Lesson 3: Understanding Wired and Wireless Networks

Multiple Choice

1. What is the most common cable used today?

a) UTP
b) STP
c) Coaxial
d) Fiber

Answer: a
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) is the cable most commonly used in local area
networks. It’s relatively easy to work with, flexible, efficient, and fast.

2. If you are making a crossover cable and one end is 568A, what should the other end be?
a) 568A
b) 568B
c) 568C
d) BOGB

Answer: b
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: Crossover cable is used to connect like devices to each other—for example, a
computer to another computer, or a switch to another switch. With the crossover cable, the patch
cable is wired with the 568B standard on one side and the 568A standard on the other.

3. If you want to connect a computer directly to another computer without using a switch, you
use a __________.
a) straight-through cable
b) crossover cable
c) laplink cable
d) rollover cable

Answer: b
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: A crossover cable is used to connect like devices to directly each other.

4. You need to connect a twisted-pair cable to the back of a patch panel. What tool should you
use?
a) punch-down tool
b) zip tool
c) wire wedge
d) soldering iron

Answer: a
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: The tools necessary to make the connections between patch panels and RJ45 jacks
include a cutting tool, a wire stripper, a punch-down tool, and a continuity tester.

5. What is the minimum category of twisted-pair cable you need to support 100 Mbps?
a) Category 3
b) Category 5
c) Category 5e
d) Category 6

Answer: b
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: Twisted-pair cables are categorized according to the frequency at which they
transmit signals and their data transfer rate or speed. To support 100 Mbps, you need to use a
minimum of category 5. The maximum length is 100 m.

6. When you pick up your wireless phone, your computer drops network connectivity. What
could be the cause of the problem?
a) EMI
b) RFI
c) network adapter failure
d) cable failure

Answer: b
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: Wireless adapters/networks use 2.4 or 5.0 GHz, which is the same frequency that
wireless phones use. Therefore, if both operate at the same time, you have radio frequency
interference (RFI).

7. You are setting up a network within a warehouse using Category 6 UTP. However, parts of the
network are down because of the heavy machinery used. What cable type should you use?
a) STP
b) coaxial
c) fiber
d) plenum-rated

Answer: c
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is a disturbance that can affect electrical
circuits, devices, and cables due to electromagnetic conduction and possibly radiation. To
overcome this, you should use fiber cabling, which uses light instead of electrical signals.

8. What do you call it when electrical signals jump to another set of wires?
a) EMI
b) RFI
c) crosstalk
d) jumpitis

Answer: c
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: A common type of interference is crosstalk, in which the signal that is transmitted
on one copper wire or pair of wires creates an undesired effect on another wire or pair of wires.

9. What type of cable should be used as part of a fire code for a building?
a) STP
b) PVC
c) heat protected
d) plenum-rated

Answer: d
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: Cables that are installed inside walls or above drop ceilings where they cannot be
accessed by sprinkler systems in the case of a fire should be plenum-rated or low-smoke rated.
Plenum-rated cables have a Teflon coating that makes them more impervious to fire.

10. Which of the following is not a fiber connector?

a) FC
b) LC
c) RJ-45
d) MT-RJ

Answer: c
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: Fiber connectors include FC, LC, MT-RJ, SC, and ST. RJ-45 is used for UTP
cables.

11. Which of the following is a characteristic of single-mode fiber?

a) Single-mode fiber supports longer distances than multimode fiber.
b) Single-mode fiber has increased bandwidth than multimode fiber.
c) Single-mode supports only a ring topology.
d) Single mode allows multiplexing of electrical and light signals.
Answer: a
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: With single-mode fiber, you send one signal. As a result, the single mode can
communicate over multi-mode.

12. What is the maximum speed supported by 802.11b?

a) 1 Mbps
b) 10 Mbps
c) 11 Mbps
d) 54 Mbps

Answer: c
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference: Identifying Wireless Networking Standards
Explanation: 802.11b runs at 2.4 GHz and supports up to 11 Mbps.

13. What is the maximum speed supported by 802.11g?

a) 1 Mbps
b) 10 Mbps
c) 11 Mbps
d) 54 Mbps

Answer: d
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference: Identifying Wireless Networking Standards
Explanation: 802.11g runs at 2.4 GHz and supports up to 54 Mbps.

14. What of the following is not a characteristic of 802.11n?

a) frame aggregation
b) channel bonding
c) RFI protection
d) MIMO

Answer: c
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference: Identifying Wireless Networking Standards
Explanation: 802.11n is superior to older WLAN standards in the following ways: Multiple-
Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), frame aggregation, and channel bonding.

15. Which is the most secure encryption used in wireless networks?

a) WEP
b) WPA
c) WPA2
d) 802.1x
Answer: c
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference: Identifying Wireless Networking Standards
Explanation: Several types of encryption are available for wireless networks, but the most secure
is WPA2 when used with AES.

16. What is used to identify a wireless network?

a) network ID
b) frequency identifier
c) wireless password
d) SSID

Answer: d
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference: Identifying Wireless Networking Standards
Explanation: When utilizing infrastructure mode, the base unit (normally a WAP) will be
configured with a service set identifier (SSID). This then becomes the name of the wireless
network and it is broadcast over the airwaves. Thus, when clients want to connect to the WAP,
they can identify it by the SSID.

Fill in the Blank

17. To test a cable, you would use a _____________.

Answer: continuity tester

Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: To make the connections between patch panels and RJ45 jacks you need a cutting
tool, a wire stripper, a punch-down tool, and a testing device known as a continuity tester, which
tests all connection pins one by one.

18. For organizations, using ___________ authentication for wireless networks is recommended.

Answer: 802.1X
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: One way to secure a wireless connection is to use IEEE 802.1X,a port-based
network access control (PNAC). This provides strong authentication to devices that need to
connect to the WLAN; it can also be used for regular wired LANs.

19. When a signal degrades as it runs through a wire, you have ________.

Answer: attenuation
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference: Identifying and Working with Twisted-Pair Cable
Explanation: Generally, you can run twisted-pair cables 100 meters before the signal degrades to
such a point that it cannot be interpreted by the destination host. This is known as attenuation. If
a cable needs to be run farther, you can use a signal repeater, a hub, or switch. Otherwise, fiber-
optic cable is the solution because you can run it much farther than twisted-pair cable.

Short Answer

20. What mode users a wireless access point?

Answer: infrastructure mode

Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference: Infrastructure
Explanation: Infrastructure mode occurs when wireless clients connect to and are authenticated
by a wireless access point, which can be expanded by creating a wireless distribution system—a
group of WAPs interconnected wirelessly.