The label network hardware is usually offered to any piece of equipment for the purpose of moving data. There are three types Network hardware which are described as follows :

Routers : A Router is a physical network device that combines multiple networks with wired and wireless as well together. Routers are generally operated at third layer of Open System Interconnection recognized as Network Layer. You can come across many types of interface such as Ethernet and DSL. To be precise, a wired or wireless router is a Network Layer’s gateway which wired/wireless router joints networks and router that works at the network layer of the OSI model. For creating routing table router generally utilizes one or more routing protocols. For home Internet connection often IP (Internet Protocol is used. This IP Router combines home area network to WAN (Wide-Area Network) of the Internet.

Switches : A Switch is a small hardware device that combines multiple ports with in one local area network (LAN). Network Switches operates at second layer of Open System Interconnection as recognized Data Link Layer. MAC addresses are stored by network switch for each device that is connected and examine each frame that passes through it. Even the destination of MAC is examined by network switch. Network switches may be same as network hubs, the only difference is switch contain more intelligence than hub.

Network Interface Cards : A Network Interface Card is relatively a new term and it is an expansion card that is installed into PC for getting connected to local area network (LAN). Of late Ethernet Card is the common when it comes to Interface Card. Wireless network interface and Token Ring network interface cards are other types of interface cards.