A wireless NIC, often integrated or installed as an add-on card, allows a computer to connect to a network without the use of physical cables by using Wi-Fi standards such as 802.11a/b/g/n/ac. A wired NIC requires an Ethernet cable to connect to a network, a modem is a device that modulates and demodulates signals for communication over telephone lines, and an access point is a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, but it is not installed in a computer.