Difference between network adapters and a nic card?

NIC = Network Interface Card, I believe, and it's sometimes referred to as Network Card or Network Adaptor. So they are the same thing. You can have different speed of NICs- 10 megabits (mbps), 100 mbps, and then 1000 mbps. The higher speed nics are usually compatible with the lower speed ones. Most people use 100 mbps cards nowadays. Also you can have a PCI, USB, and firewire network adaptors. LAN stands for local area network, which usually describes a group of interconnected computers and networking equipment at a single location. WAN is wide area network, which describes an interconnected network at different locations.

[ This message was edited by: david on 2003-01-10 14:19 ]

I have been working on a laptop and was trying to connect to the internet. I see that only network adapter is indicated under system hardware profiles. I hear the term Network adapter, Nic, Lan, Wan etc. I assume that the Network adapter is not for internet connection. Can you please expain the differences. Thanks.