easyMultiple Choice
FC0-U71 Practice Question: A technician is installing a new network in a…
A technician is installing a new network in a home office. The devices are spaced far apart, and the technician needs to make long runs of cable. Which of the following cable types is BEST suited for this scenario to minimize signal loss?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to choose Cat6 UTP because it is a common, high-performance copper cable, overlooking the fact that all copper twisted-pair cables share the same 100-meter distance limitation and are not designed to minimize signal loss over very long runs.
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
✓
Fiber optic cable
Fiber optic cable uses light pulses to transmit data, which is immune to electromagnetic interference and can carry signals over much longer distances (often kilometers) without significant attenuation. In a home office with long cable runs, fiber optic cable is the best choice to minimize signal loss compared to copper-based cables.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Cat5e UTP
Why it's wrong here
Cat5e UTP supports 1 Gbps to 100 metres and is cheap, but it is unshielded, so long runs in electrically noisy home offices suffer crosstalk and signal degradation. Cat5e suits short in-room patch leads, not the extended, interference-prone runs described.
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Cat6 UTP
Why it's wrong here
Cat6 UTP still lacks shielding, so electromagnetic interference degrades signal over long runs despite its 250 MHz rating. It tempts as a bandwidth upgrade, and would be correct for short 10 Gbps runs under 55 m in low-interference environments.
- ✗
Coaxial cable
Why it's wrong here
Coaxial's shielding resists interference, but its higher attenuation per metre than twisted-pair or fibre makes it a poor fit for long home-office runs where signal loss must be minimised. It is tempting because coax is the standard choice for broadband and cable-TV distribution, where its bandwidth and shielding suit shared RF signalling over moderate distances.
- ✓
Fiber optic cable
Why this is correct
Fiber optic cable carries data as light pulses, suffering far less attenuation and electromagnetic interference than copper over long distances. This makes it best suited to the far-apart devices and long cable runs, minimising the signal loss the scenario requires.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This FC0-U71 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 FC0-U71 exam.