- A
Wide Area Network (WAN)
Why wrong: A WAN spans large distances like states or countries, which is excessive for a 2-kilometer campus.
- B
Campus Area Network (CAN)
A CAN is designed for a campus environment, connecting multiple buildings within a few kilometers, and can handle both wired and wireless users.
- C
Personal Area Network (PAN)
Why wrong: A PAN covers only a few meters and cannot support thousands of users across buildings.
- D
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
Why wrong: A MAN covers a city-sized area, which is larger than a campus and typically used for connecting multiple CANs or LANs.
Question 716 of 1,020
Campus Area Network (CAN) Explained
This 220-1201 practice question tests your understanding of network types. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A technician is setting up a network for a university campus that spans several buildings across a 2-kilometer area. The network must support both wired and wireless connections for thousands of users. Which network type best describes this setup?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"best"Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Quick Answer
The correct answer is Campus Area Network (CAN) because this network type is specifically designed to interconnect multiple buildings within a limited geographic area, such as a university campus or corporate park, typically spanning up to a few kilometers. A CAN supports both wired and wireless infrastructure for thousands of users, making it the ideal fit for a university campus spread across a 2-kilometer area. On the CompTIA A+ Core 1 220-1201 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish network types by scale—a common trap is confusing a CAN with a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), which covers a city, or a WAN, which spans countries. Remember that a CAN sits between a LAN (single building) and a MAN (city-wide). For a quick memory tip, think “C” for “Campus” and “Close-range”—if the network stays within a bounded campus or business park, it’s a CAN.
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
✓
Campus Area Network (CAN)
A Campus Area Network (CAN) is specifically designed to interconnect multiple buildings within a limited geographic area, such as a university campus or corporate park, typically spanning up to a few kilometers. This setup requires high-speed backbone links (often fiber optic) to support thousands of users with both wired and wireless access, which aligns perfectly with the CAN definition.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Wide Area Network (WAN)
Why it's wrong here
A WAN spans large distances like states or countries, which is excessive for a 2-kilometer campus.
- ✓
Campus Area Network (CAN)
Why this is correct
A CAN is designed for a campus environment, connecting multiple buildings within a few kilometers, and can handle both wired and wireless users.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Personal Area Network (PAN)
Why it's wrong here
A PAN covers only a few meters and cannot support thousands of users across buildings.
- ✗
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
Why it's wrong here
A MAN covers a city-sized area, which is larger than a campus and typically used for connecting multiple CANs or LANs.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse CAN with MAN because both involve multiple buildings, but the key distinction is the geographic scale: CAN is limited to a campus (typically <5 km), while MAN covers a city-wide area, and Cisco tests this by providing distance or scope clues like '2-kilometer area' to force the correct classification.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, a CAN often uses high-speed Ethernet (e.g., 10 Gigabit or 40 Gigabit fiber) with protocols like IEEE 802.1Q VLAN trunking to segment traffic across buildings, and may employ Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) or link aggregation for redundancy. In real-world scenarios, a university CAN might use a collapsed core design with distribution switches in each building, connected via single-mode fiber to a central core switch, supporting both wired access points and Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) controllers.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the 220-1201 exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this 220-1201 question test?
Network Types — This question tests Network Types — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Campus Area Network (CAN) — A Campus Area Network (CAN) is specifically designed to interconnect multiple buildings within a limited geographic area, such as a university campus or corporate park, typically spanning up to a few kilometers. This setup requires high-speed backbone links (often fiber optic) to support thousands of users with both wired and wireless access, which aligns perfectly with the CAN definition.
What should I do if I get this 220-1201 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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