The four basic networking topologies are bus, ring, star, and mesh. Logical and physical topologies differ in many ways. LANs and CANs are smaller area networks in which the cable is owned by the company using the network. MANs and WANs are wider area networks in which the cable is owned by the connection provider. Token-ring is a ring topology that's often implemented in a physical star configuration on a collision avoidance network.
Repeaters repeat the signal being transmitted on the wire in cases of signal attenuation.
Bridges connect two similar networks with dissimilar networking protocols at OSI layer 2 to transmit traffic. Routers connect similar subnetworks, functioning as traffic cops that can limit excessive traffic. These operate at layer 3. Gateways connect dissimilar networks as translators. To configure a NIC, the cabling protocol and network protocol must match those of the network it will join.