220-1201 Practice Questions

Question 1

During a network cable installation, a technician needs to verify that a newly run Cat6 cable is properly terminated and free of shorts or opens. The cable is not yet connected to any switch or device. Which tool should the technician use?

Accepted Answer

Cable tester. A cable tester is specifically designed to verify proper termination and detect faults like shorts, opens, or miswires in copper Ethernet cables. Since the cable is not connected to any network device, a cable tester can independently validate the integrity of each wire pair by sending signals and checking continuity, which is exactly what this scenario requires.

Answer

Tone generator and probe

Answer

Multimeter

Answer

Loopback plug

Question 2

A user reports that their laptop can see multiple Wi-Fi networks but cannot connect to any of them. Other devices in the same location connect without issue. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The laptop has an incorrect or outdated Wi-Fi password saved for the networks.. The laptop can see multiple Wi-Fi networks (indicating the wireless adapter is functional and scanning is successful) but fails to connect to any of them. This points to a common credential mismatch issue: if the saved password for a network is incorrect or outdated, the 4-way handshake (WPA2/WPA3) will fail, preventing association even though the SSID is visible. Other devices connecting successfully rules out router-side problems.

Answer

The laptop's wireless adapter is disabled in Device Manager.

Answer

The Wi-Fi router is out of range.

Answer

The laptop's Bluetooth is interfering with Wi-Fi.

Question 3

A user wants to connect their smartphone to a car's stereo system that only has an auxiliary input (3.5mm jack). The smartphone has a USB-C port and no headphone jack. Which accessory is required?

Accepted Answer

A USB-C to 3.5mm adapter.. The car stereo only has a 3.5mm auxiliary input, so the smartphone's audio output must be converted to analog audio. A USB-C to 3.5mm adapter contains a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that converts the smartphone's digital audio signal into an analog signal that the car stereo can accept through the 3.5mm jack.

Answer

A USB-C to USB-A cable.

Answer

A Bluetooth FM transmitter.

Answer

A 3.5mm extension cable.

Question 4

A technician is troubleshooting a network where users on one floor cannot access a server on another floor. Both floors are connected via a single fiber optic link. The technician checks the link and sees the switch port shows 'err-disabled' status. What is the most likely cause of this state?

Accepted Answer

Port security has been violated. The 'err-disabled' state on a switch port is commonly triggered by a port security violation. When a device attempts to connect with a MAC address that exceeds the configured maximum or is not on the allowed list, the switch disables the port to prevent unauthorized access. This matches the scenario where users on one floor cannot reach a server, as the link is physically intact but logically blocked.

Answer

The fiber cable is damaged

Answer

A duplex mismatch exists between the switches

Answer

The VLAN configuration is incorrect

Question 5

A server administrator reports that a critical server is unreachable from the network. The technician can ping the server's IP address from the local subnet but not from a remote subnet. Which command-line tool should be used to identify where packets are being dropped along the path?

Accepted Answer

tracert. B is correct because `tracert` (or `traceroute` on Linux) uses ICMP Time Exceeded messages to map each hop along the path from source to destination. When a server is reachable locally but not from a remote subnet, `tracert` can pinpoint exactly which router is dropping packets, revealing a routing or firewall issue at that hop.

Answer

ping -t

Answer

netstat -r

Answer

pathping

Question 6

A technician is configuring a network for a new branch office. The branch has 50 users and needs to access resources at the main office via a secure tunnel over the internet. Which service is required to establish this connection?

Accepted Answer

VPN. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is required to create a secure, encrypted tunnel over the internet between the branch office and the main office. This allows the 50 users to access internal resources at the main office as if they were on the same local network, using protocols such as IPsec or SSL/TLS to ensure confidentiality and integrity of data in transit.

Answer

DHCP

Answer

DNS

Answer

NAT

Question 7

A technician is setting up a temporary network for a conference where attendees' laptops need to share files directly without any central access point or router. The conference room has no existing network infrastructure. Which network type should be configured, and what is a potential security risk?

Accepted Answer

Ad hoc network; each laptop connects directly to others, but encryption may not be enforced.. An ad hoc network (IBSS) allows laptops to communicate directly without a central access point, which matches the requirement for direct file sharing with no existing infrastructure. The security risk is that encryption (like WEP or WPA2-Personal) may not be enforced by default in ad hoc mode, leaving data transmissions vulnerable to eavesdropping.

Answer

Infrastructure mode WLAN; configure a laptop as a software access point.

Answer

PAN network using Bluetooth; all laptops pair via Bluetooth.

Answer

Mesh network; each laptop acts as a node forwarding traffic.

Question 8

A technician is configuring a kiosk that uses a tablet to display digital signage. The tablet must be powered continuously and connected to a wired network for reliability. The tablet has a single USB-C port. How should the technician provide both power and network connectivity?

Accepted Answer

Connect a USB-C hub that provides both Ethernet and Power Delivery charging.. A USB-C hub with Power Delivery (PD) and Ethernet allows the tablet to receive both power and wired network connectivity through a single USB-C port. USB-C PD supports up to 100W (20V/5A) for charging, while the hub's Ethernet controller provides a stable wired network connection, meeting the requirements for continuous power and reliability.

Answer

Use a USB-C to Ethernet adapter and charge the tablet wirelessly.

Answer

Use a Wi-Fi connection and a standard USB-C charger.

Answer

Connect the tablet to the network via Bluetooth tethering to a phone.

Question 9

A user reports that their multifunction printer makes a loud grinding noise when printing, and the output has vertical black streaks. The technician has already replaced the toner cartridge. What component is most likely failing?

Accepted Answer

The imaging drum. This question tests advanced troubleshooting of laser printer mechanical issues. The imaging drum is a common wear item that can cause grinding noises and vertical streaks when damaged. The fuser or pickup rollers would produce different symptoms.

Answer

The fuser assembly

Answer

The pickup rollers

Answer

The transfer roller

Question 10

A user on a corporate iPhone cannot receive push notifications from the company's email app, even though notifications are enabled in the app settings. Other apps on the phone receive notifications normally. What should the technician check first?

Accepted Answer

Check the notification settings for the email app in iOS Settings.. The problem is isolated to a single app (the email app) while other apps receive notifications normally. This indicates the issue is not with the device's system-wide notification settings (like Do Not Disturb) but rather with the app-specific notification permissions within iOS Settings. The technician should first check the notification settings for the email app in iOS Settings to ensure that 'Allow Notifications' is toggled on and that the desired alert styles (e.g., banners, sounds, badges) are configured correctly, as these settings override any in-app notification preferences.

Answer

Verify that the device is not in Do Not Disturb mode.

Answer

Reinstall the email app to reset its configuration.

Answer

Update the iPhone to the latest iOS version.

Question 11

A small office has a single public IP address and uses a router to provide internet access to 20 devices. Users report that some websites load slowly or time out, while others work fine. The router's NAT table shows many entries. Which protocol is most likely being exhausted, causing these intermittent issues?

Accepted Answer

NAT. The router's NAT table has many entries, indicating that the single public IP address is being heavily used to translate private IPs for 20 devices. When the NAT table exhausts its available port mappings (typically 65,535 per public IP, but often limited by router resources), new outbound connections cannot be established, causing some websites to time out while existing connections continue to work. This is a classic symptom of NAT overload (PAT) exhaustion.

Answer

DNS

Answer

DHCP

Answer

ICMP

Question 12

A network engineer is designing a new data center and needs to connect multiple servers to a core switch with redundant paths. To prevent loops while allowing failover, which networking hardware feature should be implemented?

Accepted Answer

Enable Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) on all switches.. Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) is the correct choice because it provides loop prevention in redundant switch topologies while offering faster convergence than classic STP. In a data center with multiple servers connected to a core switch via redundant paths, RSTP (IEEE 802.1w) ensures that only one active path exists at a time, blocking redundant links to prevent broadcast storms and MAC table instability, yet automatically unblocking them if the primary path fails.

Answer

Enable Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) on the server connections.

Answer

Use a hub instead of a switch for the core connection.

Answer

Configure all switch ports as access ports.

Question 13

A network administrator is designing a new subnet scheme for a company with 4 departments: Sales (50 devices), HR (25 devices), IT (10 devices), and Management (5 devices). The company uses the 10.0.0.0/8 network. To minimize wasted IP addresses, which subnet mask should be used for the Sales department?

Accepted Answer

255.255.255.192. The Sales department requires 50 usable IP addresses. A /26 subnet mask (255.255.255.192) provides 64 total addresses, with 62 usable addresses (2^6 - 2 = 62), which is the smallest subnet that can accommodate 50 devices without wasting IPs. This aligns with the goal of minimizing wasted addresses in the 10.0.0.0/8 network.

Answer

255.255.255.0

Answer

255.255.255.224

Answer

255.255.255.240

Question 14

A customer complains that their VoIP phone intermittently drops calls. A technician checks the network and finds high latency and jitter during peak hours. Which network service should be configured to prioritize VoIP traffic?

Accepted Answer

QoS. B is correct because Quality of Service (QoS) is the network service designed to manage bandwidth and prioritize time-sensitive traffic like VoIP. By marking VoIP packets (e.g., with DSCP EF or CoS 5) and applying queuing mechanisms such as LLQ or CBWFQ, QoS reduces latency and jitter during congestion, directly addressing the intermittent call drops during peak hours.

Answer

DHCP

Answer

DNS

Answer

VPN

Question 15

A technician is troubleshooting a server that uses a RAID 6 array with six 4 TB HDDs. One drive fails, and after replacement, the rebuild process is taking much longer than expected. The array is still online. What is the most likely reason for the slow rebuild?

Accepted Answer

The large capacity of the drives and the double parity overhead are causing the slow rebuild.. RAID 6 uses double parity, requiring more calculations during rebuild. Additionally, large-capacity drives (4 TB) take longer to rebuild because the entire drive surface must be read and written. The rebuild process also competes with normal I/O, slowing it further.

Answer

The replacement drive is of a different RPM.

Answer

The RAID controller is faulty.

Answer

The array is performing background consistency checks.

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