The Elements of a Network

Make a list of at least five devices currently connected to your home (or classroom) router and highlight which one surprises you most to find on a network, explaining why.

Can a cell phone be "connected to Wi-Fi" and at the same time have no internet access? Explain the difference between connecting to the router's local network and reaching the internet, and describe a situation in which this would happen.

Describe in words (you may use a sketch in your notebook to help you) your home or classroom network: what devices are connected, how each one connects (cable or Wi-Fi), and which component links them to the internet. Identify what you think is the weakest point of that network.

What is a router? Explain in your own words the two main tasks it performs in your home network and where it is usually located.

The figure shows a home network with its devices, but the central device is covered with a question mark, as shown in the diagram.

Which device is marked with "?" and what task does it perform between the local network and the internet? Also indicate which devices in the figure connect by cable and which by Wi-Fi, and explain what you noticed to find out.

Explain what a Wi-Fi access point is and how it differs from a router. Hint: at home there is usually a single device that does everything, whereas at school there are many access points located along the corridors.

The network cable connector is different from USB and does not fit into its port. Explain why each type of cable has its own connector shape and what problems this prevents when setting up a network.

Your brother plays online games from his room over Wi-Fi and complains that "it lags". Analyse whether connecting his computer to the router using a cable could improve the connection, reasoning the differences between cable and Wi-Fi in terms of speed, stability and interference.

In the computer room almost all computers use cables, whereas at home almost everything uses Wi-Fi. Compare both decisions, considering the number of devices, the stability needed in each place, and the convenience of moving devices around.

On a farm, they need to connect irrigation sensors located in a greenhouse 500 m away from the main house to the internet. The manager proposes connecting the sensors to the house's router using a single standard 500 m Ethernet network cable. Technically justify why this cable will not work (taking into account the physical limitations of copper cabling) and why a standard home Wi-Fi access point would not work either. Then, design two real technical alternatives (one guided and one wireless) capable of covering that 500 m distance, comparing the installation difficulty of each.

When the internet goes down at home, the printer connected to the computer still works, but you cannot watch online videos. Explain which network you are using in each case (the home local network or the internet) and the difference between the two.

The cell phone shows full Wi-Fi bars, but videos do not load. Explain how it is possible to have a "strong signal" and no internet access at the same time, and describe a simple test to find out whether the problem is with the home Wi-Fi or with the internet connection.

After a storm passes, you try to browse the internet from your computer and the browser says "No connection". However, you verify that you can print without any issues on the living room network printer and open documents stored on another computer in the house. Your brother claims: "The router is broken and the home network is down". Refute his claim by demonstrating which part of the network is still working and which part has failed, and explain what physical checks you would carry out on the router's indicator lights to find out whether the fault is inside your house or in the provider company's line.

At home, the Wi-Fi signal is very weak in the room furthest from the router. Suggest two different solutions (moving the router, installing an access point or repeater, running a network cable...) and compare their advantages and disadvantages before deciding which one you would recommend.

The figure shows a two-story house with the router on the ground floor and the coverage areas of its Wi-Fi signal, as shown in the diagram.

Reason which devices will have a good or weak signal depending on the coverage area they are in and explain why. Then suggest where you would place a Wi-Fi repeater so that the cell phone marked with "?" gets good coverage.

In a home, the router is in the living room and the connection works at maximum speed. However, in the bedroom at the end of the hall, located after a long hallway and across the kitchen and a bathroom with tiles and pipes, the Wi-Fi signal barely reaches and video calls cut out. Analyze which physical factors are weakening the signal along that path, explain why replacing the laptop with one that has a more powerful processor will not help at all, and design two viable technical solutions to have a quality connection in the bedroom, justifying which one offers greater reliability.

True or false? Justify each answer: (a) home Wi-Fi can keep working even if the internet goes down; (b) any Wi-Fi enabled device can connect to any network without a password; (c) the lights on the router indicate whether it is working properly; (d) the further away from the router, the better the signal strength.

Your neighbor sees the name of your Wi-Fi network on their cell phone list. Explain how far a router's signal can reach, what things weaken it (walls, floors, distance), and why the password protects you even if the signal extends beyond your house.

In a drawer there is an old router that is no longer used. Suggest two ways to reuse it to improve your home network (for example, as an access point in another room or as a repeater) and explain the minimum setup needed in each case.

The owner of a three-story hotel wants good Wi-Fi coverage in all rooms. His initial idea is to place the router at the reception desk (ground floor) and two standard wireless Wi-Fi repeaters in the hallways of the upper floors. Predict two problems that this solution will have (in terms of speed loss and stability) and design a more effective technical alternative indicating what network elements would be needed, how the floors would physically communicate, and why it is essential to separate the guest network from the hotel management network.

In an apartment building, two adjacent neighbors have high-speed fiber optic broadband, but both suffer from continuous drops and excruciatingly slow Wi-Fi connections. When analyzing the environment with an app, they discover that both routers are broadcasting on channel 6 of the 2.4 GHz band. Interpret what is technically happening with the waves and the transmitted information, and propose two different solutions to resolve the conflict (one by modifying the channel configuration and another by switching the frequency band), justifying which one will offer better performance.

The headmaster of a secondary school with three hundred students proposes replacing the entire school network installation with a single standard 30 pesos domestic router, arguing that "if it provides a connection to four people at the same time at home, here it will be enough to set a password for everyone". Refute his proposal by technically justifying three serious problems that will occur on the first day of class (related to connection saturation, signal range, and security) and design the basic infrastructure that the school actually needs to provide service to all classrooms.

A bakery wants to connect its cash register, receipt printer and the owner's cell phone, as well as offer free Wi-Fi to customers. Design the network: what components it needs, how each device connects, and why customers should use a network separate from the cash register.

To prevent students from searching for answers on the internet with their phones during exams, the administration of a high school proposes unplugging all the school's routers and Wi-Fi access points during that week. Critically evaluate this measure by identifying at least three services or devices at the school (other than students' mobile phones) that will unexpectedly stop working, and design a technical alternative that prevents students from browsing the internet without having to shut down the school's network.