CertiGuide to A+ (A+ 4 Real)  9  Chapter 14: Networks       9  What is a Network?            9  Network Components

Domains 1 2 3 4 Protocol Standards

Adapter Configuration

Clicking the Configure button underneath the name of your network card will display a further dialog. This will be dependant on your network card and driver versions; however, Figure 432 is a representative example:

This dialog is the same one that can be reached by right clicking the network card in Device Manager, and selecting properties. For this type of network card, we can configure it using the Advanced tab (note that other network card drivers present different options, and some even have their own separate configuration utilities).

For almost any card, there are 3 important settings to configure. First, the Line Mode must be configured to match the network line mode. Most cards have an “Auto Detect” option, but this author has found it to be far more reliable to configure explicitly this setting due to incompatibilities between network cards and switches. Second, the Line Speed must be configured to match the network speed. For most cards, this is a choice between 10Mbps, 100Mbps or “Auto Detect”²⁰⁹. Again, this author recommends that you set the line speed explicitly, rather than using “Auto Detect”.

The final setting to configure depends on the options offered by the network card. Some cards provide multiple adapters for different cable types such as 10Base2 Coaxial cable. If your card has this option, you should configure the media to use here.

Once you have configured the properties of the physical card, the next step is to configure the protocols this network connection will use. Clicking OK dismisses the card configuration dialog, and returns you to the Network Connection properties dialog.

Domains 1 2 3 4 Protocol Standards