easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
SSCP Practice Question: A small business uses a wireless network for…
A small business uses a wireless network for employees and guests. The network uses WPA2-PSK with a single SSID, and the guest network is separate but broadcasts the same SSID. Recently, employees report intermittent connection drops and slow internet speeds. A site survey shows multiple access points from neighboring businesses operating on channels 1, 6, and 11. The business's access points are set to auto-channel selection. What is the most likely cause of the issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse WPA2-PSK with WPA2-Enterprise and assume a RADIUS misconfiguration is involved, or they may overlook that auto-channel selection does not dynamically mitigate interference from neighboring APs on the same non-overlapping channels.
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
✓
Channel interference due to overlapping channels
With multiple neighboring access points operating on channels 1, 6, and 11, and the business's access points set to auto-channel selection, the most likely cause is channel interference. Auto-channel selection may not dynamically avoid co-channel or adjacent-channel overlap, leading to contention, retransmissions, and degraded performance. The separate guest network broadcasting the same SSID can also cause client confusion and increased collisions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
RADIUS server misconfiguration
Why it's wrong here
RADIUS is not used with WPA2-PSK; this applies to WPA2-Enterprise.
- ✗
Rogue access point
Why it's wrong here
While a rogue AP could cause issues, the symptoms are more consistent with interference, and no evidence of a rogue AP is described.
- ✓
Channel interference due to overlapping channels
Why this is correct
Auto-channel selection often leads to channel overlap with neighboring networks, causing interference and performance degradation.
- ✗
Weak PSK passphrase
Why it's wrong here
A weak passphrase would not cause intermittent drops or slow speeds; it would affect authentication only during initial connection.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SSCP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 SSCP exam.