Network Troubleshooting

Wireless connectivity issues can be caused by physical obstructions and electronic interference. Dense objects like heavy household items or large appliances can weaken Wi-Fi signals, especially when using the 5 GHz frequency, which has a shorter range and weaker penetration through walls and obstacles. Positioning the router in a central, elevated, and open location helps improve coverage. Electronic interference from devices such as microwaves, cordless phones, or Bluetooth equipment can disrupt signals, particularly on the 2.4 GHz band. In such cases, switching to the 5 GHz band or selecting a less congested wireless channel can help reduce interference and improve connection stability. (T/F)

True

When troubleshooting intermittent wireless connectivity, what tool can a technician use to measure signal strength and detect potential dead zones?

Wi-Fi analyzer

A user’s laptop connects to the wireless network, but the connection is unstable and frequently drops, even after forcing reconnection and restarting the system. Other nearby devices on the same network are functioning normally. Which action should the technician take to resolve the problem?

Update or reinstall the laptop’s wireless adapter driver

Which troubleshooting steps can help resolve intermittent wireless connectivity caused by external interference?

Switching frequency bands

Changing the wireless channel

During a network performance audit, a technician observes that several wired workstations are consistently negotiating connections at 100 Mbps, despite having Gigabit Ethernet NICs and being connected to a Gigabit switch. What is the most probable physical layer cause for this speed limitation?

Older cabling type not supporting higher transfer rates

Which symptoms are most likely to indicate that slow network speeds are caused by network congestion rather than a hardware or software issue?

The slowness is noticeable across multiple devices

The issue occurs during specific, busy periods

A user notices their online gaming experience suffers from high network latency and lag spikes. What common internal factors on their computer could explain these symptoms, particularly if they have many installed programs?

Ongoing background processes or updates are slowing down the network connection

Other, currently active applications are consuming bandwidth

What is the most likely cause of limited network connectivity if a Windows machine is assigned an IP address in the 169.254.x.x range?

DHCP

An administrator is troubleshooting a computer showing "Limited Connectivity." The network icon in the Windows taskbar displays an "X" symbol, indicating no active network connection. Which of the actions listed below should the administrator take first?

Verify the network adapter status

Check the physical network connection

A network admin can successfully ping a remote host by its IP address but cannot do so by its domain name. What is the most probable cause of this issue?

DNS

What is jitter in the context of network performance?

Variation in packet delay

Which network application types are most sensitive to jitter?

Real-time

During a VoIP call, a user hears their own voice echoing back to them with a slight delay. Which network performance issue is this symptom most indicative of?

High latency

What is the most likely cause of choppy or distorted audio during a VoIP call?

Jitter

What is the primary purpose of a jitter buffer in VoIP systems?

To even out packet delays

The term "Port flapping" refers to a condition where a network port light, typically on a switch or router, rapidly alternates between up and down states. In such cases, the port’s status LED may blink erratically as it continuously loses and regains connection. (T/F)

True

Which of the following answers refer to the primary causes of port flapping?

Mismatched speed and duplex settings

Loose, faulty, or unsupported network cabling

Which network issues are directly linked to port flapping?

Intermittent connectivity

Degraded data transfer speeds

What is the recommended first step when troubleshooting port flapping?

Check physical connections

What condition may lead to increased latency on a network?

Network congestion due to excessive traffic

Physical distance between the sender and receiver of data

Wireless interference and signal degradation

Outdated or inefficient network hardware

All of the above

Which of the solutions listed below has no direct impact on decreasing network latency?

Implementing VLANs to segment network traffic

Which type of network cabling is most susceptible to external interference?

UTP

Which network cabling provides immunity against external interference?

Fiber optic

For a wireless client to successfully connect and authenticate to a Wi-Fi network, the security type (e.g., WEP, WPA, WPA2, or WPA3) and encryption type (e.g., TKIP or AES) settings on the connecting host must match the corresponding wireless security settings on a WAP. (T/F)

True

Which of the following can result in an authentication failure even if the username and password are typed correctly?

Expired user password

User account locked out

Disabled or deleted user account

Time synchronization issues

All of the above

A technician is called to a small office where users are experiencing random Internet connection drops. Network cabling has been checked and confirmed to be intact, and ping tests to the local gateway remain successful even during the outages. The office uses a commercial-grade router and switch, both of which pass diagnostics, but the router's admin interface logs show repeated signal loss on the WAN side. What is the most appropriate next step?

Contact the ISP