220-1201 Wireless Networking Technologies — 15 Questions

Question 1

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.. 802.11ac operates on 5 GHz, which has shorter range and poorer penetration through obstacles like metal racks. Enabling 2.4 GHz on the AP provides better range and obstacle penetration for mobile devices.

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 2

During a site survey for a new branch office, you measure signal strength in the conference room and find it is -85 dBm. The client devices require at least -67 dBm for reliable video conferencing. Which action is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Install an additional access point in the conference room ceiling.. A signal of -85 dBm is very weak (near noise floor). The best solution is to add an access point closer to the conference room to boost signal strength to the required level.

Answer

Increase the transmit power of the existing access point to maximum.

Answer

Replace the client devices with ones that have better antennas.

Answer

Change the channel on the existing AP to a less congested one.

Question 3

A small office uses a legacy 2.4 GHz wireless b/g router. Employees report frequent disconnects and slow speeds, especially when the microwave is used in the break room. Which change would most directly reduce interference in this scenario?

Accepted Answer

Upgrade to a dual-band router and connect clients to the 5 GHz SSID.. The 2.4 GHz band is shared by many devices, including microwaves, which cause interference. Switching to the 5 GHz band avoids this because microwaves operate at 2.4 GHz. This is a common real-world troubleshooting step for wireless connectivity issues.

Answer

Enable WPA3 encryption on the router.

Answer

Increase the router's transmit power to maximum.

Answer

Change the 2.4 GHz channel from 6 to 11.

Question 4

A technician is deploying a point-to-point wireless bridge between two buildings 500 meters apart. The link must support at least 1 Gbps throughput. Both buildings have clear line of sight. Which antenna type and frequency combination is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Parabolic dish antennas on 5 GHz. For long-distance point-to-point links, directional antennas (like parabolic or grid) on the 5 GHz band provide high gain and focused signal, achieving high throughput over distance. 2.4 GHz has more interference and lower capacity.

Answer

Omnidirectional antennas on 2.4 GHz

Answer

Yagi antennas on 2.4 GHz

Answer

Patch antennas on 5 GHz

Question 5

A user's laptop connects to the office Wi-Fi but cannot access the internet. Other devices on the same network work fine. The laptop's IP address is 169.254.25.14. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The DHCP server is not responding or the laptop cannot reach it.. A 169.254.x.x address indicates the device failed to obtain an IP from a DHCP server. This is an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, meaning the laptop cannot reach the DHCP server.

Answer

The DNS server is unreachable.

Answer

The laptop's wireless adapter driver is corrupted.

Answer

The SSID is hidden and requires manual entry.

Question 6

A technician is troubleshooting a home network where the 5 GHz band works fine, but the 2.4 GHz band is extremely slow and drops connections. The router is placed near a cordless phone base station. Which type of interference is most likely occurring?

Accepted Answer

RF interference from the cordless phone base. Cordless phones often operate in the 2.4 GHz ISM band, causing co-channel interference with Wi-Fi. This degrades 2.4 GHz performance while leaving 5 GHz unaffected.

Answer

Bluetooth interference

Answer

Microwave oven interference

Answer

Co-channel interference from a neighboring Wi-Fi network

Question 7

A large conference center needs to provide Wi-Fi for 500 attendees. The IT team installs multiple 802.11ax access points. During the event, attendees report slow speeds and frequent reconnections. Analysis shows many clients are on the same channel despite multiple APs. Which advanced feature should be configured to distribute clients more evenly?

Accepted Answer

Configure all APs to use the same SSID and enable band steering and load balancing.. Band steering encourages dual-band clients to use the less congested 5 GHz band, while load balancing across APs distributes clients evenly. This prevents channel oversaturation.

Answer

Enable WPA3-Enterprise for all SSIDs.

Answer

Set each AP to a different SSID and instruct users to connect to the least crowded one.

Answer

Reduce the beacon interval on all APs to 50 ms.

Question 8

A user reports that their laptop can see several neighboring Wi-Fi networks but cannot see their own office's SSID, which is a 5 GHz-only network. Other users in the same office can connect without issue. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The laptop only supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi.. The laptop likely does not support 5 GHz, as older or budget laptops may only have 2.4 GHz radios. The SSID is hidden because the laptop's wireless adapter cannot detect 5 GHz networks.

Answer

The router's SSID broadcast is disabled.

Answer

The laptop's wireless adapter is set to airplane mode.

Answer

The office router is using WPA3 encryption.

Question 9

A technician is configuring a new wireless network for a small business. The owner wants to ensure that only company-issued laptops can connect, and that data is encrypted. The laptops support WPA2-Enterprise. Which authentication method should be used?

Accepted Answer

802.1X with a RADIUS server. WPA2-Enterprise uses 802.1X/RADIUS for per-user or per-device authentication, ideal for controlled access with company devices. It provides strong encryption and prevents unauthorized connections.

Answer

WPA2-PSK with a strong passphrase

Answer

WPA3-SAE (Simultaneous Authentication of Equals)

Answer

MAC address filtering

Question 10

A customer wants to set up a home network that supports the fastest possible speeds for streaming 4K video and gaming, with support for multiple devices. They have a cable modem that supports up to 1 Gbps. Which wireless standard should you recommend for the new router?

Accepted Answer

802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6). Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) offers the highest throughput, better efficiency in dense environments, and supports the latest features like OFDMA and MU-MIMO. It is the best choice for high-bandwidth activities like 4K streaming and gaming.

Answer

802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5)

Answer

802.11n (Wi-Fi 4)

Answer

802.11g (Wi-Fi 3)

Question 11

A small business has a single access point that supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Employees report that their smartphones connect to the 2.4 GHz band, causing slow internet speeds. Which configuration change should the technician make to prioritize 5 GHz for capable devices?

Accepted Answer

Enable band steering on the access point.. Band steering is a feature that encourages dual-band clients to use the less congested 5 GHz band, improving performance. This directly addresses the issue of devices sticking to 2.4 GHz.

Answer

Disable the 2.4 GHz radio completely.

Answer

Set the 2.4 GHz channel to a non-overlapping channel like 1, 6, or 11.

Answer

Increase the transmit power of the 5 GHz radio.

Question 12

A technician is troubleshooting a wireless network where users report intermittent connectivity and slow speeds. A spectrum analyzer shows high noise levels on the 2.4 GHz band from non-Wi-Fi sources. Which of the following is the MOST effective long-term solution?

Accepted Answer

Move all critical devices to the 5 GHz band.. Non-Wi-Fi interference (e.g., from microwaves, Bluetooth) is common on 2.4 GHz. Moving critical traffic to 5 GHz, which has more channels and less interference, is the best solution.

Answer

Reduce the 2.4 GHz channel width to 20 MHz.

Answer

Implement DFS channels on the 5 GHz band.

Answer

Increase the transmit power on the 2.4 GHz radio.

Question 13

A company deploys a new 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) access point to support high-density environments. Some older laptops with 802.11ac adapters cannot connect, while newer Wi-Fi 6 laptops work fine. The SSID is broadcast and security is set to WPA2. What is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The access point is configured to use WPA3 only.. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is backward compatible with 802.11ac, but if the access point is configured to require WPA3 (a common Wi-Fi 6 feature), older adapters that only support WPA2 will fail to connect.

Answer

The access point is set to 802.11ax-only mode.

Answer

The laptops have outdated firmware that does not support OFDMA.

Answer

The 5 GHz radio is disabled on the access point.

Question 14

A small office experiences intermittent Wi-Fi drops on laptops but not on desktops connected via Ethernet. The wireless network uses 2.4 GHz. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

A microwave oven is operating near the access point.. The 2.4 GHz band is prone to interference from common household devices like microwaves and cordless phones, which can cause intermittent connectivity issues. This scenario highlights the importance of understanding frequency band characteristics in wireless networking.

Answer

The access point is overheating.

Answer

The laptops have outdated Bluetooth drivers.

Answer

The Ethernet switch is failing.

Question 15

A technician is setting up a wireless network for a home office that requires the fastest possible speeds for streaming 4K video. The router supports 802.11ac and has three antennas. Which configuration will yield the highest throughput?

Accepted Answer

Use the 5 GHz band with MIMO enabled and a channel width of 80 MHz.. 802.11ac uses MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology, which requires multiple spatial streams to achieve high throughput. Enabling MIMO with all antennas maximizes data rates, especially for streaming.

Answer

Set the router to 802.11n mode only.

Answer

Enable 40 MHz channel width on the 2.4 GHz band.

Answer

Disable SSID broadcast to reduce overhead.