220-1101 Question 347
Single answerImpactA small office reports that users in one corner of the building frequently lose Wi-Fi connectivity around lunchtime. You discover a break room on the other side of the wall with a microwave oven that is used heavily at that time. The wireless network uses 2.4 GHz. Which action would MOST likely reduce the impact of this problem without replacing all client devices?
- A
Reconfigure the wireless network to use a less congested 2.4 GHz channel such as 1, 6, or 11
- B
Increase the screen resolution on affected laptops to reduce electromagnetic interference
- C
Replace the SSID with a shorter network name so clients reconnect faster
- D
Disable WPA2 encryption to lower wireless overhead during peak usage
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
This question tests the candidate's ability to evaluate the impact of environmental interference on wireless networking in a real-world support scenario. In A+ Core 1, technicians are expected to recognize that 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi is vulnerable to interference from devices such as microwave ovens, cordless phones, and some Bluetooth equipment. A best-practice response is to mitigate the impact by changing channels, relocating equipment, or moving to 5 GHz where feasible. For 2.4 GHz networks, channels 1, 6, and 11 are commonly recommended because they are non-overlapping in many regulatory domains and help minimize adjacent-channel interference. The key applied skill is identifying the environmental cause and choosing a corrective action that addresses the actual source of the disruption rather than unrelated settings.
- A. Correct.
Correct. Microwave ovens commonly emit interference in the 2.4 GHz range, which can disrupt nearby Wi-Fi networks. In A+ Core 1 wireless troubleshooting, changing to a non-overlapping 2.4 GHz channel such as 1, 6, or 11 is a practical first step to reduce the impact of radio frequency interference. This is especially appropriate when the issue occurs at predictable times and in a specific physical area.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Screen resolution has no relationship to RF interference or Wi-Fi signal quality. This distractor reflects a misunderstanding between display settings and wireless networking problems.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. The SSID length or wording does not meaningfully affect susceptibility to microwave interference. While clients do use the SSID to identify the network, changing it would not address the root cause of intermittent signal disruption.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Disabling WPA2 would reduce network security and would not solve interference from a microwave. Although encryption introduces some processing overhead, that is not the cause of location-based connectivity loss tied to appliance usage.