Network Diagrams

A network diagram is a drawing of the hardware in a network and the connections between the devices. It shows what is linked to what, not where each device sits in a room.

Label every device

Write the correct name next to each piece of hardware: router, switch, wireless access point (WAP), NIC and the transmission medium. If a network has two switches, label each one so a reader can tell them apart. A NIC is usually built inside a device, so label it at that device rather than drawing it as a separate box.

Use the exact device name. A switch and a router are different pieces of hardware, so they must not share one general label.

Show every connection

Draw a line for each cabled link and label the medium, such as copper cable or fibre optic cable. Show a wireless link with a dashed line or a clear wireless symbol, and label it wireless. Every line must start at one device and end at another.

The diagram should make three things easy to see:

• which devices connect to which switch;
• where the WAP is, and which devices connect to it wirelessly;
• where the router joins the LAN to another network, shown as a labelled outside network.

Worked example

For a small theatre box office network, draw two wired computers (one at the ticket desk, one in the manager's office), a switch, a WAP, a router and one wireless card reader. Join each computer to the switch with a labelled cable and label each computer's wired NIC. Join the WAP to the switch by cable, and join the card reader to the WAP with a dashed wireless link, labelling its wireless NIC. Join the router to the switch and to a labelled outside network, such as the theatre group's head office network. A reader can now trace every connection without guessing.