So we just spent a lot of time talking about
wide area network technology and devices,
but what are the most common ones
that you're going to deal with as a network technician?
Well, by far the most common one you're going to find
is either going to be a cable modem or a fiber optic modem.
For example, here at our offices, we use Verizon Fios.
Verizon Fios gives us a fiber optic connection
to the building.
It goes from their headquarters to our headquarters,
and just outside our building it hits a media converter.
That media converter changes it from fiber optic
to a Cat6 connection.
That Cat6 copper cable then goes and goes through
that media converter into our distribution center
where our patch panel and our switch and router are,
and it connects in there.
From there, that's where we get that direct connection
to the internet over that Cat6 cable
and back out to that media converter.
Now, the box that we have looks something like this.
The only difference is, instead of plugging into
this coax connection, we're actually going to use
this white connection, which is where that Cat6
cable's going to come in, and that's where the modem
part of this comes in from the fiber modem.
Again, we're just transiting that physical layer
from fiber to Cat6, but it's still using that same modem
inside of here to connect it back into our network.
In this case, I have a Verizon box
that is a combination switch router, wireless access point,
and media converter that's going to convert that cable signal
has this built-in cable modem converts that,
routes it over to the local area network.
Now, if you're dealing with fiber optic networks
like the new Verizon Fios network here in the United States,
you're actually going to see something
that looks just like this.
Now, why is that?
Well, because a lot of times they're going to convert it
from fiber to coaxial right outside your home
and then still run it in using a coaxial connection.
Now, another type of network you're going to see is satellite,
and if you're in a remote area where you don't have fiber
or DSL or cable, you might have to use a satellite modem.
A satellite modem's going to look just like the one
I just showed you.
It's still got that coax connection.
The difference is that coax connection
runs up to the satellite dish on your roof,
and that's where it's going to be converted to radio frequency,
up to the satellite, and then down to the base station.
Again, from your perspective as a network technician though,
it's going to look very similar.
You're going to have this modem, this satellite modem
that you're going to plug in a coax cable to,
and out the other side comes this RJ 45, the Cat6 cable
that you can then plug into whatever you want.
The final thing you might find if you don't have satellite
or cable or fiber or DSL is cellular,
and cellular is something that we all use.
I have this little Android phone,
I have my iPhone here sitting in my pocket, right?
All of these are cellular devices
and they are a wide area network connection.
In addition to giving us individual connections
over these cellular devices though,
we can also turn them into cellular hotspots
where they use cellular to connect to the internet
and then put off a wireless access point
from the phone itself so your laptop or your tablets
can connect to them and then use them as a modem
to connect to the outside world.
Again, there are lots of different wide area technologies
that we didn't cover in this lesson,
but these are the ones that you're most likely going to find
when you're out in the field.