Network Basics

Let's look at a typical home network, you have a few different components.

• ISP - Your internet service provider, the company you pay to get Internet at your house.
• Router - The router allows each machine on your network to connect to the Internet. In most modern routers, you can connect via wireless or an Ethernet cable.
• WAN - Wide Area Network, this is what we call the network that encompasses everything between your router and a wider network such the Internet.
• WLAN - Wireless Local Area Network, this is the network between your router and any wireless devices you may have such as laptops.
• LAN - Local Area Network, this is the network between your router and any wired devices such as Desktop PCs.
• Hosts - Each machine on a network is known as a host.

The data and information that gets transmitted through networks are known as packets and by the end of the Networking Nomad section, you'll understand in detail how a packet travels to and from hosts.