easyMultiple Choice
220-1201 Practice Question: A home user complains that their internet is…
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?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA A+ often tests the misconception that ISP throttling is the default explanation for slow speeds, but the key differentiator here is the time-based pattern, which points to shared medium congestion rather than selective traffic management.
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
✓
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 analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The modem is overheating
Why it's wrong here
Overheating would degrade performance consistently rather than only during peak evening hours, so it does not match the time-dependent pattern described. It is tempting because heat is a common hardware fault, and it would be correct when a modem fails continuously or drops sync regardless of the time of day.
- ✓
Bandwidth congestion from neighbors
Why this is correct
Cable modem segments are shared with neighbours on the same node, so evening peak usage by others consumes the available downstream bandwidth. Late-night tests run fast because that contention disappears, matching the pattern of congestion rather than a fault in the user's own equipment.
- ✗
A faulty Ethernet cable
Why it's wrong here
A faulty Ethernet cable would degrade throughput constantly, not only during peak evening hours, so it cannot explain the time-of-day pattern. It is tempting because cabling faults do cause slow speeds, and replacing a damaged patch lead is the right fix when a link negotiates at 100 Mbps instead of 1 Gbps.
- ✗
The ISP is throttling video streaming
Why it's wrong here
Throttling targets specific applications such as video streaming, so it would not slow all traffic during peak hours while leaving late-night tests fast. It is tempting because ISPs do rate-limit certain traffic, and that would be the correct diagnosis if only streaming services were affected.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Networking Hardware: Routers, Switches, APs
Key term
Cable internet
Cable internet is a type of broadband internet access that uses the same coaxial copper cables as cable television to deliver high-speed data to homes and businesses.
Key term
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can travel over a network connection in a given amount of time, usually measured in bits per second.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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