Wide Area Network (WAN) Devices

1. Modem (modulator-demodulator)
– is a device that provides the
External Modem
computer with connectivity to a
telephone line. It converts data from
a digital signal to analog signal that
is compatible with a standard phone
line. The modem at the receiving
end demodulates the signal, which
converts it back to digital. Internal Modem
– Modems may be installed internally
or attached externally to the
computer using a phone line.

PC Card Modem
 Public Telephone System Network (PTSN)

Home PC
Modem
Internet

PTSN

Remote/Mobile User Office Network

Frame Relay Modem

PTSN
Main Office Network Branch Office Network
2. Router EtherFast® Cable/DSL Router with 8-Port Switch
– Special purpose computer
whose primary function is to
connect networks together
forming a WAN.
– Routers are the backbone of
Internet connectivity. Cisco 2600 Series Router
– Routers can also be used as
LAN devices for
“segmentation” purposes of
Front
large LANs to enhance their
efficiency.

Back
Network Devices Symbols
 Network Protocols:
How does computers and other network devices talk to each other?
• Computers use Protocols to communicate.
• Protocols control all aspects of data
communication, which include the following:
– How the physical network is built
– How computers connect to the network
– How the data is formatted for transmission
– How that data is sent
– How to deal with errors
• The most widely used protocol suite is the
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol)
 Ethernet LANs

Typical Small Office/Home Office LAN

• The most widely used LAN
technology.
• Standard 100 Mbps
bandwidth.
• Most common Ethernet
Hub/Switch
variants:
– 100Base-TX (UTP cabling)
– 100Base-FX (Fiber cabling)
– 1000Base-T (Gigabit Ethernet on UTP)
– 1000Base-SX (Gigabit Ethernet on
Fiber)
• 100m maximum cable length
per node/PC (100BaseTX).
• 550m maximum cable length
Horizontal Cabling
per node/PC (1000BaseSX).
 Ethernet LANs
Typical Enterprise LAN
Workgroup Switch

Workgroup Switch

Backbone Switch

Router

Backbone Switch

Backbone Cabling
(Vertical Cabling)
 Hub characteristics:
• Hubs are passive devices switch allows connected hosts
to share the network media forming a “collision domain”.
• The more hosts connected to the hub, the larger the
collision domain, resulting to less bandwidth allotted for
each host.

100Mbps Hub 100Mbps Hub

25Mbps Each 12.5Mbps Each

 Switch characteristics:

• Ethernet LAN switch provides dedicated full-duplex

connection between connected hosts.
• Hence, full network bandwidth is allotted to each hosts
regardless of their number.
• Manage switches are also capable of efficiently
managing the network by employing VLANs
100Mbps Switch 100Mbps Switch

100Mbps Each
100Mbps Each
 Ethernet LAN NIC

• Used to connect a PC/Printer etc. to network media.

Example of a current model high-end Wireless Ethernet LAN card.

Features:

10/100 Auto-negotiating Ethernet

interface, with SNMP-based management
• Configure and monitor your network
from one centralized location
• Power-on any PC from anywhere on
the network with Wake-On-LAN support
• Optimize your network traffic with
802.1Q VLAN support and 802.1p traffic
prioritization