220-1101 Question 31
Single answerHotspotA field technician needs Internet access for a laptop while working at a customer site with no available Wi-Fi. The technician enables the hotspot feature on a smartphone, but the laptop can see the hotspot SSID and fails to connect until the technician changes one setting on the phone. Which change is MOST likely to allow the older laptop to connect successfully?
- A
Change the hotspot band from 5 GHz to 2.4 GHz
- B
Disable Bluetooth on the smartphone
- C
Set the hotspot to use a static IP address instead of DHCP
- D
Increase the hotspot timeout setting so it stays on longer
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
This question tests practical hotspot troubleshooting in a real support scenario. A common issue with mobile hotspots is band compatibility: newer phones may default to 5 GHz for better performance, while older laptop wireless adapters may support only 2.4 GHz or have unreliable 5 GHz support. In those cases, changing the hotspot to 2.4 GHz is often the fastest and most effective fix. This aligns with standard wireless troubleshooting practices used in CompTIA A+ Core 1: verify radio compatibility, confirm SSID visibility, and adjust wireless settings based on client capabilities. Vendor documentation from smartphone and laptop manufacturers commonly notes that hotspot compatibility may improve when using 2.4 GHz, particularly with legacy devices.
- A. Correct.
Correct. Many older laptops have wireless adapters that support only 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi or have limited compatibility with 5 GHz hotspot operation. If the laptop can detect the SSID but cannot successfully connect or maintain a connection, switching the mobile hotspot to 2.4 GHz is a common and practical fix. This is especially relevant in mixed-environment troubleshooting where legacy hardware is involved.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Disabling Bluetooth is not the most likely fix for a laptop failing to join a phone's Wi-Fi hotspot. Although Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi can sometimes coexist imperfectly, Bluetooth is not usually the primary cause of basic hotspot association failures in this scenario. A technician might choose this option if they are thinking broadly about radio interference, but it is not the best answer here.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Mobile hotspots normally provide IP configuration to clients through DHCP automatically. Changing the phone hotspot to use a static IP address would not typically address a client compatibility issue, and many smartphone hotspot implementations do not even expose this as a configurable option to the user. The misconception is confusing network addressing problems with wireless compatibility problems.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Increasing the timeout could help if the hotspot keeps turning off due to inactivity, but the scenario states that the laptop can see the hotspot and fails to connect until a setting is changed. That points to a compatibility issue rather than a power-saving or session-duration problem.