Basics of How Computers And Other Devices Are Connected To The Internet Through Wired Network.
In most small offices or homes, to access the internet, it can be done through turning on our mobile hostpot so other devices can connect to it and use the internet.
But connecting more devices makes our signal weak, also moving the mobile phone away from other devices that are connected to it, makes the signal to go down. Thats why wired network are used at big companies, small offices and sometimes at home if one is able to afford for a mini setup.
Another advantage of using wired network is because it allows what is called shared network i.e when you connect your device to a central point, someone using a computer can send stuff to another, or to a printer and so on.
The framework is as simple as the sketch below.
At first, we got a cloud which can be thought of as our internet which we are provided access to through our ISP (Internet Service Provider) which can be MTN, Airtel in Most African countries like Nigeria and the rest or AT&T, Vodafone in other countries like the U.S, UK.
Connected to the the cloud (or internet) is a modem, and it is a word that we're most familiar with or we've heard of sometimes.
What this modem does is, it takes signal either from the internet or from our devices and make necessary conversion called modulation and demodulation respectively, and thats where the word MO and DEM comes from.
The next device is a router, and it is also a term that we are familiar with. What it does is, if you can remember, we say we can share files through wired network right, but most modem has only one output port at it back which means we can only connect it to a single device like our laptop.
But our mission is to share files not only between our device and the internet but also within the devices themselves. That's where router comes in because, it pave way (or route) for different devices to have access to the internet through modem and also share files between themselves.
And the last stage is the devices we can connect, to have shared network e.g computers, printers, TVs, etc.
To note also, a modem, if it is the only main device connected to the internet in our framework without a router, or with the router which our devices are connected to, also allows our mobile phone to be connected to it through Wi-fi which means it is integrated into this devices.
The wire used to make this connections are called the Ethernet cables, also called cat 5 or cat 6 (i.e category 5 or 6).
Lastly, this network connection is called LAN (Local Area Network) because it is a connection made for small offices or homes or even a big company.
Hope you get the fundamentals, but if there's something more you can enlight us on, contact us we do appreciate.
