CompTIA N10-009 Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

CompTIA N10-009 Online Questions & Answers

• Question 61:

  An imaging workstation at a hospital is experiencing intermittent connectivity loss.

  Which of the following would most likely be used to resolve the issue at the least expense?

  A. Single-mode fiber
  B. Twinaxial cable
  C. Spanning tree
  D. Shielded twisted pair
  D. Shielded twisted pair

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  Explanation

  The correct answer is Shielded Twisted Pair (STP). According to the CompTIA Network+ N10-009 objectives, intermittent connectivity issues-especially in environments like hospitals-are often caused by electromagnetic interference (EMI) from medical imaging equipment, power systems, and other electronic devices. These environments are electrically noisy and can disrupt standard copper Ethernet cabling.

  STP cabling is specifically designed to mitigate EMI by incorporating shielding around the twisted pairs. This shielding reduces external interference and improves signal stability without requiring a complete redesign of the network.

  Importantly, STP is significantly less expensive than deploying fiber-optic solutions while still being highly effective in environments prone to interference.

  Single-mode fiber would eliminate EMI entirely, but it is far more costly due to specialized cabling, transceivers, and installation requirements. Twinaxial cable is typically used for short-distance, high-speed data center connections and is not appropriate for workstation connectivity. Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a Layer 2 loop-prevention protocol and has nothing to do with physical connectivity or interference issues.

  The Network+ objectives stress choosing solutions that balance effectiveness, cost, and environmental suitability. In this case, upgrading to shielded twisted pair cabling provides the most practical and cost-effective resolution for intermittent connectivity in a hospital imaging environment.

• Question 62:

  After installing a new 6E wireless router in a small office, a technician notices that some wireless devices are not able to achieve the rated speeds.

  Which of the following should the technician check to troubleshoot the issue? (Choose two.)

  A. Client device compatibility
  B. Back-end cabling
  C. Weather phenomena
  D. Voltage source requirements
  E. Interference levels
  F. Processing power
  A. Client device compatibility
  E. Interference levels

• Question 63:

  A server administrator needs to add a record to the company's DNS server to verify ownership of a web domain. The administrator has the record's name and value.

  Which of the following record types should the administrator use to add the record to the DNS server?

  A. TXT
  B. A
  C. PTR
  D. CNAME
  A. TXT

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  Explanation

  To verify ownership of a domain, providers commonly require adding a TXT record to DNS containing a specific validation token (a name/value pair). A TXT (text) record is designed to store arbitrary text data associated with a domain or hostname, which makes it ideal for domain verification workflows used by certificate authorities, email security (SPF/DKIM/DMARC-related entries), and third-party services that need proof of administrative control over DNS. This fits Network

  + DNS objectives that cover common record types and their practical purposes in real deployments.

  An A record maps a hostname to an IPv4 address and is used for name-to-address resolution, not ownership verification. A PTR record provides reverse DNS mapping (IP address to hostname) and is stored in reverse lookup zones, not typically used for validating web domain ownership. A CNAME record creates an alias from one hostname to another canonical hostname; while sometimes used in service integrations, the classic "record name + token value" ownership verification is most directly and universally satisfied by a TXT record. Therefore, TXT is the correct choice given the requirement and the provided record name and value.

• Question 64:

  Users at a satellite office are experiencing issues when using videoconferencing.

  Which of the following should a technician focus on first to rectify these issues?

  A. Quality of service
  B. Network signal
  C. Time to live
  D. Load balancing
  A. Quality of service

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  Explanation

  Quality of Service (QoS) ensures video conferencing receives priority bandwidth to prevent latency, jitter, and packet loss.

  QoS settings prioritize real-time traffic, ensuring smooth performance.

  References:

  CompTIA Network+ (N10-009) Official Study Guide Section: Network Performance Optimization

• Question 65:

  A customer is adding fiber connectivity between adjacent buildings. A technician terminates the multimode cable to the fiber patch panel. After the technician connects the fiber patch cable, the indicator light does not turn on.

  Which of the following should a technician try first to troubleshoot this issue?

  A. Reverse the fibers.
  B. Reterminate the fibers.
  C. Verify the fiber size.
  D. Examine the cable runs for visual faults.
  A. Reverse the fibers.

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  Explanation

  When working with fiber optic cables, one common issue is that the transmit (TX) and receive (RX) fibers might be reversed. The first step in troubleshooting should be to reverse the fibers at one end to ensure they are correctly aligned (TX to RX and RX to TX). This is a simple and quick step to rule out a common issue before moving on to more complex troubleshooting.

  References:

  CompTIA Network+ study materials.

• Question 66:

  Which of the following is most closely associated with attempting to actively prevent network intrusion?

  A. IDS
  B. Firewall
  C. IPS
  D. VPN
  C. IPS

• Question 67:

  A company is expanding to another floor in the same building. The network engineer configures a new switch with the same VLANs as the existing stack. When the network engineer connects the new switch to the existing stack, all users lose connectivity.

  Which of the following is the MOST likely reason?

  A. The new switch has unused ports disabled
  B. The new switch does not have a default gateway
  C. The new switch is connected to an access port
  D. The new switch is in a spanning tree loop
  D. The new switch is in a spanning tree loop

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  Explanation

  his describes a Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) loop. If STP isn't correctly configured or a redundant link is added without STP protection, it causes broadcast storms and network outages.

  Option A: Unused ports disabledwould not affect the entire network.

  Option B: Missing default gatewayon a switch doesn't cause total network loss.

  Option C: Connecting a switch to an access port can cause VLAN mismatches, but not total connectivity loss unless a loop forms.

  References:

  CompTIA Network+ N10-009 Official Objectives: 3.6?Explain the characteristics of network topologies and types.

• Question 68:

  A user's home mesh wireless network is experiencing latency issues. A technician has:

  1. Performed a speed test.

  2. Rebooted the devices.

  3. Performed a site survey.

  4. Performed a wireless packet capture.

  The technician reviews the following information:

  The technician notices in the packet capture that frames were retransmitted.

  Which of the following is the most likely cause of the user's network issue?

  A. The SSIDs should not be the same.
  B. The network has too much overlap.
  C. The devices are incompatible with the mesh network.
  D. The nodes are underpowered.
  B. The network has too much overlap.

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  Explanation

  1. Too much overlap on the same channel (all devices on channel 11) causes interference, leading to retransmissions and high latency.

  2. Same SSIDs (A) are expected in mesh networks.

  3. Device compatibility (C) would show different symptoms.

  4. Node power (D) affects coverage, not congestion.

• Question 69:

  A user called the help desk after business hours to complain that files on a device are inaccessible and the wallpaper was changed. The network administrator thinks that this issue is an isolated incident, but the security analyst thinks the issue might be a ransomware attack.

  Which of the following troubleshooting steps should be taken first?

  A. Identify the problem
  B. Establish a theory
  C. Document findings
  D. Create a plan of action
  A. Identify the problem

• Question 70:

  A network administrator is troubleshooting a connection issue and needs to determine the path that a packet will take.

  Which of the following commands accomplishes this task?

  A. netstat
  B. traceroute
  C. ping
  D. nslookup
  E. ipconfig
  B. traceroute

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  Explanation

  The correct answer is traceroute, which is the diagnostic command specifically designed to determine the path a packet takes across a network. According to the CompTIA Network+ N10-009 objectives, traceroute is a key network troubleshooting tool used to identify routing paths, hop counts, and points of latency or failure between a source and a destination.

  Traceroute works by sending packets with incrementally increasing Time to Live (TTL) values. Each router along the path decrements the TTL by one, and when it reaches zero, the router returns an ICMP Time Exceeded message. This process allows the administrator to see each intermediate hop, its response time, and where packets may be delayed or dropped.

  The other options do not fulfill this purpose. Ping only verifies basic connectivity and round-trip time but does not show the route taken. Netstat displays active connections, ports, and routing tables but does not trace packet paths. Nslookup is used to resolve DNS names to IP addresses, and ipconfig displays local network configuration information.

  The Network+ objectives emphasize traceroute (or tracert on Windows systems) as the primary tool for diagnosing routing issues, asymmetric paths, and network congestion, making it the correct and most appropriate choice in this scenario.