mediumMultiple Choice
350-401 Practice Question: Runs the following command on a Cisco WLC: WLC#…
A network engineer runs the following command on a Cisco WLC:
WLC# show ap stats ap-name AP-1
AP Statistics for AP-1 ---------------------- Channel Utilization: 45% Interference: 10% Noise Floor: -95 dBm Total Packets Received: 15000 Total Packets Sent: 12000 Total Errors: 200
Based on this output, what can be concluded?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that any non-zero error count or moderate utilization is automatically problematic, when in fact the absolute values and percentages must be evaluated against established thresholds (e.g., noise floor below -90 dBm is good, utilization under 50% is moderate).
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The channel utilization is moderate and the noise floor is low.
The channel utilization of 45% is considered moderate (typically below 50% is acceptable), and the noise floor of -95 dBm is very low (excellent), indicating a clean RF environment. The interference value of 10% is also low, and the error count of 200 out of 15,000 received packets (1.33%) is not significant. This output shows a healthy AP with no major issues.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The channel is heavily congested with utilization above 80%.
Why it's wrong here
Channel utilization is measured as the percentage of time the wireless medium is busy. A value of 45% indicates that the medium is occupied less than half the time, leaving ample capacity for additional traffic. A heavily congested channel would typically show utilization of 80% or more, often accompanied by high retry rates and poor user experience; 45% does not meet that threshold, so this statement is incorrect.
- ✗
The noise floor is high, indicating potential interference.
Why it's wrong here
The noise floor represents the ambient RF energy from electromagnetic sources other than Wi-Fi signals. A reading of -95 dBm is exceptionally low, meaning the environment is almost free of interference; a high noise floor would be around -80 dBm or higher, which can degrade signal quality and reduce SNR. Since -95 dBm is far below typical concern levels, this option is definitively wrong.
- ✗
The AP is experiencing a significant number of errors relative to packets received.
Why it's wrong here
The AP recorded 200 errors out of approximately 15,000 packets, yielding an error rate of about 1.3%. In RF monitoring, an error rate under 5% is generally considered acceptable and does not indicate a significant number of errors. Such a low ratio suggests the physical layer is healthy, with only incidental CRC or framing errors that any wireless link experiences due to transient interference or packet collisions.
- ✓
The channel utilization is moderate and the noise floor is low.
Why this is correct
A channel utilization of 45% is moderate—the medium is busy but not oversaturated, leaving room for additional client traffic and retransmissions. A noise floor of -95 dBm is very low, meaning background RF interference is minimal. These two attributes together indicate a relatively clean and stable RF channel, which is why this is the correct assessment of the AP's environment.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every 350-401 question from scratch — 1,923 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 350-401 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 350-401 exam.