220-1201 Practice Exam 59 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A technician is troubleshooting a customer's home network where the desktop PC is wired to the router, but the wireless printer intermittently disappears from the network. The printer is connected via Wi-Fi to the same router. After checking, the technician finds that the printer's IP address is in the 169.254.x.x range. Which network type is the printer attempting to use, and what does this indicate?

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

Accepted Answer

WLAN with DHCP failure; the printer has self-assigned an APIPA address.. The 169.254.x.x IP address range is reserved for Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA), which a device assigns to itself when it fails to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server. Since the printer is connected via Wi-Fi to the same router, this indicates a DHCP failure on the WLAN, causing the printer to use a self-assigned APIPA address and intermittently disappear from the network.

Answer

Peer-to-peer network; the printer is sharing directly with the PC.

Answer

PAN network; the printer is using Bluetooth.

Answer

Ad hoc network; the printer is connecting directly to the PC.

Question 2

A company is moving to a new building that has no existing internet infrastructure. They need the highest possible download speeds with low latency for cloud applications. Which connection type should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Fiber optic. Fiber optic uses light pulses transmitted through glass or plastic strands, offering symmetrical gigabit speeds (e.g., 1 Gbps or higher) with extremely low latency (often <5 ms). This makes it ideal for cloud applications requiring high download speeds and real-time responsiveness, unlike older copper-based or wireless technologies.

Answer

DSL

Answer

Cable

Answer

Fixed wireless

Question 3

After deploying a new 802.11ac access point, users report that some devices can connect but others cannot, even though they are in the same room. All devices support 5 GHz. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The access point is overloaded with clients.. The scenario describes that some devices can connect while others cannot, even though all devices support 5 GHz. This points to a resource limitation on the access point rather than a radio band issue. If the access point is overloaded with clients, it may reach its maximum association limit, rejecting new connections while existing ones remain active. This explains why some devices are connected and others are not. Option B is incorrect because disabling 2.4 GHz radios would not affect devices that support 5 GHz. Option A is not a problem, as non-overlapping channels are beneficial. Option C would affect all devices uniformly.

Answer

The access point is using a non-overlapping channel.

Answer

The access point has 2.4 GHz radios disabled.

Answer

The devices have incorrect SSID credentials.

Question 4

A customer reports that their network printer is not accessible from any computer on the network. The printer is connected to a switch via Ethernet, and the switch port LED is blinking green. The technician pings the printer's IP address from a computer and gets no reply. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The printer has an IP address conflict with another device.. The blinking green LED on the switch port indicates a good physical connection and active link, ruling out a faulty cable or administratively down port. Since the printer is not responding to pings from any computer, the most likely cause is an IP address conflict, where another device on the network is using the same IP address, causing the printer to be unreachable. This conflict can occur due to static IP misconfiguration or a DHCP server assigning the same address to multiple devices.

Answer

The printer's Ethernet cable is faulty.

Answer

The switch port is administratively down.

Answer

The printer's print spooler service is stopped.

Question 5

A home user complains that their internet is extremely slow during peak evening hours, but speed tests show fast results late at night. They have a cable modem connection. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

Bandwidth congestion from neighbors. Cable internet uses a shared bandwidth model where multiple homes in the same neighborhood connect to a common node. During peak evening hours, increased simultaneous usage from neighbors causes congestion on this shared medium, resulting in slower speeds. Late-night tests are fast because fewer users are active, confirming the issue is contention-based rather than a hardware or throttling problem.

Answer

The modem is overheating

Answer

A faulty Ethernet cable

Answer

The ISP is throttling video streaming

Question 6

A small business has an inkjet printer that prints blank pages even though the ink cartridges are full. The printer passes the nozzle check pattern test. What should be done next?

Accepted Answer

Update the printer driver. The nozzle check pattern test passes, indicating the printhead and nozzles are functioning correctly. Blank pages with full ink carticles suggest a communication or driver issue. Updating the printer driver can resolve software conflicts or corruption that prevents data from being sent to the printer.

Answer

Replace the printhead

Answer

Check the paper type setting

Answer

Perform a power cycle

Question 7

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 set to 802.11ax-only mode.. If the access point is set to 802.11ax-only mode, older 802.11ac adapters, which are not 802.11ax compliant, will be unable to connect. Newer Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) laptops, however, will connect successfully. This mode setting directly explains why only the newer standard devices can connect while older ones cannot, without contradicting the stated WPA2 security.

Answer

The laptops have outdated firmware that does not support OFDMA.

Answer

The access point is configured to use WPA3 only.

Answer

The 5 GHz radio is disabled on the access point.

Question 8

A customer reports that their new Gigabit Ethernet connection is only achieving 100 Mbps speeds. The cable run is about 75 meters through a drop ceiling. You verify the switch and NIC are both Gigabit-capable. Which cable issue is most likely causing the speed limitation?

Accepted Answer

The cable is a Cat5 cable.. Cat5 cable is only rated for 100 Mbps over distances up to 100 meters. Since the run is 75 meters, the cable itself cannot support Gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE-T), which requires at least Cat5e cabling. The switch and NIC being Gigabit-capable confirms the bottleneck is the cable category.

Answer

The cable is a Cat5e patch cable.

Answer

The cable is a Cat6a cable.

Answer

The cable is a Cat6 cable.

Question 9

A company is setting up a new branch office with 50 workstations and needs to connect them to the existing corporate network across a city. The connection must be dedicated and provide consistent bandwidth. Which type of WAN hardware should be installed at the branch office?

Accepted Answer

A CSU/DSU. This question tests knowledge of WAN hardware for dedicated connections. A CSU/DSU is used for T1 or leased lines, which provide dedicated bandwidth. Other options are for different connection types.

Answer

A DSL modem

Answer

A cable modem

Answer

A wireless access point

Question 10

A user complains that their external hard drive is not showing up in File Explorer, but it appears in Device Manager as a connected device. What is the most likely issue?

Accepted Answer

The drive does not have a drive letter assigned.. This question tests troubleshooting storage recognition issues. When a device appears in Device Manager but not File Explorer, it often means the drive lacks a drive letter or has a partition issue.

Answer

The USB port is faulty.

Answer

The drive needs a new driver.

Answer

The file system is corrupted.

Question 11

A technician is setting up a cloud-based application that must handle unpredictable spikes in user traffic. The application should automatically add more virtual servers during peak times and remove them when traffic decreases. Which cloud concept is this?

Accepted Answer

Elasticity. Elasticity is the ability to automatically scale resources up and down in response to demand. This is a key benefit of cloud computing, allowing cost efficiency while handling spikes. Scalability is a broader term that includes manual scaling, but elasticity specifically implies automatic, dynamic adjustment.

Answer

Scalability

Answer

High availability

Answer

Load balancing

Question 12

A user wants to connect a new laptop to a wired network that uses 802.1X authentication. What must be configured on the laptop to ensure successful network access?

Accepted Answer

Valid 802.1X credentials (username and password or certificate). This question tests knowledge of network authentication methods. 802.1X requires a username and password (or certificate) to authenticate to the network, typically via RADIUS. Without proper credentials, the switch port will remain blocked.

Answer

A static IP address in the same subnet as the network

Answer

The correct SSID and wireless security key

Answer

A crossover cable to connect to the switch

Question 13

A technician is troubleshooting a Lenovo ThinkPad that will not turn on. When the power button is pressed, the keyboard lights flash briefly, then nothing. The battery is known to be charged. After removing the battery and holding the power button for 30 seconds, the laptop still does not power on. What should the technician try next?

Accepted Answer

Connect the laptop to a known-good AC adapter and try to power on without the battery installed.. This is a classic symptom of residual charge in the capacitors preventing a proper boot. The 'remove battery and hold power button' step discharges the system. If that fails, the next step is to test with a known-good AC adapter, as the internal charging circuit may be faulty. If that also fails, the motherboard or power button may be defective.

Answer

Replace the CMOS battery.

Answer

Reseat the RAM modules.

Answer

Perform a hard reset by disconnecting the internal battery (if accessible) and holding the power button for 60 seconds.

Question 14

A user reports that their email client can receive messages but cannot send any. The email server settings are correct, and the user can connect to the internet. The firewall is blocking outbound traffic on certain ports. Which protocol and port combination is likely blocked?

Accepted Answer

SMTP on port 25. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is used for sending outgoing email messages. By default, SMTP uses port 25. If the firewall blocks outbound traffic on port 25, the email client can still receive messages (using POP3 or IMAP) but will be unable to send any, perfectly matching the user's symptoms.

Answer

POP3 on port 110

Answer

IMAP on port 143

Answer

HTTPS on port 443

Question 15

A small business wants to run three different operating systems on a single physical server to save space and power. Each OS must have its own dedicated CPU cores, RAM, and storage, and the hypervisor must run directly on the hardware without a host OS. Which type of hypervisor should be deployed?

Accepted Answer

Type 1 hypervisor. This scenario describes a Type 1 (bare-metal) hypervisor, which installs directly on hardware and allocates dedicated resources to each virtual machine. Type 1 hypervisors are used in data centers and server virtualization to maximize performance and isolation.

Answer

Type 2 hypervisor

Answer

Container-based virtualization

Answer

Emulation virtualization

Question 16

A user reports that their computer cannot connect to the internet after being moved to a new office. The computer receives an IP address starting with 169.254.x.x. Which network service is failing to provide a valid IP configuration?

Accepted Answer

DHCP. The 169.254.x.x address is an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, assigned by Windows when a DHCP server is unreachable. Since the computer cannot obtain a valid IP configuration from a DHCP server, the DHCP service is failing. DNS, NAT, and ARP do not assign IP addresses dynamically.

Answer

DNS

Answer

NAT

Answer

ARP

Question 17

A company's web server is accessible from the internal network but not from the internet. The server has a static IP of 192.168.1.10. The firewall is configured to allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic. What is the most likely missing configuration?

Accepted Answer

Port forwarding rules are not configured on the firewall. The server has a private IP (192.168.1.10), so for internet clients to reach it, the firewall must translate the public destination IP to the private server IP using port forwarding (a form of Destination NAT). Without port forwarding rules, the firewall will receive HTTP/HTTPS traffic on its public interface but not know which internal server to send it to, even though the firewall's ACL allows the traffic. Option C correctly identifies this missing configuration.

Answer

The server's default gateway is set to the firewall's LAN IP

Answer

The firewall's NAT is disabled

Answer

The server has a public IP address assigned

Question 18

A technician is setting up a network for a university campus that spans several buildings across a 2-kilometer area. The network must support both wired and wireless connections for thousands of users. Which network type best describes this setup?

Accepted Answer

Campus Area Network (CAN). A Campus Area Network (CAN) is specifically designed to interconnect multiple buildings within a limited geographic area, such as a university campus or corporate park, typically spanning up to a few kilometers. This setup requires high-speed backbone links (often fiber optic) to support thousands of users with both wired and wireless access, which aligns perfectly with the CAN definition.

Answer

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Answer

Personal Area Network (PAN)

Answer

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Question 19

A user complains that they can browse the internet but cannot access network shares on a file server by hostname, though they can access them by IP address. The DNS server is responding to queries for other domains. Which protocol is most likely malfunctioning?

Accepted Answer

NetBIOS. The user can access network shares by IP address but not by hostname, which indicates a name resolution failure specific to NetBIOS. NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT) is responsible for resolving NetBIOS names (used for file and printer sharing on Windows networks) to IP addresses. Since DNS works for other domains but not for the file server's hostname, the issue is likely with NetBIOS name resolution, not DNS.

Answer

HTTP

Answer

DHCP

Answer

ARP

Question 20

A user reports that a cloud-hosted application is running very slowly during peak hours. The application is hosted on an IaaS platform with a single virtual machine. Which of the following is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The virtual machine is under-provisioned for the current workload. In IaaS, performance issues during peak hours often indicate that the virtual machine lacks sufficient resources (CPU, RAM) to handle increased load. Scaling up the VM or adding more instances can resolve this. Other factors like local internet or power are less likely to be the primary cause.

Answer

The user's internet connection is saturated

Answer

The cloud provider is experiencing a regional outage

Answer

The application's power supply is failing