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220-1201 Practice Question: A technician is deploying 20 new tablets for a…
A technician is deploying 20 new tablets for a hospital's nursing staff. After configuring Wi-Fi and email, they find that the tablets will not connect to the corporate 5 GHz wireless network, only to the 2.4 GHz network. All tablets are the same model. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
220-1201 often tests the misconception that any Wi-Fi connectivity problem is a configuration or authentication issue, when the real cause is a single-band radio lacking 5 GHz hardware support.
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 tablets only support 802.11b/g/n on the 2.4 GHz band and lack 5 GHz hardware support.
The tablets connect fine to 2.4 GHz but never see or associate with the 5 GHz SSID, which points to a hardware/radio capability limitation rather than a configuration issue. Tablets that only implement 802.11b/g/n are 2.4 GHz-only devices, since 5 GHz operation requires 802.11a/n/ac/ax radios. Because all 20 identical tablets exhibit the same behavior, a per-device defect or per-device config error is unlikely.
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 5 GHz SSID is hidden and requires manual entry.
Why it's wrong here
While a hidden SSID could prevent automatic connection, the tablets would still see the network if they support 5 GHz. The symptom is that they cannot connect at all, not that they can't find it.
- ✓
The tablets only support 802.11b/g/n on the 2.4 GHz band and lack 5 GHz hardware support.
Why this is correct
This is the most plausible explanation. Many budget-friendly tablets are manufactured with only 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi radios (supporting 802.11b/g/n standards) to reduce production costs and extend battery life. If the tablets physically lack the necessary 5 GHz hardware, they cannot detect or connect to any 5 GHz network, regardless of its visibility or security settings. This inherent hardware limitation would uniformly affect all 20 new tablets, preventing them from ever seeing or utilizing the corporate 5 GHz network.
- ✗
The corporate 5 GHz network requires 802.1X authentication that is not configured on the tablets.
Why it's wrong here
While 802.1X authentication is common in corporate environments, it is a security protocol that comes into play *after* a device has successfully detected and attempted to associate with the wireless network. If the tablets were capable of seeing the 5 GHz network, they would typically display the SSID and then prompt the user for the required authentication credentials or certificate. The core problem described is the inability to connect *at all*, implying they cannot even detect the network, making authentication a secondary, non-root cause.
- ✗
The tablets have a defective Wi-Fi antenna.
Why it's wrong here
A defective Wi-Fi antenna would typically impair the tablet's ability to connect to *any* wireless network, regardless of the frequency band. Since the tablets are able to connect successfully to 2.4 GHz networks, this indicates that their Wi-Fi antennas are functional and capable of receiving and transmitting signals. A problem specifically with 5 GHz connectivity, while 2.4 GHz works, points away from a general antenna defect and towards a band-specific hardware or configuration issue.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
IoT Device Types and Connectivity
Key term
Service Set Identifier
A Service Set Identifier (SSID) is the public name of a Wi-Fi network that devices use to identify and connect to it.
Key term
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is a technology that lets devices like laptops and phones connect to the internet or communicate with each other wirelessly using radio waves.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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.