September 22, 2026
3.4 Network Hardware & Topologies
Network Interface Cards, Routers & Addresses Devices that enable computer systems to communicate over local (LAN) and wide area networks (WAN). Network Interface Card (NIC): Hardware component connecting device to network. Contains a factory-assigned physical MAC address. MAC Address vs IP Address: MAC is a 48-bit physical identifier (e.g., 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E) tied to hardware. IP is […]