Network card

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A network card is a piece of hardware that permits a computer to participate in a computer network. There are different kinds of networks, such as Ethernet or wireless LAN. The network cards for the different networks are different. Sometimes the network card is integrated on the motherboard. Each network card has a unique number; this is used for addressing. It is called the MAC address. MAC addresses can be used to obtain an IP address (in those network cards that use IP).