a common way to do this is to use a wireless access point a wireless network like this is also called wi-fi an example of this is if you have a tablet it is impractical to cable it in so wireless is a good option the access point is like a switch without cables more than one device can connect to the access point at a time but without the messy cabling the access point can also be connected to the switch with a cable this way wired and wireless devices can all be part of the same network having both wired switches and wireless access points gives you more connection options imagine you have a laptop in an office you may connect it to the network with a cable when you're at your desk when you have a meeting in the conference room you remove the cable and connect to wi-fi whether wired or wireless the goal of the network is to move information from one device to another for this to work the sender and the receiver must understand each other they need to speak the same language in the network speaking the same language means that devices agree on how data is sent received organized and handled basically they agree on a process that they all follow it's a bit like filling out paperwork this is called a protocol a lot of different protocols are used depending on what's needed at the time network software and hardware are designed with these protocols in mind you will hear of protocols like ethernet and tcp which are used for sending and receiving data you may also hear of protocols like http which is used for accessing the web and smtp which is used for email usually several protocols are used together to achieve a task we'll look at protocols further in future videos in summary networks are used to connect devices together devices use the network to communicate and to share information to share information devices need to speak the same language this language is called a protocol which is a set of instructions of how to handle the information we're going to start with some simple questions to get the brain working firstly what are the two ways computers can connect to the network to follow on from that what devices do they usually connect to and finally how many protocols are used when one computer accesses another computer when you're ready to see the answers follow the link at the bottom of the screen
NO_SEGMENT_TOKEN