Networks & Communication Technologies is one of 10 topics in the Grade 12 Information Technology CAPS syllabus, covered across 3 lessons on Study Vault. Below are real practice questions from this topic with full worked answers.
Sample practice questions
Easy
1. A network that connects devices within a single school building is best classified as a:
Local Area Network (LAN)
Wide Area Network (WAN)
A single standalone computer
A peer-to-peer server only
Answer: Local Area Network (LAN) — A Local Area Network (LAN) connects devices within a small, confined area, such as a single building, school, or home.
Easy
2. The internet itself is best described as an example of which type of network?
A Wide Area Network (WAN)
A Local Area Network (LAN)
A Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) only
A bus topology only
Answer: A Wide Area Network (WAN) — The internet spans a huge geographical area connecting countless LANs across cities and countries, making it effectively the largest WAN in existence.
Medium
3. In a star topology, what happens if the central connecting device (e.g. the switch) fails?
The entire network loses connectivity, since the central device is a single point of failure
Only one device loses connectivity while all others continue working normally
Nothing happens, since a star topology has no central device
The network automatically switches to a mesh topology
Answer: The entire network loses connectivity, since the central device is a single point of failure — While a star topology isolates individual cable failures to one device, the central device itself is a single point of failure: if it fails, the whole network loses connectivity.
