6. Communications device

A communication device is piece of equipment or hardware designed to move information or data from one place to another, in other words, allowing one computer device to communicate with another. There are many examples of communication devices and we will look at a few below.

Network interface card (NIC) or Network connector

Computers on a network need to be able to communicate with the server and with other computers. In order to do this, a network interface card (NIC) is required or a built-in network chip is included on the motherboard, such as in the laptop opposite..

The hardware handles all the physical network signals.

The NIC allows data to be communicated to and from a networked computer.

Wi-fi cards

When you are using your computer on a wireless network, you need to be able to send data to and receive data from the server and other computers on the network. This may be done by a built-in wi-fi in your laptop or mobile device connected to a local network.

If your laptop needs to connect via a mobile wi-fi network whilst on the move, then you can also purchase a Wi-Fi 'dongle' that looks like a memory stick and is inserted into a USB port. It works in just the same way but is designed to work with a specific mobile internet network provider.

Router

This is a very important network communication device. It is responsible for sending network traffic to its correct destination. It works by reading the destination network address within each data packet and sends it along its way. There can be many routers on a large network.

Modem

A Modem is a device used to convert digital data to analogue data in order to transmit it over the telephone network (MODulation).

It will also convert the analogue data back into digital data when the computer is receiving data from the telephone network (DEModulation).

So together the device MODulates and DEModulates, hence MODEM