How does a computer network works?

If you work in an office, you probably use a LAN (local area network), which is typically a few separate computers linked to one or two printers, a scanner, and maybe a single, shared connection to the Internet.Mar 18, 2016 read more

Photo: Testing a small computer network linked to the Internet. Photo courtesy of NASA Glenn Research Center (NASA-GRC). read more

Understanding the basics of how these networks work helps us learn how to better use them and also increases our awareness of the changing world around us. This installment of our series on How Computer Networks Work examines devices - hardware systems that connect to the network and communicate with each other. read more

The MAC-address is tied to the hardware and have nothing to do with IP-addresses. Since all computers on the network receives everything that is sent out from all other computers the MAC-addresses is primarily used by the computers to filter out incoming network traffic that is addressed to the individual computer. read more