I am getting a better idea of what all is involved and it doesn't lookI kept waiting for someone to answer this who actually knows what they're doing, but I haven't seen a reply, so I'll take a stab at it.
too difficult as long as I can figure out the differences between
routers, switches, hubs, access points, and network adapters. In truth,
these all look as if they do the same job to me. No?
--- router ---
a device that acts as a traffic cop at a busy intersection between two sections of town. When Ma wants to go to the store for a loaf of bread, she can do so by driving around the corner to the local 7-11, and the traffic cop doesn't need to get involved. If she approaches the busy intersection, the traffic cop will ask her where she's headed, and learning that she doesn't need to go through the intersection will direct her away from the intersection. But if she needs a replacement titanium jet port for her Mars Launch Vehicle she's building in the back yard, she'll have to go over to the other section of town to Fred's Pick-A-Parts Used Space Vehicle Emporium. In such a situation, she'll have to go through that busy intersection. In that case, the traffic cop gets involved, and will let her through the intersection.
So a computer network may have 4 computers on one segment of wires, making up a "segment", and there may be 7 computers on a different segment totally unconnected to the first segment. If one of the 7 needs to talk to one of the 4, some sort of connection must be made between the two segments. A router makes that connection. It blocks local segment traffic from getting over and cluttering up the other segment, while allowing traffic that's intended to go from one segment to the other.
--- hub ---
a "dumb" device, that basically just echos (and amplifies) the signal from one device (computer, printer, etc) to all the other devices on the segment. The most common ones are mini-hubs, having 3 to 5 ports, usually used in homes and maybe small offices, and "real" hubs having 8 or 16 or 32 ports that are usually in a wiring closet and are used in bigger offices/businesses. You've seen the telephone jack duplexers that turn one telephone jack into two, or maybe three? You can think of a hub as being essentially the same thing (but a little more complex internally).
--- switch ---
a "smart" hub. Whereas a hub will repeat the incoming signal from one device to all the other devices plugged into it, a switch will "route" the data only to its intended device, thus cutting down on segment traffic. Nowadays, switches are cheap enough that there's no reason to get a hub instead of a switch (unless you get a good deal at a garage sale).
--- access point ---
my understanding is that this is just a wireless switch. Rather than having a switch with a physical ethernet cable running from the switch to the computer (or other device), it communicates with the device via radio.
--- network adapter ---
The connector that attaches the device (computer, printer, etc) to the network cable (usually ethernet cable nowadays, but could be "thinwire", etc).
Most home networks will use the "star topology" (or a variant thereof). This is where you have a "central" hub/switch (even if it's not centrally located geographically), and wires extending out to the various devices, like legs extending out from a spider's body. The ethernet cable is the leg itself. The network adapter is the ankle of the spider. And the computer or printer is the foot.
A diagram can be seen here: http://www.homenethelp.com/web/diagram/ethernet-hub.asp, and you might want to click on the link about switches vs. hubs.
Also see: http://www.dansdata.com/network.htm http://www.poremsky.com/router.html
-- Kent
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