MAC Address#

Frame#

Media Access Control (MAC)#

Buying NICs#

Buy name-brand.

Installation#

  • Commonly installed in PCI or PCIe slot on motherboard.
  • Can get USB NICs

Drivers#

Usually NICs will come with a CD or have downloadable drivers * Often the drivers are already baked into an OS

Bonding#

Most switches enable you to use multiple NICs for a single machine, a process called bonding or link aggregation. * This can effectively double (or more) the speed between switch and machine. * Best to use identical NICs if this is going to be done

All UTP NICs have some type of LED that indicates if connection is good and if it's working. * Link Light Solid, on if working * Activity Light Flashes intermittently when detects network activity * Collision Light Some older NICs have this, not found on modern network equipment

  • Multispeed Devices Use multiple colers to differentiate between speed of connection
  • Orange = commonly 10BaseT or 100BaseT
  • Green = commonly 1 GbE