Fax, tele/video conferencing, LAN/WLAN/WANs, intranet, Hub/Bridges/Switches, Proxy Server.

If you sign a fax and sign it, they  can hold it up in a court of law, if you email something with your signature, it cannot be. Faxes are also a huge security risk, the have a delay (who will be there to pick it up) but are faster to get a hard copy to someone.

tele/video conferencing (example: skype) main benefit is multiple people, a group. It allows you to show 'material'.

Local Area Network- is a network on one site.
When two lans come together you have WAN, 2 sites. To create a LAN you need network cables, switches, hubs, and bridges. To create a wireless WAN you need an access point so it can be linked onto the LAN. Equipment for a WAN- you need a router at either end. WLAN allow for wireless devices. WLAN is a wireless LAN.

Intranets are also only accessed by passwords, it is an internal website, for when you are only on-site. Intranet is just web technologies being used inside you business/school.

A Hub is a very confused box, it takes one thing in and broadcasts it multiple times/ways; 'Multi Broadcasting' and much slower.
Bridges are used to organise a LAN, they are intelligent, they are used to maximize the speed of sending a signal. If you have a private line, you 'don't' need a router at each end, it can send it straight from LAN to LAN.
A Switch, has overtaken the Hub, it holds a lost of everyone's IP address of anyone who connects to it, it manages the traffic going through it, it broadcast the signal down only one line, unlike the Hub.
A Proxy server makes your connection tot he outside world anonymous. It can log activity, and manage bandwidth.

(Dis)Advantages of the internet, IDs and PWs

+
It eases communication of files (and other stuff). Reduce amount of training required. Provides a common recognisable interface. Share resources.

-
Hacking (unauthorised access), viruses, loss of resource (if network goes down).

ID's and Passwords are used to divide the information between people, and also group accounts into authorisation (staff/students at school)

Router, WiFi, Bluetooth, Setting up a network.

Router sits between 2 networks. It goes to your ISP first. ISP is a network that dishes out numbers. The tele communication can only give out so many numbers, so it gives your router a number.  The router is a way of dividing 2 networks up, it passes info thats going around one network to another network, keeping the traffic separate.  Routers control traffic.

WiFi- transferring data between devices without the need for a physical connection. It is faster than Bluetooth.
Bluetooth is used to transfer small files between mobile devices. When you use a bluetooth connection, the network is being run off your device (phone for example). To run of a wireless network, it must be being run somewhere.  Bluetooth is between two devices only.

To sep up an network for the internet, you need an ISP, software.