OCR GCSE Computer Science (J277) · Computer systems (Paper 1) › Networks, connections and protocols › Networks and topologies
Practise LANs, WANs and network performance. 12 exam-style questions plus unlimited generated ones on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.
Cover the answers and test yourself. The app has these as flashcards that come back just before you'd forget them.
State what the letters LAN stand for.
Local Area Network
Sample questions
Written for this site in the style of OCR exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.
Question 1Easy3 marks
(a) State what the letters LAN stand for.[1]
(b) State one difference between a LAN and a WAN.[1]
(c) Which one of the following is the largest WAN? Tick (✓) one box.[1]
A school network
The Internet
A home Wi-Fi network
A Bluetooth connection between a phone and headphones
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: Local Area Network
Local Area Network
(b)
a LAN covers a small geographical area (e.g. one site) but a WAN covers a large area / LAN infrastructure is owned by the organisation but a WAN uses infrastructure owned by others (e.g. telecoms companies)
(c)Answer: The Internet
Question 2Medium4 marks
Describe the differences between a LAN and a WAN.[4]
Show the answer and mark scheme
a LAN covers a small geographical area, e.g. a single building or site
a WAN covers a large geographical area, e.g. between cities or countries
a LAN's hardware / infrastructure is usually owned and managed by the organisation
a WAN uses infrastructure owned by third parties, e.g. telecommunications companies / leased lines
a WAN is often used to connect LANs together
LANs usually have higher bandwidth / lower latency than WANs
Question 3Hard5 marks
(a) Explain why a network that uses fibre optic cable may perform better than one that uses copper cable.[3]
(b) Explain how a high error rate affects the performance of a network.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
fibre has a higher bandwidth, so more data can be sent per second
fibre can carry signals over longer distances without them weakening
fibre is not affected by electrical / electromagnetic interference
so fewer errors occur and fewer packets need to be re-sent
(b)
packets that arrive with errors must be re-sent
which uses extra bandwidth / increases the time taken to transfer data