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Storage Devices and Network Hardware: Question 10

Syllabus 3.4

Multiple choice 1 mark

A network technician needs to add a piece of hardware to a small office network so that staff smartphones and laptops, none of which have an ethernet cable plugged into them, can join the same network as the desktop computers that are already connected by cable. No cable will ever be plugged into the smartphones or laptops themselves.

Which piece of hardware should be added?

Choose an answer to check it, then compare with the worked solution below.
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Worked solution

Step 1: Identify what each candidate device actually does

  • A wireless access point (WAP) allows devices with a wireless network interface card, such as a smartphone or laptop, to connect to a network using radio signals, without needing a cable plugged into them at all.
  • A switch connects devices within a local network to each other, but only devices that have a cable plugged into one of its ports.
  • A modem converts data between the digital form used on a network and the signal needed to travel along a telephone or cable line to an internet service provider.
  • A router connects different networks together and directs data between them, for example connecting a local network to the internet.

Step 2: Match the clues in the scenario

The scenario needs a piece of hardware that lets smartphones and laptops with no cable plugged into them at all join the existing wired office network. This is exactly the role of a wireless access point: it lets wireless devices connect using radio signals in place of a physical cable connection.

Step 3: Rule out the distractors

  • Not the switch: a switch still requires a cable plugged into one of its ports for a device to connect, which the smartphones and laptops in this scenario do not have.
  • Not the modem: nothing in the scenario involves converting signals for a connection to an internet service provider.
  • Not the router: the scenario is about admitting wireless devices onto the existing office network, not about connecting that network to a different network.

Final answer

The hardware that should be added is the wireless access point (WAP), option A.