Network Navigator

Two decisions, then seven names

Once two machines can reach each other, everything in this topic answers one of two separate questions. How do they connect? That is wired against wireless, and it is a trade-off, not a winner. What rules do they follow once connected? That is protocols, and OCR names seven of them. The two decisions are independent. A wireless laptop and a cabled desktop use exactly the same protocols to fetch the same web page. Keep them apart and this stops being a pile of acronyms.

Protocol names worth learning properly

A protocol is an agreed set of rules for communication. These are the ones this paper names, and a one-line purpose for each is what earns the mark.

What you gain and lose without a cable

Neither one wins outright. The exam wants the trade-off, judged against what the user actually needs.

How to answer a which-one question

These questions almost never want "this one is better". They want a judgement, and there is a shape that gets full marks. Name the factor that actually matters to the person in the question. Say which option wins on that factor. Then say what it costs them, because every choice here gives something up. A weak answer states a preference. A strong answer states a factor, a winner and a price, and it stays tied to the user in front of you rather than to what you would pick at home.

Match the protocol to the traffic it carries

Mail on a phone and a laptop

Someone reads the same mailbox on their phone during the day and on their laptop in the evening, and wants every message to still be there on both, already marked as read. Which receiving protocol should the account be set up with?

• IMAP
• POP
• SMTP
• FTP

True of a wireless link

Select the TWO statements that are true of a wireless connection.

• The signal weakens through walls and with distance
• Nearby devices on the same frequency can interfere with it
• It is always faster than an equivalent wired link
• It needs no security because there is no cable to tap

Seven names, three of them mail

This topic names seven protocols: TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, POP, IMAP and SMTP. Three of the seven exist to move email. Subtract to find how many of the seven are not email protocols.

Protocol gauntlet

Five in a row, three lives. Name the protocol from the job.

Complete the protocol paragraph

An agreed set of rules that lets two devices communicate is called a _____. A browser fetches a web page using _____, and the encrypted version of that same job is _____. When you press send, the message leaves your device using _____.

Layers, and how far you need to go

The TCP/IP model splits all of this work into four layers, each handling one part of the journey and handing the result to the next. The point of splitting it up is independence: one layer can change without the others being rewritten, which is how a laptop that switches from a cable to Wi-Fi carries on loading the same page without anything else noticing. Now the useful part for this paper. OCR states that knowledge of the names and function of each layer is NOT required, unlike some other boards. So if a revision video has you chanting four layer names in order, you are spending time this specification will not test. Understand why layering helps, and put the effort into the seven protocols instead.

Spot the true network facts

Tap the TWO statements that are true.

• A protocol is an agreed set of rules for communication
• HTTPS does the same job as HTTP with the traffic encrypted
• FTP is the protocol used to send an email
• A wireless signal is unaffected by walls and distance

Three connection calls

Three real decisions. Choose the option you could defend in an answer.

• A small studio has two editing desktops that never move, sitting two metres apart, shifting very large video files between them all day. What should they be connected with?
• A cafe wants customers to get online on their own phones anywhere in the seating area, at low cost and without rewiring a listed building. What fits?
• A customer is about to type card details into a checkout page on the cafe Wi-Fi. What is the one thing worth checking first?

Write the connection advice

A small charity is fitting out one office. Some staff work at fixed desks all day, others move between rooms with laptops, and everyone sends and receives email and uses the web. Write the advice you would give them.

• Recommend wired or wireless for the fixed desks, and give the factor behind it
• Recommend wired or wireless for the staff who move about, and say what that choice costs them
• Name the protocol used to send email out and the one you would choose for reading it on more than one device
• Explain why you would insist on HTTPS rather than HTTP for anything involving personal details