TECHIE TERMS - Add & Ask

PROLIANT · 10 April 2009 at 2:14PM

If you have broadband coming in, then you need to connect thru' a router (sometimes called a 'hub').

Router routes IP traffic between different networks, a hub is an un-managed device that links many nodes on network together to form a network; a hub will broadcast packets to every node connected to it where a switch will send the packets only to the intended node.
A router will allow communication between network one and network two i.e. the internet to your LAN, a NAT router will allow on internet IP to be used by many LAN private IP nodes.
Ergo a router has no similarity to a hub; a bit like chocolate is to salt. ;-)

mrsv05 · 10 April 2009 at 6:41PM

what is a notebook card? i can either get a modem router with or without a notebook card (same router but £3 difference in price) and i dont know what to do? plse help

enemes · 10 April 2009 at 6:43PM

PROLIANT wrote: »

Router routes IP traffic between different networks, a hub is an un-managed device that links many nodes on network together to form a network; a hub will broadcast packets to every node connected to it where a switch will send the packets only to the intended node.
A router will allow communication between network one and network two i.e. the internet to your LAN, a NAT router will allow on internet IP to be used by many LAN private IP nodes.
Ergo a router has no similarity to a hub; a bit like chocolate is to salt. ;-)

My point was ... that some people do refer to a router, albeit wrongly, as a 'hub'. I know that a hub is unintelligent, but so are many of the people who wrongly refer to them as routers, and sometimes as switches. I was just pointing out the use of language some people use.

PROLIANT · 10 April 2009 at 6:49PM

enemes wrote: »

My point was ... that some people do refer to a router, albeit wrongly, as a 'hub'. I know that a hub is unintelligent, but so are many of the people who wrongly refer to them as routers, and sometimes as switches. I was just pointing out the use of language some people use.

Sorry I was just being pedantic.

enemes · 10 April 2009 at 6:50PM

mrsv05 wrote: »

what is a notebook card? i can either get a modem router with or without a notebook card (same router but £3 difference in price) and i dont know what to do? plse help

a notebook card is the device that is inserted into your laptop to enable a wireless connection to your router. My understanding is that you need both, ie a router with a notebook card.

dotstar24 · 13 April 2009 at 2:21PM

Hi. i've been told to 'defrag' my laptop (?!?!). what does this do and why should i do it? (am total novice)

Thanks,

Dotty x

PROLIANT · 13 April 2009 at 2:28PM

dotstar24 wrote: »

Hi. i've been told to 'defrag' my laptop (?!?!). what does this do and why should i do it? (am total novice)

Thanks,

Dotty x

You should defragment (defrag) your hard disk at least once per month if you use your computer on a regular basis, this utility re-organises the files and free space on your disk and without being to technical it compacts them in to a nice tidy pile - a bit like tidying up the book shelf, this makes it easier for the operating system (Windows) to locate files and puts less stress on your hard disk as it is not having to search to far for the file(s) that it is looking for.

Hope this helps

CrazyCod · 21 April 2009 at 11:51AM

Seen this term used a lot in reference to changing hard disk drives.
Simply what is a USB Caddy ?

Thanks in advance.

enemes · 21 April 2009 at 11:59AM

CrazyCod wrote: »

Seen this term used a lot in reference to changing hard disk drives.
Simply what is a USB Caddy ?

Thanks in advance.

Its merely a casing to hold an external Hard drive, should you want to physically transfer data/contents to somewhere else. If you remove a HardDrive from your PC/Laptop, you would carry it in your caddy. It then has the ability to re-connect to another PC/Laptop through an USB connection.

csnann · 22 April 2009 at 9:29AM

Does Plug & Play literally mean that you can plug something in and it will work straight away? I bought a USB external dial up modem for emergency use and it came with a driver CD. There was no instruction leaflet with it so now I don't know whether I have to put the CD in to get the modem to work and i'm scared to plug the modem in to test it in case I break something!