What is a Local Area Network (LAN)?
A Local Area Network (LAN) is a network that connects devices within a small geographical area, such as a home, office, or school building. It allows devices to share resources like files, printers, and internet connections.
What is a Wide Area Network (WAN)?
A Wide Area Network (WAN) is a network that covers a large geographical area, connecting multiple LANs across cities, countries, or continents. The internet is the largest example of a WAN.
What are the main differences between LAN and WAN?
LANs cover small areas with high speeds and low cost, owned by single organizations. WANs cover large areas with lower speeds and higher costs, often using public infrastructure and multiple service providers.
What is the World Wide Web (WWW)?
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the internet using web browsers. It uses HTTP/HTTPS protocols and consists of websites, web pages, and multimedia content.
What is the Internet of Things (IoT)?
The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the network of physical devices embedded with sensors, software, and connectivity that enables them to collect and exchange data over the internet.
What is an intranet?
An intranet is a private network within an organization that uses internet technologies but is only accessible to authorized users within that organization. It’s used for internal communication and resource sharing.
How do WWW, IoT, and intranets differ?
WWW is public web content accessible globally; IoT connects smart devices for data exchange; intranets are private organizational networks using web technologies but restricted to internal users.
What is Wi-Fi and how effective is it?
Wi-Fi is a wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to connect devices to a network. It’s effective for local connectivity with good speed and convenience, but has limited range and can suffer interference.
What is Bluetooth and how effective is it?
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology for connecting devices over small distances (typically 10 meters). It’s effective for personal area networks and low-power applications but has limited range and speed.
What is optical fibre and how effective is it?
Optical fibre uses light pulses through glass cables to transmit data. It’s highly effective with very high speeds, long distances, and immunity to electromagnetic interference, but is expensive to install.
What is 4G mobile communication technology?
4G is the fourth generation of mobile network technology providing high-speed internet access to mobile devices. It offers faster data speeds than 3G and supports video streaming and mobile internet applications.
What is 5G mobile communication technology?
5G is the fifth generation of mobile network technology offering ultra-fast speeds, low latency, and massive device connectivity. It enables new applications like autonomous vehicles and IoT at scale.
Compare the effectiveness of 4G and 5G technologies.
5G offers significantly faster speeds (up to 100x), lower latency, and greater capacity than 4G. However, 4G has better coverage and lower infrastructure costs, while 5G requires more base stations and has limited current coverage.
What is a Network Interface Card (NIC)?
A Network Interface Card (NIC) is a hardware component that allows a device to connect to a network. It can be wired (Ethernet) or wireless (Wi-Fi) and handles the physical connection and data transmission protocols.
What are network cables and their function?
Network cables are physical connections that carry data between network devices. Common types include Ethernet cables (Cat5e, Cat6) for wired connections, providing reliable, high-speed data transmission.
What is a network switch and its function?
A network switch is a device that connects multiple devices within a LAN, creating a network segment. It learns MAC addresses and forwards data only to the intended recipient, reducing network collisions and improving efficiency.
What is a router and its function?
A router is a network device that forwards data between different networks, typically connecting a LAN to a WAN (like the internet). It uses IP addresses to determine the best path for data transmission.
What is the difference between a switch and a router?
A switch connects devices within the same network using MAC addresses. A router connects different networks using IP addresses.
What is a Bus network topology?
A Bus topology connects all devices to a single central cable (backbone). Data travels along the cable and all devices receive the transmission, but only the intended recipient processes it.
What is a Star network topology?
A Star topology connects all devices to a central hub or switch. Each device has its own dedicated connection to the center, and all communication passes through the central device.
What is a Ring network topology?
A Ring topology connects devices in a circular chain, where each device connects to exactly two other devices. Data travels in one direction around the ring until it reaches its destination.
What are the advantages of Bus topology?
Advantages: Simple and inexpensive to set up, requires less cable than star topology, easy to extend by adding devices to the backbone cable.
What are the disadvantages of Bus topology?
Disadvantages: If the main cable fails, the entire network goes down; performance degrades as more devices are added; difficult to troubleshoot problems; security issues as all devices see all data.
What are the advantages of Star topology?
Advantages: If one cable fails, only that device is affected; easy to add or remove devices; centralized management; better performance as each device has dedicated bandwidth; easier troubleshooting.
