<aside> ↩️ Finding the best path for a packet to reach its destination

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Think train vs taxi - train has to stick to a specified route whereas taxi can take any route

Circuit switching

<aside> 👉 Where a path across the network is set up in advance and all packets are then sent in order down the same route

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• All packets arrive in order
• If part of the route is broken then all the packets will fail ☹️

<aside> 📞 Common use: phone networking

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• Bandwidth can be wasted - once connection has been established, no other device can use the circuit until it is free - this can lead to slower networking overall

Packet switching

<aside> 👉 Independent routing

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• Each packet decides on its own route based on which lines are available and how heavy the current load is
• Go in the event of failure - if one route is brought down then alternatives can be sought independently
• However, packets may not arrive in order —> extra processing required to reassemble the final message
• Each packet is labelled with an order number - the destination PC has to keep track of packets until a specific batch of packets have arrived in order
• Better use of bandwidth
• Every link can be shared by multiple connections