220-1101 Networking Practice Question
A user reports that they can browse the internet and receive emails but cannot send emails using their email client. The email client is configured to use the company's email server. The technician verifies that other users in the same office can send and receive emails without any issues. The workstation's software firewall is disabled. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume a global server outage (Option A) when the symptom is isolated to one user, overlooking the client-side configuration that separates sending and receiving protocols.
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 email client's outgoing server settings are misconfigured.
Since the user can receive emails (POP3/IMAP) and browse the internet, network connectivity and DNS resolution are functional. The fact that other users can send emails confirms the SMTP service on the server is operational. The most likely cause is that the email client's outgoing server settings (SMTP server address, port, or authentication) are misconfigured, preventing the client from establishing an SMTP session to relay the outgoing message.
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 email server's SMTP service is experiencing an outage.
Why it's wrong here
An outage of the email server's SMTP service would be a server-side failure affecting every user who relies on that server for sending mail, not just a single user. Since the user can still receive email (via POP3 or IMAP) and other users can still send, this indicates the SMTP service is reachable and functional. The symptom of send-only failure in one client points instead to client-specific outgoing server settings.
- ✗
The workstation's DNS resolver cannot resolve the email server's hostname.
Why it's wrong here
DNS issues would affect both sending and receiving if the client uses hostnames, but the user can receive emails, indicating DNS resolution works for the incoming server. The outgoing server may use a different hostname but typically both are resolved correctly.
- ✓
The email client's outgoing server settings are misconfigured.
Why this is correct
The email client's outgoing server settings are misconfigured, which is a common cause of send-only failures. For sending, the client uses SMTP (usually on port 587 with STARTTLS or 465 with implicit SSL), and an incorrect server hostname, port, or encryption method will prevent the message from being delivered. Receiving uses separate POP3/IMAP settings, so those can remain functional, and because other users on the same SMTP server can send, the issue is isolated to this client's configuration.
- ✗
The user's email account password has expired.
Why it's wrong here
An expired account password would prevent authentication for all mail operations, not just sending. To retrieve email via POP3 or IMAP, the client must authenticate to the incoming server, so an expired password would cause receiving to fail as well. Since the user can receive messages, the stored credentials must be valid for incoming authentication; this makes password expiration inconsistent with the described send-only fault.
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Related to this question
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Internet Connection Types
Key term
Internet Mail Access Protocol
Internet Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) is a standard email protocol that lets you read and manage emails stored on a mail server from multiple devices, keeping everything synchronized.
Key term
Post Office Protocol
Post Office Protocol (POP) is a standard internet protocol used by email clients to retrieve email from a remote server and download it to the user's local device.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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