How an Ethernet card works

Today the whole world with its vastness is like a small village. The individuals remain in contact despite being thousands of kilometers apart. They manage to influence each other, to communicate, to exchange and above all to help each other without being physically present. All this is possible because they are connected to a huge network. And it is actually thanks to a very small network card or Ethernet card that make up the electronic devices including the PCs in this case that this is possible. We are therefore going to enlighten you a little more about this Ethernet card which works wonders.

What are the types of network cards?

The network card is one of the components of the pc, it is very small in size. The main purpose of this device is to connect the computer or any other electronic device to the network. You should know that the devices have a network interface , the card will just be a link to make the connection. You should know that there are different types of Ethernet cards:

Internal network cards

There are two sub-families: wired internals and Wifi internals.

• Wired internals: This type of network card will be placed on the motherboard. It will offer the user Ethernet cards so that he can connect to a network. They can also be several to be placed on the motherboard, so if the user needs additional cards he can add more;
• Wifi internals: The internal Wifi card will not be placed on the motherboard. It will be in the form of an antenna if we want to say that will connect to non-wired networks, therefore remotely. This type of card can be an excellent alternative if for any reason the user finds it difficult to connect their device to a network via cables.

 

External network cards

This family of network cards also includes wired and non-wired cards.

• Non-wired external network cards: they are generally presented in the form of USB. It allows you to join a Wifi network, however this type of card is generally only an occasional solution given its low range;
• Wired external network cards: This device is in the form of a box which has two types of ports: a USB and another female Ethernet. It can be placed on PCs to either replace a dysfunctional card or to add an extra one.

Ethernet network cards

This is probably the best known type of network card , since it is the one that is most suitable and intended for the general public. For this type of card there are specific standards or norms which actually represent the speed offered by the latter. There are three common ones: a speed of 10Mbits/s; a speed of 100 Mbits/s; and a speed of 1000Mbits/s. In some cases where the connection is very long distance, another standard is used, which is fiber optics.

How does an Ethernet card work?

In a simplified way the Ethernet card will operate according to a process. It will therefore first of all prepare the data , identify them in order to finally be able to send and control them. Each of its steps is very complex, and requires immense calculations, which a small card will perform in not even a second.

During the first stage the data will be prepared, will borrow the “buses” which represent. The card will therefore group the data arriving via the buses to prepare them in groups in order to either send them or receive them.

After this step, the card will perform its role of identifier, it will therefore identify the address corresponding to each piece of data. Once the address has been identified, the sending and receiving cards will agree to send and receive the data, so that there is no problem

How to connect an Ethernet card?

Sometimes, it happens that the Ethernet card disconnects or deactivates, it will therefore be necessary to reconnect it via the operating system. It does not require a great knowledge of the subject to do it, in fact it is even very simple. Here’s how to reactivate it if you have Windows 10:

• You will first need to access the device manager, by simultaneously pressing the Windows and pause keys;
• A network card menu will appear on the left of your screen. You will find the name of your Ethernet card in this menu. If next to its name you see a small black dot, it means that it is deactivated. Just click on it and activate it.