Pc Communications - Basic Classes

In this lesson you will learn:

Introduction to Internet Communications

PC Communications includes the use of modems, routers and switches to communicate with Wide Area Networks (WANS), Local Area Networks (LANS) and On-Line services (Internet). This includes either internal networks, as in this school, or International networks, as in the Internet. Help Desk is included here.

The basics

Data communications is the transfer of coded data from one point to another. The coded data might represent news and weather information, stock prices, an address book or database of names and addresses, E-Mail, or another computer program. Any data that can be saved on your PC can be communicated by wireless or cable connection to another computer.

Computers store and retrieve their own data on hard drives and they execute programs that are also stored on the drive. Some of the programs used for networking send long streams of data as 1s and 0s and other programs then segment that raw data into small data packets. Other programs monitor (watch) the state of the data communication and either correct problems or report them to another program. This is covered in-depth in networking classes.

Modems

Until the advent of high speed modems, satellite and wireless, the modem was the most widely used device for communicating programs and data between computers. Now there are 'land line' devices such as Cable modems, routers, switches, hubs, Ethernet and DSL Modems, as well as 'wireless' devices utilizing Microwave and Satellites. Early modems were almost all external, with cradles for the telephone receiver to lay in. The faster modems were internal cards and then only software that boosted speeds to 56k. Most wireless routers and cable modems are separate external boxes that plug into the computer through a Cable and USB etc..

LANS and WANS

LAN (Local area network) and WAN (Wide area network) are other communication technologies. Local area networks, such as this school, use intranets that have all of the computers connected to several central locations within the organization. Wide area networks, like the Internet, have computers connected outside of the organization. The Internet is governed by different organizations on the International level, whereas the LAN intranets are governed by the rules of the organization that created it.

Communications in computer Informational Technology is a career choice, and is a broad subject. Telecommunications, Satellites, Microwave, Tower maintenance and computer LAN and WAN protocols are a few of the subjects of study.

Security

One of the main fields of study in learning about computer networks is security, but probably not for the reasons you may think. There are many layers of security and every operating system uses several layers.

This is just for the local machine! It isn't about encryption levels after the packet is in the wild.

Further areas of study are:

All of these subjects are covered in Network + and Networking Essentials manuals. These are considered must have knowledge skills for even entry level networking and are also required for the Network +, MCSE and other networking certifications.