The medium changes the possibilities
Choose a link for the job
A transmitter turns data into a signal, the signal crosses a medium, and a receiver recovers the data. The same basic model works for copper, fibre and radio. The engineering choice depends on what the link must achieve.
Signal journey
Select a link technology, then animate one piece of data from the transmitter to the receiver.
Which link would you choose?
Select a familiar scenario. Predict first, then reveal a sensible choice and the reason behind it.
Gaming PC beside a router
One Internet service, several possible access technologies
Follow the NBN path from home to the Internet
The NBN access network is only one part of the journey. Your equipment connects into NBN infrastructure, a Retail Service Provider connects at a Point of Interconnect, and the provider carries traffic onward to the wider Internet.
Change the access technology
Use the buttons to rebuild the first part of the path. Then step through the journey.
Same devices, different arrangement
Reshape the network
Topology describes how links are arranged between devices. Change the arrangement, then break a link to see how the design affects resilience and complexity.
Topology laboratory
Select a topology. The diagram uses the same six nodes so only the link arrangement changes.
Modern Ethernet LANs are commonly star-based. Large provider networks often use partial mesh so important sites have alternative paths without paying for every possible link.
Name the job, then name the device
Device detective
Earlier lessons already showed how switches and routers make forwarding decisions. Here the goal is broader: recognise which device role belongs at each point in a practical network, including the fact that one physical box can perform several logical roles.
Click a device in the path
Inspect the role without re-running the detailed MAC/IP forwarding animations from earlier weeks.
Select a device
Click any device in the path to see its job, where it is normally used and what addressing or traffic information it cares about.
One plastic box, several jobs
A typical home βWi-Fi routerβ is a useful reminder that physical products and logical network roles are not the same thing.
Bridge into the Week 5 practical
What does the browser actually request?
Your practical asks you to create a small local website, deploy a public site, then inspect requests using browser Developer Tools. This simulation gives you the mental model before you perform those steps on your own computer.
Local file or public website?
Toggle the mode, then step through what the browser does.
COIT11238 Week 5 Website
Student name: Example Student
This page is used to learn about web browsing and HTTP.
Simulated DevTools β Network
Refresh the public page and click a request. This is a teaching simulation; your tutorial evidence must come from your own browser and website.
| Name | Method | Status | Type | Transferred | Time |
|---|
| Week 6 switched-LAN preparation from the tutorial | |
|---|---|
| Network | 192.168.6.0/24 |
| Subnet mask | 255.255.255.0 |
| Broadcast | 192.168.6.255 |
| PC-A | 192.168.6.10 |
| PC-B | 192.168.6.20 |
| Optional PC-C | 192.168.6.30 |
Formative review
Check the Week 5 mental model
The questions focus on choosing and explaining, not memorising every number from the comparison tables.