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220-1201 Practice Question: A user's iPhone connects to a public Wi-Fi…
A user's iPhone connects to a public Wi-Fi hotspot but cannot load any web pages. The Wi-Fi icon shows full signal. Other devices on the same network work fine. What is the most likely issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
The 220-1201 exam often tests the distinction between 'connected to Wi-Fi' and 'authenticated via captive portal,' trapping candidates who assume a full signal and IP address mean full internet access.
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 iPhone is not accepting the captive portal's terms and conditions.
The most likely issue is that the iPhone has connected to the Wi-Fi network but has not completed the captive portal authentication process. Captive portals require users to accept terms and conditions or log in via a web page before internet access is granted. Since other devices work fine, the network itself is functional, and the iPhone's full signal indicates a good physical connection, pointing to a failure in the portal acceptance step.
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 iPhone's DNS settings are misconfigured.
Why it's wrong here
If the iPhone's DNS settings were misconfigured, the device would likely connect to the Wi-Fi network but fail to resolve domain names for *any* internet resource, not just after connecting to a public hotspot. While the captive portal page itself might load via IP redirection, subsequent attempts to browse the web would result in "server not found" errors. This issue typically affects all internet access uniformly, rather than being specific to the initial public Wi-Fi authentication phase.
- ✓
The iPhone is not accepting the captive portal's terms and conditions.
Why this is correct
Public Wi-Fi hotspots commonly utilize captive portals that intercept initial web requests and redirect the user to a specific web page. This page requires the user to accept terms and conditions, provide credentials, or make a payment before full internet access is granted. If the user has not completed this interaction, or if the portal page failed to load correctly, the network will restrict outbound traffic, leading to a "connected but no internet" experience.
- ✗
The iPhone's Wi-Fi antenna is faulty.
Why it's wrong here
A faulty Wi-Fi antenna on the iPhone would primarily manifest as an inability to detect available networks, extremely weak signal strength even when in close proximity to an access point, or persistent connection drops. Since the iPhone successfully connects to the public Wi-Fi hotspot, it indicates that the device's antenna and radio components are functioning adequately to establish a physical and data link layer connection. Therefore, a faulty antenna is inconsistent with the described scenario.
- ✗
The public Wi-Fi network is using an incompatible security protocol.
Why it's wrong here
If the public Wi-Fi network were employing a security protocol incompatible with the iPhone's capabilities, the device would be unable to establish a connection to the access point at all. The iPhone would either fail to authenticate, display an error message during the connection attempt, or simply be unable to join the network. The fact that the iPhone *connects* to the hotspot rules out an incompatible security protocol as the root cause of the lack of internet access.
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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.