To connect various nodes to form a robust network we do need some devices that are capable of transmitting, reading, routing and handling collisions.
Anyone can manufacture a network device by their own to handle various tasks within their own local networks but there already exists a standard that are established by several organisations years ago and the manufactures have implemented the same into their hardwares. And these devices are now being used world wide to make a mighty network.
There are quite a few kinds of network devices available in 2025 to use in your network. Some are used for segmenting and grouping networks, some to convert signals from one form to other and some to route data to different networks.
1.Hub
This is a network device that is too old for this generation and it operates on layer 1 or the physical layer. It just floods all the nodes connected to itself with incoming traffic. Hence it consumes the entire bandwidth and just forwards the incoming frames within the Broadcast domain.
2. Repeater
This is an electronic device that receives a weak incoming signal due to attenuation and re transmits it at the original power without any degradation. These are used in mobile network towers to maintain strong signal strengths across long distances.\
3. Modem
Short for Modulater-Demodulater, it is widely used in telephone networks and digital subscriber lines to convert outgoing electrical signals to analog and vice versa. This is a layer 1 or physical layer device.
4. Network Interface Card
This is a hardware embedded into electronic devices that are able to communicate and connect to a network. A unique low level address known as MAC address is assigned to each device directly by the NIC manufacturer. This is a very important hardware component which is alone responsible for address our device in a large network and operates on both Physical layer as an interface for connectors like RJ45 or an antenna and also Data Link layer as the frame encapsulater for the datagrams passed down by the Network Layer.
5. Switches
These are basically like smart hubs that are widely used in star topology networks. Unlike basic hubs they dont flood all the available transmission media with incoming traffic, they have in-built storage for ARP Caching which provides ARP tables which contain the records of the available MAC addresses. This smartly then routes the incoming frames only through the appropriate transmission media hence conserving the bandwidth. These operate on layer 3 or the network layer.
6. Bridge
These are the network devices that segment large networks in various sections to optimise the performance of a network. They have in-built primary memory that stores MAC address of both the sections in MAC tables. This prevents a frame from being sent to unknown networks and directs back to the next intermediate nodes. This device works on layer 2 or the data link layer.
7. Routers
These are the network devices responsible for routing incoming frames to appropriate destination. These devices work on layer 3 or the network layer and use TCP/IP addressing as its routing basis. These devices convert a Local Area Networks into a wide area network or a metropolitan area network. They have in-built switch and has two ports one for LAN to connect a Ethernet cable to a host and a WAN port to connect to the internet.
8. Gateway
This is technically is not necessarily a physical network device instead is a software or a firmware usually in-built into a router that is responsible for protocol conversion during inter network communication. Also known as common medium or a protocol converter.
9. Wireless Access Points
They are network devices responsible for converting the data stream coming from guided transmission medias like ethernet, co-axial or a fibre optic to a radiowave for connecting wireless-mobile devices to the network. These are usually used at the very ends of a network.
Congratulations you've reached the end, in this article you have learned the different physical devices and software involved in connecting and managing traffic of the hosts in a network formed by various transmission media. Now moving forward you may want to learn more about different transmission medias and their functions.
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