Communication and internet technologies — AS & A Level Computer Science (9618) questions by topic
Circuit switching's benefits and drawbacks, matching network protocols to their correct use, the router's role in connecting a school LAN to the internet, and the separate purposes of the TCP/IP Application and Transport Layers are the recurring content here, worth 3 to 19 marks across 29 real questions from 2023 to 2025 papers.
Describe, state, explain, complete and give are the top command words, and describe usually means a functional account of what a component or protocol does, not simply naming it. Drafting a full answer for each layer or protocol and checking it against instant marking is a quick way to confirm both halves of a two-part question, like two benefits and two drawbacks, are equally developed.
May–June 2025, Paper 11
Programmers in a software development company take part in live video conferences to discuss their work. The live video conferences take place using real-time bit streaming. The…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 12
A company has multiple sites in different cities. The company has drivers who deliver products to customers. Each driver can connect to the company's WAN (Wide Area Network)…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 31
The Application Layer and Transport Layer are two layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite. Describe the purpose of the Application Layer and the purpose of the Transport Layer.…
Answer this question and get it marked →Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) are two protocols. State two functions of SSL/TLS.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 32
Identify two different layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite.
Answer this question and get it marked →Circuit switching may be used as a method of data transmission. State two benefits and two drawbacks of circuit switching. Benefit 1 ............................................…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 33
The Internet layer and Link layer are two layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite. Describe the purpose of the Internet layer and the purpose of the Link layer. Purpose of Internet…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 13
The company has private cloud storage for its employees to store their work. Define the term private cloud.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 31
The TCP/IP protocol suite has four layers: Transport, Application, Link, Internet Complete the diagram to show the correct order for these layers. The answer space provides a…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 32
Outline why protocols are essential for communication between computers.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 33
Complete the diagram to show the correct order for these layers. The answer space is a vertical stack of four empty boxes to be filled in, from top to bottom, with the four layer…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 13
A computer is connected to a Local Area Network (LAN) that connects to a Wide Area Network (WAN). Describe the characteristics of a WAN.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 31
Describe circuit switching as a method of data transmission.
Answer this question and get it marked →The TCP/IP protocol may be viewed as a stack that contains four layers: Application, Transport, Internet, Link. Describe how the layers of the TCP/IP protocol stack interact with…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 32
Describe how packet switching is used to transmit messages across a network.
Answer this question and get it marked →Name and describe two protocols used by the Application Layer of the TCP/IP protocol suite. Protocol 1 ............ Description ............ Protocol 2 ............ Description…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 33
Describe circuit switching as a method of data transmission.
Answer this question and get it marked →The TCP/IP protocol may be viewed as a stack that contains four layers: Application, Transport, Internet, Link. Describe how the layers of the TCP/IP protocol stack interact with…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 12
A company has a LAN (local area network). Give two benefits of connecting computers to a LAN.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 13
A university has two sites. Each site has several computer rooms. The computers are all connected as a WAN (wide area network). Identify two differences between a WAN and a LAN…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 31
State, with a reason, where it would be appropriate to use circuit switching.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 32
State two examples of where it would be appropriate to use packet switching.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 33
State, with a reason, where it would be appropriate to use circuit switching.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 11
A school has a Local Area Network (LAN). The LAN connects to the internet using a router. Describe the function of a router in a network.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 12
A Local Area Network (LAN) contains four devices: - a router - two laptop computers - a server. The server has the IP address 192.168.3.2 Explain why this is not an IPv6 address.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 13
A company sells online Computer Science courses to students in different countries. The courses are stored on a public cloud. Explain why the company uses a public cloud to store…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 31
Draw one line to connect each protocol to its most appropriate use. Protocols: - HTTP - BitTorrent - SMTP - IMAP Uses: - to provide peer-to-peer file sharing - when retrieving…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 32
Complete the following paragraph about a protocol suite, using words from the given list. Some words are not used. BitTorrent circuit switching layered link list peer-to-peer…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 33
Draw one line to connect each protocol to its most appropriate use.
Answer this question and get it marked →Other AS & A Level Computer Science topics
- Programming (79)
- Data types and structures (74)
- Algorithm design and problem-solving (36)
- Information representation (31)
- Boolean algebra and logic circuits (29)
- Processor fundamentals (27)
- Software development (27)
- Hardware (18)
- System software (17)
- Security, privacy and integrity of data (13)
- Databases (13)
- Artificial intelligence (13)