Network

How it is used

The most basic word in the field. Engineers design, build, manage and monitor networks, and talk about the office network, the guest network, the core network or the mobile network. As a verb, 'to network' usually means meeting people for your career, not connecting devices.

Example sentences

1. The printer isn't on the office network, so nobody can send print jobs to it.

2. We keep visitors on a separate guest network with internet access only.

Common collocations

• office network
• guest network
• core network
• network design
• network engineer

Related terms

• LANShort for local area network: a network that connects devices in a limited area such as a home, an office floor or a single building.
• WANShort for wide area network: a network that links sites across cities or countries, usually over lines leased from a telecom operator or over the internet.
• topologyThe layout of a network: how its devices and links are arranged and connected, for example in a star, ring or mesh shape.
• hostAny device on a network that has an IP address and sends or receives data, such as a computer, server, phone or printer.
• routerA device that connects different networks and decides, packet by packet, the best path for data to reach its destination, usually based on IP addresses.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• network · Software Engineering

More terms: Network Fundamentals

• packet
• port
• OSI model
• broadcast