What is a network card?

Any modern computer system is a complex of interacting devices, each of which performs some specific functions. For example, the video card is designed to generate signals that are converted by the monitor into an image; Audio - for audio output; Network card - for communication of several computer systems, etc. All of them, being assembled in a single system, form a computer. That is why it is so important to understand the features of the devices, to know their basic characteristics. The topic of today's article is a network card.

Currently, the market offers several modifications of such devices, which differ from each other by the manufacturer, the used communication chip, the maximum speed of work, the way to connect to the motherboard of the computer and the data transmission medium. Let's consider each moment in more detail.

Manufacturer

There are several companies that manufacture such devices. When choosing it is worth paying special attention to the chip used - it is his characteristics that determine the opportunities that are being realized. These can be products of companies Realtek, Intel, Qualcomm, i.e. All those who are directly engaged in the production of communication equipment. Despite the fact that the main task of the devices is the same, the "firewood" for the network card (program in the operating system that manages the work) can have different additional capabilities for different manufacturers. For example, intelligent power management, a method for processing an awakening command, setting the frame size is not present in all solutions, and the implementation may be different. If the network card should support specific capabilities, then the choice should be approached, only thoroughly prepared. For ordinary users, any network card is suitable, the main thing is to ensure that the speed matches and the transmission principle is suitable.

In addition, the cost of functionally identical solutions is largely dependent on the manufacturer. When buying products of a famous developer often have to overpay "for the name." It is believed that these models have higher reliability than budget. This is partly true. At the same time, the D-Link network card (as well as any other manufacturer) can be bought for a different amount. We give the reasons for this below.

Hardware Features

In order to handle the flow of digital data in a certain way, the network card performs a large amount of calculations - it generates packets in accordance with standards, controls reception / transmission, etc. And for this, the resources of the central processing core are used. That is why with a large amount of transmitted data, there may be a general slowdown. To solve this problem, chips in some models of network cards are able to independently process the data stream without using the central processor. This is called hardware processing. It can be complete and partial. Thus, an inexpensive card with programmatic control is suitable for organizing a simple network, but for more complex sites it is recommended to pay attention to more advanced models.

Speed

Performance is one of the key characteristics of such devices. In accordance with the standard, the cards can support data rates of 10, 100, and 1000 megabits per second. All modern solutions, in which a RJ-45 connector is used to connect a cable, are compatible with each other, that is, with the same cable you can connect models with 10 and 1000 Mbit. In this case, the protocols will be automatically reconfigured to a lower speed. Thus, if you need to connect two computers to a 1Gb network, then having the necessary cable and cards, this can be done easily. However, if there is an intermediate element between them, for example, a 100 Mb switch, then the overall speed will be limited to them.

Wednesday

For data transmission , a cable (twisted pair) can be used , as well as radio frequencies. The cards that use the latest solution most often work according to the Wi-Fi standard. Now they are very popular, as networking is much simpler. The transmission speed when using the radio channel does not exceed 300 Megabit.