Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
You can configure a device's network adapter via the Settings or Control
Panel in the operating system. You can turn the various wireless adapters
on or off on a tablet or smartphone, for instance. Many people choose
to keep Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned off to save battery life when those
adapters are not being used.
Step by Step
Checking Device Manager for Network Devices
Not sure what network adapters are installed on your PC? Follow these steps to find out:
In Windows, click Start and click Control Panel.
Click Hardware and Sound.
Click Device Manager. The Device Manager window
opens.
Click the arrow to the left of Network Adapters to
expand that category. The available network adapt-
ers appear. Four network adapters are shown here.
You can deduce from their names what kind of
networks they support.
Double-click the network adapter with Ethernet in
its name. Its Properties dialog box appears.
Click each of the tabs in the dialog box to review
its settings and then click Cancel.
Close the Device Manager window, and close the
Control Panel window.
Each network adapter has a hardware address, called a media access
control (MAC) address , that is unique in all the world. The MAC
address is separate from the network-specific address, such as the IP
address (covered in Chapter 10, “Web Basics” ).
media access control (MAC) address A
unique hardware address for a network adapter.
Switches and Hubs
A switch is a box that provides a central gathering point for all the com-
puters in an Ethernet LAN. Each computer's network adapter connects
to the switch, either via a cable or wirelessly. (Bluetooth and infrared
wireless networks don't use switches because they only connect individ-
ual devices to one another, not groups of devices.) The switch manages
the data traffic between the devices. A wireless switch is called a wireless
access point (WAP) .
switch A gathering point for the computers in a
LAN to connect with to participate in the network.
wireless access point (WAP) A wireless
switch.
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