1. Unit 1.4 Wired and Wireless Networks Lesson 2

2. Big Picture Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWTJKcg7Pj8
What hardware do we need to create a LAN. How will the computers be connected together and what might be required to do this?
What do we mean by the performance of a network and why this might be important?

3. Learning Objectives Identify the components required to create a LAN
Describe the role of each component in a LAN
Understand what is meant by the performance of a network and why this is important
Explain the factors that can affect the performance of a network

4. Engagement Activity
How do packets travel around a network? (Practical class engagement task)
Have you ever been frustrated by your computer or mobile device working very slowly. What might be causing that to happen and what might be affecting the performance of the network you are trying to use

5. Key Words LAN Packet Network interface card (NIC)
Wireless access point (WAP)
Router
Switch
Network interface card (NIC)
Transmission media
Network performance

6. Activity 1 What do we mean by a packets of data?
Why do we need to create packets of data?
What might happen if we did not have the correct hardware to guide the passage of the packets of data?

7. Packets Data transmitted over a network is broken down into packets.
Each packet contains the address of the sender and the address of the receiver (IP addresses)
Packets will also contain a sequence number
Packets will have a time to live (how many hops around the network they can take before they disappear

8. Hardware components
What is the role of the following hardware components in a network?
Wireless access point (WAP)
Router
Switch
Network interface card (NIC)
Transmission media

9. Wireless Access Point (WAP)
Allows for wireless devices to connect to a network (either LAN or WAN)
Includes connections through Wifi and Bluetooth
WAPs provide Internet access in public places (often known as Wi-Fi hotspots)

10. Router
An interconnection device used on networks to connect two or more devices.
Routers contain a routing table which has a list of IP addresses and common routes for packets to take
Routers examine packets IP addresses
The router will apply a subnet mask to identify a network and determine which network the packet should be forwarded to
If the packet is for this network – the router determines which host to send the packet to
Routers allow packets from different network types to be exchanged

11. Switch
If two or more computers place a packet onto a network at the same time – a data collision occurs
A switch is an interconnection device that connects two or more devices together and helps in solving the issue of data collisions
As a data packet arrives at the switch – its destination address is examined and the switch creates a direct connection to that device
As far as the two devices are concerned there are no other computers on the network (see example)

12. NIC Network Interface Card
A network interface card allows a computer to connect to a wired network
A NIC allows data packets to travel to and from a computer
A NIC contains a MAC address which is a physical hardware address
A NIC allows an Ethernet cable to be plugged into this

13. Transmission Media Ethernet (Cat 5e / Cat6) Fibre optic Coaxial Cable
Known as twisted pair
A networking standard
Fibre optic
Very fast cable but also more expensive (often used with WAN or larger LANs)
Coaxial Cable
An older networking standard

14. Activity 2
Complete the worksheet by drawing lines between the correct hardware term and definition.

15. Activity 3
Create a leaflet for a business to explain how they can get the best out of their network.
In it the leaflet you should explain the factors that can affect the performance of a network and how these can possibly be overcome.

16. Plenary
Pair testing
Use revision cards to test your partner to find out what they know about network components

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