Communication devices

Communication devices

Router: A router is a communication device that sends packets of data between routers on different networks so that the data packets can be delivered to the computer that has requested the data. 

Advantages:

There are many advantages of having router, for example a router allows users to access the internet. another advantage of having a router us that you can connect multiple devices to it which allow those devices to have a singular internet connection. Also another benefit of having a router is that i allows devices to communicate without being direct connected. 

Disadvantages:

If the router is sending multiple data packets to multiple devices at the same time it can cause the network speed to slow down. if you don't have any knowledge before hand it can be difficult for a person to set up a router.

NIC(Network Interface Card):

A network interface card is a communication device that is put into a computer system so that it can connected to a network and receive data. 

Advantages:

There are many advantages of having a network interface card in you computer system, for example it allows your computer to connect to a network. without the NIC you would be unable to many things that are seen as must haves if you have a computer today. For example if you wish to communicate with other devices without being directed connect or even if you want to access the internet you will need a NIC. Also a advantages of using a NIC instead of things such as wireless connection or Bluetooth if the fact that they tend to get much higher internet speeds when compared to theses options.

Disadvantages:

There are some disadvantages of having a NIC for example you will have to have a Ethernet cable connected to NIC if you want to connect to the network and you cannot use the NIC to connect to the network wireless. this can be issue as it is a lot convenient when compared to a wireless connection. Also any computer device that uses a NIC as it communication device to connect to the network will be unable to use the computer if they on the move or with the computer where these is not ethernet cable to be used to connect to a network.

Switch:

A switch is a communication device that is used to connect multiple devices on a network together and send data packets between them.

Advantages: one advantage of using switch in a network is that it's more effective at it's job when compared to alternatives when compared to other options like the hub. The reason for this is that a switch only send the data packets to computer system that requested that data, while a hub would send the data packets to all the computer systems on the network. Another advantages of switches is that usually increases that amount of band the networks bandwidth. Switches also reduces the individual workload the the computer systems on the network.  

Disadvantage:

A disadvantage of a switch when compared to other options like hubs is the fact that they tend to be more expensive. Other communication devices such as hub do less processing when compared to switches therefore hubs can have greater speeds when compared to the switches. Hubs are much simpler than switches as they just send data to all devices an make the systems find out whether they need the data or not.

Wireless access point:

 A wireless access point is a communication device that allow devices to connect to a wired network using WiFi. The wireless access point is either externally or internal connected to the router

Advantages: A big advantage of having a wireless access point is that it allows you to connect your devices wirelessly to a network. This can give many benefits, firstly i allow you to connect devices with out having to pay experts to set up the wired connections if your in an office for example. Also it's much easier for a person to set up a connection wireless when compared to setting up a wired connection. finally it is much cheaper to set up a wireless network when compared to a wired network, this because you only need a wireless access point if you connect wirelessly while you will need to purchase ethernet cable and maybe other devices in a wired network. 

Disadvantages:

If you use a wireless access point to connect to a network it maybe slower than be connect through Ethernet to a network. This is because the waves that carry data can be slowed down by things such as walls or distance to router. Having a wireless network is less secure then a wired network as it possible that anyone can connect to a wireless network from any location.