Super Basic Networking Question (on how they work)

[connecttokarl1]

If anyone could just clarify this for me

A, B and C are 15 miles apart. The red line is an Ethernet cable and the circles are wireless access points (so they can move along the line and still connect). Can A B and C send messages to eachother while connected to these WAP's or is this what the router does?

Sorry it's a basic one but I keep getting mixed up between routers and switches

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[SugarPsycho]

In theory, yes but that would be highly impractical. It would be better to use vpns to join the networks in my opinion and have the person moving across it accessing the networks through a vpn client. It's impractical because you would most likely need fiber optics, if not a lot of repeaters and it's very expensive to lay new fiber, especially in already developed areas.
Them all being connected directly would make them the same network therefore able to communicate.
The different points would not communicate using the waps they would more likely use the existing fiber/ethernet cable because it would be more reliable and they would use a router to do that.

Sorry if its an odd answer I hope you can make sense of it... It's hard to tell exactly what you are asking.

 

[connecttokarl1]

In theory, yes but that would be highly impractical. It would be better to use vpns to join the networks in my opinion and have the person moving across it accessing the networks through a vpn client. It's impractical because you would most likely need fiber optics, if not a lot of repeaters and it's very expensive to lay new fiber, especially in already developed areas.
Them all being connected directly would make them the same network therefore able to communicate.
The different points would not communicate using the waps they would more likely use the existing fiber/ethernet cable because it would be more reliable and they would use a router to do that.

Sorry if its an odd answer I hope you can make sense of it... It's hard to tell exactly what you are asking.

No Problem - I was thinking that A,B,C are all mobile users - the main thing I cant get to grip with is where (if at all) routers/switches would be used

 

[SugarPsycho]

Ah I see. So what you could do is set up peer-to-peer connections or a virtual private network (VPN). These would allow the devices to communicate over the internet. So the connection would travel through a router then to the internet afterward through another router to the second device. To make it all better if you set up a file server where the vpn is based you can have all the devices have a centralized storage, you can setup a file server with a simple workstation and linux.

 

[bill001g]

Your question is actually extremely complex, people make their whole career figuring out how to make stuff like that work.

If you really want to spend hours learning things you can do to cisco site and search for a topic called "ip mobility". They have a couple of white papers discussing things like how you can move from say a office network to a cell network and back without data loss.

Normal WiFi does not really work well to hand traffic off even moving between 2 wifi radio sources inside your house. The main problem is the end device control what it connects to unlike a cell tower where the network tells the end device what to do. Companies like cisco sell hardware and software to try to solve these problems but it is something only very large businesses can even think to afford.

There is no simple name for any piece of equipment now days. If you were to look at the equipment mounted inside the antennas on a cell tower the small card can perform function of both a router a switch and many other devices. There is no clear cut name you can put on this equipment.

I have worked for many years in the networking field and have sat in meeting with cell phone engineers and have learn a bit but this is a highly specialized knowledge. If you learn it, it is one of the best paying and high demand jobs there is.