hardMultiple Choice
Upgrade to 10 Gbps with Existing Cat6a Cabling
A company is upgrading its network to support 10 Gbps speeds for a server farm. The existing cabling is Cat6a, and the switches are Gigabit. The IT manager wants to minimize cost while achieving 10 Gbps. Which hardware change is required?
Quick Answer
The answer is to install 10 Gbps switches while keeping the existing Cat6a cabling. This is correct because Cat6a cabling is specifically rated to support 10 Gbps speeds at distances up to 100 meters, so the physical infrastructure is already capable of handling the upgrade. The real bottleneck in this scenario is the current Gigabit switches, which cap throughput at 1 Gbps regardless of cable quality. On the CompTIA A+ Core 1 220-1201 exam, this question tests your understanding of cabling standards versus hardware limitations—a common trap is assuming you need new cable, when in fact Cat6a is fully 10 Gbps-ready. A useful memory tip: think of the cable as the highway and the switch as the on-ramp; a wide highway (Cat6a) is useless if the on-ramp (switch) is narrow.
⚠ Common exam trap
Students often think a higher category cable (e.g., Cat7) is needed for 10 Gbps, but Cat6a supports it. The real bottleneck is the switch hardware, not the cabling.
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
✓
Install 10 Gbps switches and use the existing Cat6a cabling.
Cat6a cabling is rated to support 10 Gbps Ethernet up to 100 meters, so no cable replacement is needed. The bottleneck is the existing Gigabit switches, which must be upgraded to 10 Gbps switches to achieve the desired speed. This is the most cost-effective approach because it avoids the expense of new cabling.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Replace the Cat6a cabling with Cat7 cabling.
Why it's wrong here
Cat6a already supports 10 Gbps at runs up to 100 metres, so the cabling is not the bottleneck; the Gigabit switches are. Cat7 suits environments needing higher shielding or 40 Gbps over short distances, but replacing cabling here adds cost without removing the actual limitation.
- ✓
Install 10 Gbps switches and use the existing Cat6a cabling.
Why this is correct
Cat6a cabling already supports 10GBASE-T at 100 metres, so only the switches need replacing. Upgrading the switches to 10 Gbps while retaining the existing Cat6a satisfies the 10 Gbps requirement at minimum cost, avoiding unnecessary recabling.
- ✗
Replace the switches with Gigabit models that have SFP+ ports for fiber.
Why it's wrong here
Gigabit switches with SFP+ ports still switch at 1 Gbps per copper port; SFP+ uplinks do not deliver 10 Gbps to servers. It is tempting because SFP+ supports 10 Gbps fibre links, but the access layer remains Gigabit, so server connections stay at 1 Gbps.
- ✗
Add a repeater to boost the signal on the existing Cat6a cabling.
Why it's wrong here
A repeater merely regenerates the existing signal; it cannot raise Gigabit switch ports to 10 Gbps, and Cat6a already supports 10GBASE-T at 100 m. It is tempting as a cheap signal fix, but the bottleneck is the Gigabit switch hardware, not cable attenuation.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on 220-1201
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A small office with 15 employees uses a single switch to connect all workstations. Users report that the network becomes extremely slow during peak hours, and some packets are being dropped. The switch is a 10/100 model with a 1 Gbps uplink to the router. What is the most likely cause of the slowdown?
easy- A.The switch is not a managed switch and cannot prioritize traffic.
- ✓ B.The switch's ports are only 100 Mbps, causing a bottleneck when multiple users are active.
- C.The router's uplink port is faulty and needs to be replaced.
- D.The switch is a hub, not a switch, causing collisions.
Why B: The switch operates at 10/100 Mbps per port, meaning each workstation is limited to a maximum of 100 Mbps. With 15 employees active during peak hours, the aggregate traffic can easily exceed the 100 Mbps per-port capacity, causing congestion, packet drops, and slowdowns. The 1 Gbps uplink to the router is not the bottleneck; the bottleneck is the 100 Mbps access ports connecting the workstations.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 220-1201 exam.