Router — three jobs, one routing table
A router does three syllabus-named jobs, and a full answer names all three. It connects a local network and its devices to the internet. It stores computer addresses — IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, each a unique identifier of a device, not of a user. And it routes data packets: it matches a packet's destination against its routing table and forwards it along the best route. Answering only "it connects you to the internet" covers one job in three.
Wi-fi and Bluetooth — wireless, but not alike
Both connect devices without cables, using radio waves, and both need matching wireless hardware. The differences: wi-fi has the longer range (a building) and the faster transfer, and joins a device to a network via an access point, so many can connect at once; Bluetooth has the shorter range (a few metres) and links two devices directly. Connecting differs too — wi-fi means selecting the network name and password, Bluetooth means pairing two devices.
Cloud computing — data on remote servers
Cloud computing stores, manages and processes data on remote servers run by a provider and reached over the internet. Files are uploaded there; the provider handles backup, security and capacity; the owner can then open, edit and share the same file from any internet-connected device. Its characteristics: it depends on an internet connection, capacity is scalable on demand, and it is paid for as an ongoing subscription rather than a one-off purchase.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Device named, job missing
Naming the device is only half the mark. Say what it does: a hub broadcasts every packet to all connected devices; a switch reads the address and sends it only to the intended device. A vague "it connects computers" fits any device and scores nothing. Candidates also read "network device" as mobile tech, or answered WAN/LAN/WLAN — network types, not devices.
w23 P12 Q3
A NIC is a card, not a connection
The network interface card is the physical card inside a device that lets it join a network. Candidates swap it for other devices — hub, bridge, modem, switch — and for the things it connects to, answering "wi-fi" or "LAN". Wi-fi is how a device connects; a LAN is the network it joins; the NIC is the hardware making either possible. Name the card, not the network.
s22 P12 Q3
Bridge joins LANs, router leaves them
A bridge connects two LANs so they behave as one network, forwarding only traffic that has to cross between them. A router connects a LAN outward to a WAN or the internet, storing addresses and choosing routes. Both "connect networks", which is why the wrong one gets named. Fix on direction: a bridge works between LANs, a router reaches beyond them.
w23 P11 Q5a
Answering about packets, not the router
Asked how a router uses stored addresses, candidates described what a data packet contains instead — that tangent scored nothing. Keep the answer on the router: it stores the addresses, matches a packet's destination against its routing table, and forwards it along the best route. The stored address identifies a device, never a person — not the user.
w23 P11 Q5b / s22 P12 Q9
Intranet is not the internet
The most-repeated trap here. Intranet = private, the organisation's own members only. Extranet = still private, but opened to named external users such as suppliers or customers as well as staff. Internet = public, open to all. Do not pick the internet just because those needing access are outsiders — an extranet lets named outsiders in but keeps the public out.
s23 P11 Q4b / s23 P12 Q4 / s23 P13 Q4 / s22 P13 Q10
Web browser vs search engine
A web browser is the software that displays or renders a web page. A search engine is a website you use to find pages, which the browser then displays for you. Candidates asked about one described the other. The browser is the program on the device; the search engine is a service reached through it.
s23 P11 Q4a
"Larger area" is not enough
For LAN versus WAN the mark scheme wants a larger geographical area; a bare "larger area" was rejected as too vague. Give the full names as well — WAN = Wide Area Network, WLAN = Wireless Local Area Network. And WLAN versus LAN is not a size difference at all: a WLAN covers the same single site, but its devices connect wirelessly instead of by cable.
w23 P12 Q10d
An advantage needs a comparative
A benefit states something good; an advantage compares. "Good-quality printout" is a benefit and fails; "better quality than a dot-matrix" is an advantage and scores. Every advantage, disadvantage or compare answer needs a comparative; explain and describe need a because.
Compare like with like
When comparing wi-fi with Bluetooth, or a LAN with a WAN, put the same feature on both sides — range against range, speed against speed. Listing unrelated facts about each is not a comparison. Do not split the answer into two columns with a vertical line; it caps the marks.
Generic terms only — no brand names
Naming a cloud provider, a conferencing app or a router brand earns nothing, and the front page of the paper says so. Write the generic term instead — cloud storage, wireless router. Echoing a word straight back out of the question stem scores nothing either.
Cloud answers need all three angles
Answer the angle set: characteristics, how data is stored/shared, or advantages/disadvantages compared with another method. Define it as online data storage on remote servers; "the cloud" alone is too vague. On a comparison give subscription-versus-one-off, not "cheaper".
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