220-1201 Practice Test 23 — 15 Questions

Question 1

An IT manager is comparing cable broadband and fiber-optic for a new office. They need the lowest possible latency for real-time financial trading applications. Which connection type should they choose, and why?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Fiber-optic, because it provides lower latency due to the speed of light in glass and dedicated bandwidth. Fiber-optic connections transmit data as light pulses through glass, which travels at approximately 2/3 the speed of light in a vacuum, significantly faster than electrical signals in copper. Additionally, fiber provides dedicated bandwidth per user, eliminating the contention and latency spikes common in cable broadband's shared coaxial architecture. This combination of propagation speed and consistent low latency makes fiber the optimal choice for real-time financial trading where microseconds matter.

Answer

Cable broadband, because it uses coaxial cable which is faster than fiber

Answer

Fiber-optic, because it uses light signals and is not subject to electromagnetic interference

Answer

Cable broadband, because it has higher download speeds

Question 2

A company deploys a new 802.11ac access point in a warehouse. After installation, workers report that their handheld scanners frequently disconnect when moving between aisles. The AP is mounted on a high ceiling. Which configuration change would most likely improve connectivity?

Accepted Answer

Change the AP to use only 2.4 GHz band.. The 5 GHz band used by 802.11ac has poorer penetration and range through obstacles like warehouse shelving and inventory. By switching to the 2.4 GHz band, signals diffract better around aisles and through racks, reducing disconnections for mobile scanners moving between aisles.

Answer

Increase the AP's channel width to 80 MHz.

Answer

Enable WPA3 encryption on the network.

Answer

Reduce the AP's transmit power to avoid interference.

Question 3

A user reports that their laptop battery no longer charges and the system only runs when plugged in. You test the AC adapter and it outputs correct voltage. Inside the battery, which component is most likely failed?

Accepted Answer

The battery management system (BMS) is faulty.. The battery management system (BMS) is the circuit board inside the battery pack that controls charging, monitors cell voltage and temperature, and communicates with the laptop. Since the AC adapter outputs correct voltage and the laptop runs on AC power, the BMS is the most likely failed component because it can prevent charging even if the lithium-ion cells are healthy. A faulty BMS may stop communicating with the laptop's embedded controller, causing the system to treat the battery as absent or non-functional.

Answer

The lithium-ion cells have degraded.

Answer

The DC jack on the laptop is loose.

Answer

The laptop's motherboard charging circuit is damaged.

Question 4

A technician is installing a thermal printer for a retail point-of-sale system. The printer uses direct thermal paper. What must the technician verify to ensure proper operation?

Accepted Answer

The paper is loaded with the coated side facing the print head. Direct thermal printers use heat to create an image on specially coated paper. The paper has a coated side that reacts to heat. If the paper is loaded with the uncoated side facing the print head, the heat will not reach the coating, and no image will be produced. Therefore, the technician must verify the paper is oriented with the coated side facing the print head for proper operation.

Answer

The printer driver is set to color mode

Answer

The printer is connected via Bluetooth

Answer

The printer has enough memory for graphics

Question 5

A user wants to add a second hard drive to their desktop for extra storage, but the computer only has one SATA data cable available. The technician has an extra SATA power cable from the power supply. What is the most practical solution?

Accepted Answer

Purchase an additional SATA data cable and use the existing power cable.. This question tests understanding of SATA connectivity requirements. Each SATA drive needs its own data cable, but power can be shared via splitters or by using available power connectors.

Answer

Use a Y-splitter on the existing SATA data cable to connect both drives.

Answer

Connect the second drive using an external USB-to-SATA adapter.

Answer

Replace the existing hard drive with a larger one.

Question 6

A company is upgrading its network to support 10 Gbps connections between server racks. The distance between racks is 25 meters. Which cabling standard is most appropriate for this upgrade?

Accepted Answer

Cat6a cable.. Cat6a cable is the most appropriate choice because it supports 10GBASE-T (10 Gbps) over twisted-pair copper cabling at distances up to 100 meters, which easily covers the 25-meter distance between racks. Cat6a has a bandwidth of 500 MHz, double that of Cat6, and includes improved alien crosstalk (AXT) specifications required for reliable 10 Gbps transmission. This makes it the standard recommendation for 10 Gbps Ethernet in data center environments.

Answer

Cat5e cable.

Answer

Cat6 cable.

Answer

Cat7 cable.

Question 7

A customer reports that their smartphone can connect to Wi-Fi at home but fails to connect to the company's 5 GHz Wi-Fi network in the office. Other devices connect fine. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The smartphone is too far from the office access point for 5 GHz.. The smartphone connects to Wi-Fi at home but fails on the company's 5 GHz network, while other devices connect fine. This points to a client-side range issue: 5 GHz signals have higher attenuation and shorter effective range than 2.4 GHz, so if the smartphone is too far from the office access point, it may detect the network but be unable to maintain a stable connection, whereas other devices closer to the AP connect successfully.

Answer

The smartphone's Wi-Fi antenna is damaged.

Answer

The office access point is configured for 2.4 GHz only.

Answer

The smartphone's Wi-Fi driver needs updating.

Question 8

A small office is setting up a new VoIP phone system. The IT staff must run new cabling to each desk. Which cable type is most appropriate for connecting VoIP phones to the network?

Accepted Answer

Cat5e UTP. Cat5e UTP cable supports 1000BASE-T Ethernet at up to 100 meters, which is sufficient for VoIP phones that typically require 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps connectivity and can also receive Power over Ethernet (PoE) from a switch. This makes it the standard choice for new office cabling for VoIP deployments.

Answer

Coaxial cable

Answer

Fiber optic cable

Answer

Serial cable

Question 9

A network administrator is troubleshooting a 1000BASE-T connection that is only running at 100 Mbps. The cable is Cat5e and the switch supports Gigabit. The link light is green but the speed is capped. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

One of the four wire pairs is broken or shorted.. 1000BASE-T requires all four wire pairs (eight wires) to operate. If one pair is broken or shorted, the link will auto-negotiate down to 100BASE-TX, which only needs two pairs. The green link light indicates a physical connection, but the speed is capped because the PHY detects the missing pair and falls back to the slower standard.

Answer

The cable is too long for Gigabit.

Answer

The network card is set to 100 Mbps manually.

Answer

The switch port is configured for 100 Mbps.

Question 10

A technician is troubleshooting a legacy application that uses FTP for file transfers. The transfers work but are extremely slow. The network team mentions that the firewall is configured to inspect traffic on certain ports. Which port should be opened for FTP data transfer to improve performance?

Accepted Answer

Port 20. FTP uses two channels: a control channel on port 21 and a data channel on port 20 (in active mode). When a firewall inspects traffic, it may interfere with the dynamic negotiation of the data port, causing performance degradation. Opening port 20 allows the data channel to pass through without inspection, improving transfer speed.

Answer

Port 22

Answer

Port 23

Answer

Port 69

Question 11

A small office has a network with a single switch and a wireless access point (WAP). Users on the wired network can access the internet, but wireless users cannot. The WAP shows a solid green power LED and a blinking amber activity LED. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The Ethernet cable from the WAP to the switch is faulty or not securely connected.. The solid green power LED indicates the WAP is receiving power, and the blinking amber activity LED typically signals a Layer 1 issue, such as a faulty or loose Ethernet cable. Since wired users have internet access, the switch and upstream connectivity are fine, isolating the problem to the link between the WAP and the switch. A faulty cable prevents the WAP from communicating with the network, so wireless clients cannot reach the internet even though the WAP is powered on.

Answer

The WAP is configured with the wrong SSID.

Answer

The switch port is configured as a trunk port.

Answer

The WAP's wireless radio is disabled in the firmware.

Question 12

A small office has a desktop PC that will not display any video. The motherboard has an integrated VGA port and a PCIe x16 slot that is empty. The system powers on, fans spin, but the monitor connected to the VGA port shows 'No Signal'. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The RAM is not properly seated. If no dedicated GPU is installed and the integrated graphics are not working, the issue could be that the CPU does not have integrated graphics, or the integrated graphics are disabled in BIOS. However, the most common cause when the system powers on but no video is that the RAM is not properly seated or is faulty, as the system cannot complete POST without working memory.

Answer

The monitor is faulty

Answer

The CPU lacks integrated graphics

Answer

The motherboard's CMOS battery is dead

Question 13

A technician is selecting a power supply for a workstation that will run 24/7 in a dusty environment. The PSU will be installed in a case with limited airflow. Which PSU feature is most important to prioritize for long-term reliability in this scenario?

Accepted Answer

A fan with a fluid dynamic bearing and a dust filter.. In dusty environments with limited airflow, a PSU with a high-quality, sealed bearing fan (e.g., fluid dynamic bearing) and a dust-resistant design (e.g., honeycomb grill, dust filters) is critical. Additionally, a higher efficiency rating (e.g., 80 Plus Gold or better) reduces heat output, easing thermal stress. The most important single feature is the fan's reliability and the PSU's ability to handle particulate ingress.

Answer

A high total wattage rating to ensure headroom.

Answer

A modular cable design for easier cable management.

Answer

An 80 Plus Bronze efficiency rating.

Question 14

A network administrator is configuring a small business network with two subnets: 192.168.1.0/24 for employees and 192.168.2.0/24 for guests. The router has two LAN interfaces with IPs 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.2.1. A technician connects a new access point to the guest subnet switch and configures it with a static IP of 192.168.2.50. The access point can ping the router's guest interface but cannot reach the internet. The router's default route points to an ISP modem at 203.0.113.1. What is the most likely missing configuration?

Accepted Answer

NAT is not enabled for the 192.168.2.0/24 subnet on the router.. The access point can ping the router's guest interface (192.168.2.1), confirming Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity within the guest subnet. However, it cannot reach the internet, which indicates that the router is not performing Network Address Translation (NAT) for the 192.168.2.0/24 subnet. Without NAT, private IP addresses from the guest subnet are not translated to the router's public IP, so the ISP modem drops the return traffic because it has no route back to the private range.

Answer

The access point's default gateway is set to 192.168.1.1.

Answer

The access point has a duplicate IP address.

Answer

The ISP modem is blocking traffic from the guest subnet.

Question 15

A technician is upgrading a server's power supply to support additional drives. The current PSU is a 750W unit with a single +12V rail rated at 62A. The new drives will add 5A to the +12V load. The total calculated +12V load is 58A. Is the current PSU adequate?

Accepted Answer

Yes, because 58A is less than 62A, so it is within specifications.. The PSU's +12V rail is rated for 62A, and the total load after adding drives is 58A, which is within the rating. However, it is good practice to leave headroom (typically 10-20%) to avoid running the PSU at maximum capacity, which can reduce efficiency and lifespan. In this case, the PSU is technically adequate but marginal.

Answer

No, because the PSU should not be loaded above 80% of its rating.

Answer

No, because the total wattage of 750W is insufficient for the new drives.

Answer

Yes, but only if the PSU is 80 Plus Gold certified or higher.