Edexcel GCSE Computer Science (1CP2) Exam Questions

• A LAN (1)
• The only correct answer is A. The correct answer is LAN (Local Area Network).
• B is not correct because a PAN connects devices around one person over a short range
• C is not correct because a VPN is a secure private connection made over a public network, not a network covering one building
• D is not correct because a WAN connects networks over a large geographical area

Award up to two marks for a linked explanation such as:

• Each router chooses the best route at the time (1) so when a route becomes busy/congested or fails, later packets are forwarded along a different path (1)
• Routers forward each packet separately (1) so the path a packet takes depends on the traffic conditions when that packet arrives (1)
• A router may send a packet to a different next router (1) if its routing table shows a better/less congested route for that packet (1)
• Traffic on the internet changes (1) so no single path is kept for the file and each packet can use whichever route is best when it is sent (1)

For both marks, the expansion must follow/associate with the statement.

Allow reference to a routing table, or to how a router decides the route, as part of the linked reason.

Do not accept 'the packets have different IP addresses' because all packets from the same file have the same destination IP address, even though their routes can differ.

Do not accept 'the internet is busy' or 'there is a lot of traffic' on its own without linking this to the router choosing a different route.

Do not accept 'different routers send the packets' on its own without a reason why a different router/route is chosen.

Do not accept an answer that only says the packets take different routes without explaining why.

Award up to two marks for a linked explanation such as:

• Data/packets are delivered to the correct device (1) because the IP address identifies that device on the internet (1)
• A reply is sent back to the device that made a request (1) because the sender's IP address is used as the destination address for the reply (1)
• Routers can forward packets to the right device (1) because each packet's destination IP address matches only one device (1)
• A device can be contacted by other devices (1) because other devices use its IP address to send data to it (1)

For both marks, the expansion must follow/associate with the statement.

Allow 'so the router knows where to send data' only when expanded to say the IP address identifies the destination device / is used by routers to forward the packet to that device.

Do not accept 'so it can connect to the internet' / 'so it can access the internet' without saying how the address is used to identify the device or deliver data to it.

Do not accept 'so the device can be identified' on its own without saying what the identification is used for, e.g. delivering data or returning a reply.

Do not award a mark for restating that an IP address is unique / every device has a different address.