220-1101 Hardware and Network Troubleshooting Practice Question
A network printer is set to a static IP address. Users report that print jobs spool on their workstations but never print. The technician confirms the printer is powered on, the network cable is connected, and the printer's self-test page prints successfully. The technician can ping the printer's IP address from a workstation. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates see a successful ping and assume full network functionality, overlooking the print server's queue state as a separate logical layer that can block jobs independently of Layer 3 connectivity.
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 printer's print queue is paused or the printer is in an 'Offline' state on the print server
The printer is reachable (ping succeeds) and its self-test page prints, confirming basic network connectivity and hardware functionality. The fact that print jobs spool locally but never print indicates the print server is not forwarding jobs to the printer, which is classic behavior when the printer queue is paused or the printer is marked offline on the print server. This prevents the spooler from sending data to the printer even though the network path is intact.
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 printer's print queue is paused or the printer is in an 'Offline' state on the print server
Why this is correct
A paused print queue on the print server is the classic cause of jobs spooling successfully but never reaching an online, responsive printer. The printer's static IP and physical link are fully functional (as evidenced by a successful ping), yet the print server's spooler holds all documents in a 'paused' or 'Offline' state and does not forward them to the network port. This can be due to a manually paused queue, the printer driver setting 'Use Printer Offline', or the print server losing its connection to the printer port. Clearing the pause or resetting the printer status on the server immediately allows queued jobs to flush.
- ✗
The printer driver on the workstations is incorrect
Why it's wrong here
An incorrect or mismatched printer driver on the workstations would cause symptoms at the spooling or rendering stage, such as spooler errors, garbled output, incomplete pages, or jobs that fail immediately after submission. Since the users' jobs spool successfully and sit in the queue, the spooler has accepted the print data, meaning it was rendered into printer-ready commands without a corrupt driver blocking the process. While a driver can occasionally stop jobs, it would typically produce an error event on the client machine or in the print server's spool folder, not a silent hold in the queue. The fault is downstream of the spooler, pointing to the port or server state rather than the driver.
When this WOULD be correct
This would be correct if users cannot print at all, and the technician finds that the printer model is not supported by the installed driver, or the driver version is incompatible with the OS, causing print jobs to fail immediately or produce garbled output.
- ✗
The printer's static IP address conflicts with another device on the network
Why it's wrong here
An IP address conflict would produce erratic behavior: the printer would intermittently drop off the network, fail to respond to ARP requests, or the wrong device might answer the ping, causing connection resets mid-print. Here, the technician successfully pinged the printer's static IP, which means the address is currently being answered by the printer itself and is not contested by another host. Additionally, a conflict typically manifests as 'Address already in use' errors at boot or intermittent timeouts, not as a consistently online printer that simply ignores print jobs. Thus, this is ruled out by the successful ping.
When this WOULD be correct
In a scenario where users cannot print and the technician cannot ping the printer's IP address, or the ping fails intermittently, and other devices on the same subnet experience connectivity issues, then an IP conflict would be the most likely cause.
- ✗
The network cable is faulty
Why it's wrong here
A faulty network cable would cause physical-layer packet corruption, CRC errors, late collisions, or complete link drop—any of which would result in the ping failing entirely or showing severe packet loss and high latency. Since the technician successfully pinged the printer, the Layer 1 and Layer 2 path (cable, switch port, NIC) is electrically and data-link functional. Furthermore, cable faults are unrelated to the print queue state and do not explain why jobs stay spooled indefinitely; they would instead cause timeouts or 'port unreachable' errors. Therefore, this option is eliminated by the successful ping result.
When this WOULD be correct
In a scenario where a network printer is unreachable, the self-test page fails to print, and pinging the printer fails, a faulty network cable would be a likely cause. For example, if the link light is off and connectivity tests fail, a bad cable is a primary suspect.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The 220-1101 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓The printer's print queue is paused or the printer is in an 'Offline' state on the print serverCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
A paused print queue on the print server is the classic cause of jobs spooling successfully but never reaching an online, responsive printer. The printer's static IP and physical link are fully functional (as evidenced by a successful ping), yet the print server's spooler holds all documents in a 'paused' or 'Offline' state and does not forward them to the network port. This can be due to a manually paused queue, the printer driver setting 'Use Printer Offline', or the print server losing its connection to the printer port. Clearing the pause or resetting the printer status on the server immediately allows queued jobs to flush.
✗The printer driver on the workstations is incorrectWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The technician can ping the printer, indicating network connectivity is fine, and the self-test page prints, so the printer hardware and driver are likely correct. The issue is that print jobs spool but never print, pointing to a print server or queue problem, not the driver.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This would be correct if users cannot print at all, and the technician finds that the printer model is not supported by the installed driver, or the driver version is incompatible with the OS, causing print jobs to fail immediately or produce garbled output.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates often assume that printing problems are due to driver issues because driver problems are common, and they may overlook the symptom that jobs spool but don't print, which is more indicative of a queue or offline state.
✗The printer's static IP address conflicts with another device on the networkWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The technician can successfully ping the printer's IP address, which indicates that the IP address is reachable and not conflicting with another device. An IP conflict would cause intermittent connectivity or failure to ping, not successful pings with print jobs spooling but not printing.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
In a scenario where users cannot print and the technician cannot ping the printer's IP address, or the ping fails intermittently, and other devices on the same subnet experience connectivity issues, then an IP conflict would be the most likely cause.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may assume that any printing issue with a static IP is due to an IP conflict, overlooking that a successful ping rules out this cause.
✗The network cable is faultyWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The technician confirmed the network cable is connected and the printer's self-test page prints successfully, indicating the cable is functional. Additionally, the printer is pingable from a workstation, ruling out a faulty cable.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
In a scenario where a network printer is unreachable, the self-test page fails to print, and pinging the printer fails, a faulty network cable would be a likely cause. For example, if the link light is off and connectivity tests fail, a bad cable is a primary suspect.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may assume that any network connectivity issue could be due to a faulty cable, especially when print jobs are not reaching the printer. They overlook that successful pinging and self-test page printing already eliminate cable problems.
Analysis generated from the official 220-1101blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Quick reference
IPv4 Address Class Summary
| Class | First Octet Range | Default Mask | Networks | Hosts per Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1–126 | /8 (255.0.0.0) | 126 | 16,777,214 |
| B | 128–191 | /16 (255.255.0.0) | 16,384 | 65,534 |
| C | 192–223 | /24 (255.255.255.0) | 2,097,152 | 254 |
| D | 224–239 | N/A | Multicast groups | — |
| E | 240–255 | N/A | Reserved / experimental | — |
127.x.x.x is reserved for loopback. Modern networks use CIDR (classless) rather than classful addressing.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 896 original 220-1101 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1101 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 220-1101 exam.