but the principle of their work does not change from this. Here, for example, two such devices in the photo below:

Or even like this, more like a flash drive :)

On this I was going to finish the article, but ... changed my mind! :) I also wanted to tell you about such a variety of external network cards as server network cards, which are used in high-performance systems and have more advanced (compared to conventional adapters) networking capabilities.

As a rule, they have a standard connection interface - PCI (or its extended version - PCI-X). Here, for example, is a server network card " D-Link DFE-580TX».

As you can see, this is, in fact, four network adapters combined in one physical device. Each of the four network ports (cards) has its own MAC address (a unique 12-digit physical identifier of any card or other network device). At the same time, the entire group of ports can be assigned one logical identifier (IP address). For the operating system, a group of such cards looks like one virtual card.

Note: MAC (Media Access Control) address is also often referred to as a physical or hardware address (Hardware Address). For example: The MAC address of my network adapter at work is 00-1B-11-B3-C8-82. A network cannot have two identical hardware addresses. You can find it out by typing: ipconfig /all or such a wonderful team using the utility of the same name, like getmac. Getmac will show you all the MAC addresses of all network devices installed in your computer in a very convenient and visual form.

Let's continue. Combining several cards into one becomes possible when using the "Port Aggregation" technology (aggregation or - combining ports). Port aggregation means combining several network segments into one with greater performance. When several network ports form one virtual port, then its bandwidth (theoretically) is equal to the performance of a single port, multiplied by their number.

Server network cards can operate in two main modes. Let's look at them in more detail. Using the software bundled with this class of cards, you can configure each port as "active" (load balancing mode) or reserve any ports for fault tolerance (recovery mode).

The network load sharing (distribution) mode evenly passes network traffic (data flow) through active segments, reducing the overall load on the adapter, and the recovery mode (in the event of a physical connection failure) ensures uninterrupted communication between the network card and the network.

What else is good server network card computer? Depending on its "bells and whistles" :) it can implement computational functions (calculation and generation of checksums of data frames transmitted over the network) in hardware, without additional loading.

On such adapters, specialized LSIs (Large Integrated Circuits) are installed, which take on a significant part of the work (collision detection, assembly and disassembly of data packets, checking frame checksums and retransmission of damaged packets). Thus, as we have already said, a significant part of the load is removed from the processor, which already has something to do in the server system :)

Moreover, expensive server network cards install their own processor. Such cards show very good performance, as they can effectively cope even with a heavy load. The presence of its own processor allows you to install up to one megabyte on them. And this already transfers these products from the category of just network cards to the category of communication network processors.

It is also impossible not to note such a useful feature as self-healing drivers for such devices. What it is? For example, after a network failure, the adapter can independently decide to restart the network card driver, enable network connection integrity checks, or even forcibly disable a failed port.

Many people working on a computer or laptop do not even know what a network card is for on a computer. How important is it for the normal operation of the operating system. And if you do not need to connect to the Internet or perform tasks to create a local network, you can not think for a long time about what an important role an Ethernet network card can play. But there comes a time when the problems of connecting the Internet using a cable begin. Or there is a need to connect another computer to the Internet or a local network - you have to go to the store and choose an additional network card for the computer.

Why do you need an Ethernet network card in your computer?

The possibility of an Ethernet network card allows you to connect only one network device, in order to organize an additional connection, you need to purchase another such card, you should always remember this.

You need to know that the network card is also designed to exchange information over twisted pair (Ethernet). This is a more familiar protocol-related cable. And the board provides a high-speed coaxial connection through the 1394 protocol, and also organizes Bluetooth or Wi-Fi wireless networks. Therefore, in order to properly organize the necessary network structure, you need to take seriously the characteristics of the card itself. The characteristics of the new device must correspond to the tasks that are assigned to it at the present time.

It is possible to provide access to documents, printers, shared folders, or otherwise organize a home network. This is done using a network card already built into the motherboard. When routers and routers are used, as is usually the case in practice, one network card will do the job. However, the process of creating a network will be quite complicated. Using one device, you will have to connect the Internet and your home network. For normal network operation with such a connection, you will need to additionally invite a specialist in this field. Although the need to organize such complex networks does not arise very often.

Only one network card built into the motherboard can connect and provide communication between two computers on a home network. To connect to the Internet, you will need to have two network cards, one of which is responsible only for connecting to the Internet. It is more convenient, simple and profitable to organize the connection of two computers in a small company or office in this way. You do not have to purchase and configure a router. The advantage of a network card over a router is its small size. In addition, to configure the router, you need to have certain skills and abilities. And another positive quality of the network card is that connecting an additional device reduces the reliability of the entire system.

The disadvantage of such a scheme is that the main computer with two cards must be constantly turned on, since it is through it that the Internet will go. The router, even in the always-on mode, will consume much less electricity, and there is no noise from it. But there are situations when a second network card is simply necessary, for example, in one cafe with which I worked, a cash register was connected to the computer via one network card, transferring its readings to the accounting program, and to another - a router with a local network.

Discrete network card or built-in?

Sometimes it becomes necessary to install an additional network card, even if you have a working one built into the motherboard. Why? I have repeatedly said that devices that are made to perform a single task are much better than combined ones. Therefore, a discrete, that is, a separate one, as a rule, is more reliable and stable in operation than the built-in network card, which is installed by default on the motherboard. A good manufacturer puts all the emphasis on the quality of the card, which means that there will be no savings on its components, such as a chipset. Discrete network cards also have a number of other additional features, such as lightning protection - examples are not uncommon when, during a thunderstorm, a network card built into the motherboard burned out in a running computer.

Which network card to choose for a computer on Windows?

Before you go to the store, you need to ask yourself a few questions that will guide you which product to look for:

For computer

For a desktop computer, experts advise choosing a PCI-bus compatible card that sequentially exchanges data over a twisted pair. At the same time, you need to be aware that the PCI bus is more common, and it is compatible with IBM technology. If the computer device is made according to a different scheme, it may be MAC, you need to choose a network card that can work over twisted pair. When purchasing such a card, you need to get acquainted with the connection options. It may happen that, having bought a network card, it will not be possible to connect it, because some buses are not compatible with each other either electrically or software.

For laptop

The network card for a laptop looks a little different in appearance due to the features of the portable connectors on the laptop motherboard. It will be more difficult for a beginner to buy it and change it, so the best option is to take it to a service center where specialists will do it, or connect a USB adapter (in the picture below there are 2 network cards for a laptop - cable and wireless).

Wireless network adapter

Setting up a wireless network will require you to select a USB or PCI Wi-Fi device. And even in this case, there is no need to buy and connect a router. The choice of a network card should mainly be influenced by the speed of the connection and the way it is connected. In this case, a PCI device is more convenient, there must be free PCI slots. In their absence, preference should be given to choosing a USB board. And it is important to consider compatibility with the protocol of these boards. In addition, they must be able to connect with each other.

Network cards designed for high-speed connection via the IEEE 1394 protocol are especially different. Although they were originally created for tree-like connection of various devices. These are devices such as DV cameras, external network drives, and so on. However, when using them, it is possible to organize very productive and fairly fast connections between computers. A big obstacle to the use of such NICs is their high cost. These boards are much more expensive when compared to the prices of Ethernet boards designed to exchange information over twisted pair.

Network card manufacturers

Today in stores you can see network cards from many manufacturers: Realtek, ASUS, Acorp, D-Link, Compex, ZyXEL, Intel, TP-LINK and so on. But you need to take into account that each company makes products for a specific target audience. For ordinary Internet users, the most popular cards are Acorp and D-Link - they are inexpensive and at the same time very high quality. The same as Intel and TP-Link, the emphasis is on the manufacture of sufficiently powerful and expensive products for organizations that install them on servers.

Additional technologies that improve performance and convenience that can be implemented in network cards:

• BootRom - allows you to turn on a PC over a local network through a remote computer.
• PCI BUS-Mastering - to optimize the operation of the network card, which relieves the load from the main processor of the computer.
• Wake-on-LAN - allows you to turn on the computer using a local network. For its normal operation, a motherboard with support for this technology must be installed on the computer, and the computer must also be connected to the network using a special cable if there is no PCI 2.2 support.
• TCP Checksum Offload - also allows the network card to save the processor from unnecessary work. A network card with TCP Checksum Offload support independently processes service information that comes along with the main data over the network, freeing the processor from this work.
• Interrupt Moderation - reduces the number of requests to the processor. This feature will be especially useful in gigabit network cards, through which there is a greater flow of information than conventional ones.
• Jumbo Frame - allows you to three times speed up data retrieval from large packets.

What network card is on a Windows 7 computer?

Before buying a new one, it will not be superfluous to find out which network card is currently installed in the computer. It will also come in handy if you need to update drivers for it after installation on your computer.

It’s very easy to do this - I’m showing on Windows 7. So, we go along the path “Start> Control Panel> System”. Here, in the left menu, select the "Hardware and Sound" item and click on "Device Manager" in the "Devices and Printers" section

By clicking on the plus sign next to the "Network adapters" line, we open a list of boards installed on the computer.

As you can see, it is not difficult to find out which network card is currently on the computer. But it also happens that the system does not see the network card. This time, a third-party program, such as AIDA, can help, which will scan all devices and identify them.

That's all for today, I hope you have decided which discrete or built-in network card is right for you, how to find it out and which one is better to buy. I am sure you will make the right choice!

26. 03.2017

Blog of Dmitry Vassiyarov.

Network card or network adapter what is it?

Hello dear visitors.

Today we will talk about another piece of iron, and more specifically about what a network card is. Do you work at an enterprise where a corporate connection between computers is established? Then you should learn more about the network adapter, since it is he who serves as a link between office computers.

Getting to know each other better

Not with me, but with a network card, of course :).

In English, it is called "network interface controller / card" (NIC), that is, "controller or network interface card." Also, according to the technology that is used in the operation of the device, it has another name - an Ethernet adapter.

So that you understand its essence, I will decipher the first word: “ether” is translated as “ether”, and network is “network, chain”. The concept itself means a family of packet data transmission technologies among computer networks.

The network card is designed to create local networks between computers and/or connect them to the Internet. In other words, you will not connect to the Internet without it.

Recently, communication has been organized using a special cable - an eight-core twisted pair cable equipped with an "8P8C" connector, that is, it has 8 conductors in the same number of places for them.

Connect such a pair to a modern network and a new model card, and you will get speeds from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps (Gigabit). This is, of course, if your ISP gives you such a speed.

This technology is called Gigabit Ethernet, which is now relatively popular. Among its main competitors are fiber optics, Docsis (connecting computers using a television cable) and DSL technology (using a telephone cable).

Also, the connection can be made using the 15-pin AUI connector of the transceiver for a thick coaxial cable or a BNC connector for the same cable, only thin.

Types of network cards

The main criterion by which Ethernet adapters are distinguished is their way of connecting to a computer:

Main settings

Thinking about buying a network card? When choosing, consider not only the types of cables and interface, but also the following characteristics:

• Bit depth (bus bandwidth). It comes in 8, 16, 32 and 64 bits. In ordinary computers, as a rule, a 32-bit device is installed, and in server computers - the maximum amount. Do you have an old computer and operating system? Then, perhaps, it is worth looking at 16 or even 8-bit boards.
• Controller microcircuit (chip). The most reliable are third-generation adapters based on integrated circuits (ASICs). High-quality chipsets are now produced by realtek, intel, broadcom, etc.
• Transfer rate. It starts at 10 Mbps and can go up to 100 Gbps. But don't go after the highest score. Since not all providers will be able to give you maximum speed. Or rather, they may not exist at all.

What card is in your computer?

Can't you answer this question? Then let's find out now. We go along the path Start - Control Panel - Device Manager (in case you have Windows). You can find it in the menu System and Security - System. Among the devices available on your computer, find the one you need.

In principle, I think I wrote everything in detail.

You now have a basic knowledge of what a network card is.

Come back to me for new information.

See you soon, and don't forget to subscribe for updates.