easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
220-1201 Practice Question: A technician is setting up internet for a rural…
A technician is setting up internet for a rural home that is 5 miles from the nearest town. The home has no cable TV or phone line. Which internet connection type is most feasible?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume DSL is feasible because it uses phone lines, but they overlook the distance limitation (typically 18,000 feet) and the fact that no phone line exists at the home, making satellite the only viable option.
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
✓
Satellite
Satellite internet is the most feasible option because the home is 5 miles from the nearest town with no cable TV or phone line infrastructure. Satellite requires only a clear line of sight to the sky, making it independent of terrestrial cabling. Cable broadband, DSL, and fiber optic all depend on physical infrastructure (coaxial cable, twisted-pair copper, or fiber) that does not extend to this remote location.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Cable broadband
Why it's wrong here
Cable broadband relies on extensive coaxial cable infrastructure connected to a local cable television provider's headend. This service requires physical cabling to be laid out to the customer's premises, making it highly dependent on population density and proximity to existing urban or suburban networks. Extending this infrastructure 5 miles into a rural area, away from established service zones, is typically cost-prohibitive for providers, rendering it an unlikely option.
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DSL
Why it's wrong here
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) utilizes existing copper telephone lines to transmit data, but its performance is severely limited by the distance from the telephone company's central office (CO) or remote terminal. Signal attenuation increases significantly with distance, causing speeds to drop dramatically and reliability to decrease beyond approximately 3 miles. Therefore, a location 5 miles from the nearest town, implying a greater distance from a CO, would likely experience extremely poor or no DSL service.
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Fiber optic
Why it's wrong here
Fiber optic internet delivers high-speed connectivity using optical cables that transmit data as light pulses. While offering superior bandwidth and reliability, the initial capital expenditure for deploying new fiber infrastructure is substantial, involving significant trenching and equipment costs. Consequently, fiber optic services are primarily concentrated in densely populated urban and suburban areas where the return on investment is higher, making it an uncommon and expensive option for remote rural locations.
- ✓
Satellite
Why this is correct
Satellite internet provides connectivity by communicating with geostationary or low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites via a dish antenna at the customer's location. Its primary advantage is near-universal availability, as it only requires a clear line of sight to the southern sky (for geostationary) or a constellation of satellites (for LEO), making it an ideal solution for remote or rural areas where terrestrial broadband infrastructure is absent. This technology effectively bridges the digital divide for locations far from conventional service providers.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Internet Connection Types
Key term
DSL
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is a technology that uses existing telephone lines to provide high-speed internet access without interrupting your phone service.
Key term
Broadband
Broadband is a high-speed internet connection that can carry multiple data signals at once, like having a wide highway for all your online traffic.
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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.