What is a network adaptor

A network adaptor or network card or network interface card (NIC) is a piece of hardware that enables a computer to communicate over a network.

It provides the means to interpret the electrical or optical signals sent over the network and translate them into numbers that the computer itself can then transform into graphics, text, sound etc. Also, the network adaptor provides the means to transform numbers back into electrical or optical signals for them to be sent back over the network.

The network card can be though of as a a computer's ears and mouth: it allows it to speak and listen in on a network.