220-1102 Question 180
Single answerVirtual private network (VPN)A remote employee reports that they can browse the internet from a hotel Wi-Fi network, but they cannot reach the company's internal file server. You verify that the employee's laptop has internet access and that the file server is online for users in the office. The company requires remote users to connect through a VPN before accessing internal resources. Which of the following should the technician do FIRST to restore access?
- A
Map the file server using its public IP address instead of its internal hostname
- B
Verify that the VPN client is connected and has successfully established a tunnel to the corporate network
- C
Disable the Windows Firewall on the employee's laptop to allow SMB traffic
- D
Restart the file server so it can accept connections from remote users
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
This question tests practical VPN troubleshooting in a common support scenario. When a remote user can access the internet but cannot reach internal company resources, and company policy requires VPN access, the first troubleshooting step is to verify that the VPN session is active and successfully connected. A VPN provides the secure tunnel that allows the remote device to communicate with internal network resources using private addressing and corporate authentication. This aligns with standard remote-access troubleshooting practices used in enterprise environments: verify connectivity, confirm the VPN tunnel, then test internal resource access. Vendor documentation from Microsoft, Cisco, and other VPN providers consistently emphasizes confirming the tunnel state, assigned IP settings, and route availability before making firewall changes or troubleshooting servers.
- A. Incorrect.
This is incorrect. Internal file servers are typically not exposed directly to the public internet, and using a public IP for SMB access would be insecure and inconsistent with standard remote-access design. In most organizations, users must first connect to the corporate network through a VPN so they can reach internal private IP addresses and internal DNS resources.
- B. Correct.
This is correct. The scenario states that the organization requires a VPN for remote access to internal resources. Since the user has internet access but cannot reach the internal file server, the first step is to confirm that the VPN client is connected and that the tunnel is established successfully. Without an active VPN session, the user will not have routing or authentication into the internal network.
- C. Incorrect.
This is incorrect. Disabling the local firewall is not an appropriate first troubleshooting step and creates unnecessary security risk. Also, the primary issue in the scenario is more likely lack of secure network connectivity into the corporate environment, not local filtering of SMB traffic. Best practice is to verify VPN connectivity before changing endpoint security settings.
- D. Incorrect.
This is incorrect. The file server is already confirmed to be available to users in the office, which indicates the server is functioning normally. Restarting it would not address a remote user's inability to access the internal network from outside the organization.