220-1201 Practice Test 21 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician is troubleshooting a Samsung Galaxy tablet that will not rotate the screen when the device is turned sideways. Auto-rotate is enabled in the settings, and the screen rotates correctly in safe mode. What is the most likely cause?

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

Accepted Answer

A third-party app is preventing rotation.. Since auto-rotate works in safe mode, the hardware (accelerometer) is functional. The issue is caused by a third-party app or a system setting that is interfering with rotation. Safe mode disables third-party apps, so the problem is likely a recently installed app that is locking the orientation or a setting within an app that overrides system rotation.

Answer

The accelerometer is faulty.

Answer

The auto-rotate setting is only enabled for certain apps.

Answer

The tablet's gyroscope needs calibration.

Question 2

A customer reports that their laptop can connect to the internet via Wi-Fi but cannot access any network shares on the local file server. Other devices on the same network can access the shares. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The laptop has a misconfigured subnet mask.. This scenario tests understanding of network segmentation and IP addressing. The laptop can reach the internet (default gateway works) but not local resources, indicating a subnet mask or VLAN mismatch. The most common cause is an incorrect subnet mask, which prevents the laptop from recognizing the file server as local.

Answer

The file server is powered off.

Answer

The Wi-Fi router is overloaded.

Answer

The laptop's firewall is blocking all traffic.

Question 3

During a site survey, a technician finds that users in the break room experience very slow Wi-Fi while those in offices nearby have excellent speeds. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

A microwave oven in the break room is causing interference.. This scenario tests knowledge of wireless interference sources. Microwaves operate at 2.4 GHz, which is the same frequency band used by many Wi-Fi networks, causing significant interference and performance degradation.

Answer

The access point in the break room is overheating.

Answer

Users in the break room are connecting to a 5 GHz network with poor range.

Answer

The break room has too many walls blocking the signal.

Question 4

A user complains that their desktop PC loses network connectivity intermittently, especially when the printer on the same desk starts printing. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The network cable is run too close to power cables.. This question focuses on physical layer interference. Intermittent connectivity linked to a device starting suggests electromagnetic interference (EMI) from the printer's motor or power supply. Network cables near strong EMI sources can experience packet loss or disconnects.

Answer

The printer is using too much bandwidth.

Answer

The desktop has a duplicate IP address.

Answer

The switch port is administratively down.

Question 5

A technician is troubleshooting a network where users can access the internet but cannot reach a specific internal web server by its hostname. Pinging the server's IP address works. What is the most likely issue?

Accepted Answer

The DNS server does not have a record for the server's hostname.. This question tests DNS resolution. If the IP works but the hostname does not, the problem is with DNS—either the server's A record is missing or the DNS server is not responding for that zone.

Answer

The web server's firewall is blocking ICMP.

Answer

The DHCP server is not assigning correct IP addresses.

Answer

The network switch is dropping packets to the server.

Question 6

A user reports that their laptop can connect to the internet via Ethernet but cannot connect to any Wi-Fi networks. The wireless adapter is enabled and shows available networks, but connecting always fails. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The wireless security settings are incorrect.. When a device can connect via Ethernet but not Wi-Fi, the issue is usually with the wireless configuration or hardware, not the network itself. Incorrect wireless security settings, such as a mismatched encryption type or password, are a common cause of connection failure after the network is detected.

Answer

The DHCP server is out of IP addresses.

Answer

The wireless adapter driver is corrupted.

Answer

The router’s SSID is hidden.

Question 7

During a network upgrade, a new switch is installed. After connecting all devices, one workstation cannot obtain an IP address via DHCP, while all other workstations on the same switch work fine. What is the first step to troubleshoot this issue?

Accepted Answer

Check if the network cable is securely connected and the link lights are on.. When a single workstation fails to get an IP address but others succeed, the problem is likely with that workstation or its cable. Checking the physical connection is the quickest and easiest first step before moving to software or configuration checks.

Answer

Replace the network cable.

Answer

Restart the DHCP service on the router.

Answer

Assign a static IP address to the workstation.

Question 8

A user’s laptop is connected to a Wi-Fi network with a strong signal, but the user cannot access any network resources. The IP configuration shows an address of 192.168.1.50 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and a default gateway of 192.168.1.1. The technician pings the gateway successfully. What should the technician check next?

Accepted Answer

Check the DNS server settings on the laptop.. Since the gateway is reachable, the issue is likely beyond the local network. DNS is the most common cause of being unable to access resources by name when basic connectivity exists. Checking DNS resolution is the logical next step.

Answer

Replace the Wi-Fi adapter.

Answer

Verify the SSID is correct.

Answer

Disable the firewall temporarily.

Question 9

A customer complains that their desktop computer loses network connectivity every time a large file is transferred. The issue does not occur during normal web browsing. What hardware component is most likely at fault?

Accepted Answer

The network interface card (NIC) is failing.. This is a classic symptom of a failing or overheating network interface card (NIC). High data throughput generates heat, and a marginal NIC may fail under sustained load, while low-bandwidth tasks work fine.

Answer

The CPU is overheating.

Answer

The power supply unit is underpowered.

Answer

The Ethernet cable is too long.

Question 10

A user reports that their laptop can connect to the corporate Wi-Fi but cannot access the internet. Other devices on the same network work fine. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The laptop's DNS server settings are incorrect.. This scenario points to a client-specific configuration problem. Since other devices work, the issue is isolated to the user's laptop, and a misconfigured DNS setting is a common cause for internet access failure while local network connectivity remains intact.

Answer

The wireless router has failed.

Answer

The network cable is unplugged.

Answer

The ISP is down.

Question 11

A small office has a single switch connecting all workstations. Users report that they can see each other on the network but cannot access the internet. The router's link light is off. What should the technician check first?

Accepted Answer

Check the Ethernet cable between the switch and router.. The link light being off indicates a physical layer problem between the switch and router. The most common cause is a faulty or loose cable, so checking the cable connection is the logical first step in network troubleshooting.

Answer

Replace the switch.

Answer

Reboot all workstations.

Answer

Update the router's firmware.

Question 12

During a network upgrade, a technician installs a new 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) access point in a conference room. Users now report intermittent disconnections on their older laptops. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The channel width is set too wide for older clients.. Wi-Fi 6 access points can operate in mixed mode, but older clients may struggle with channel width or band-steering settings. The most common issue is that the AP is using a channel width (e.g., 160 MHz) that older devices do not support, causing instability.

Answer

The access point is overheating.

Answer

The DNS server is misconfigured.

Answer

The power over Ethernet (PoE) injector is faulty.

Question 13

A technician is setting up a new printer on a network. The printer has a static IP address of 192.168.1.50, but users cannot ping it from their workstations. The workstations are on the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet. What should the technician check first?

Accepted Answer

Verify the switch port status and cable connection.. Since the printer and workstations are on the same subnet, the issue is likely at Layer 2 or Layer 1. The first step is to verify the physical connection and link status on the switch port, as a bad cable or disabled port would prevent communication.

Answer

Check the printer's default gateway setting.

Answer

Change the printer's IP address to a DHCP address.

Answer

Reboot the router.

Question 14

A user reports that their laptop's Wi-Fi connection drops every 10 minutes, but reconnects immediately. The technician notices that the laptop is connected to a 5 GHz SSID. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The user is at the edge of the 5 GHz coverage area.. 5 GHz signals have shorter range and are more easily obstructed. If the user is at the edge of coverage, the signal may intermittently drop. The periodic nature suggests a weak signal, not interference or driver issues.

Answer

The laptop's Wi-Fi driver is outdated.

Answer

The access point is configured with a short DHCP lease time.

Answer

There is interference from a microwave oven.

Question 15

A small office has an inkjet printer that produces prints with horizontal white lines across the page. The lines appear in different positions on each print. Which step should the technician take first?

Accepted Answer

Run the printer's printhead cleaning cycle.. Horizontal white lines on inkjet output often indicate clogged printhead nozzles. Running the printer's cleaning cycle is the first recommended step to clear dried ink from the nozzles.

Answer

Replace the ink cartridges.

Answer

Update the printer driver.

Answer

Replace the printer's fuser.