Objective 2.8
220-1201Explain networking tools and their purposes.
Objective 2.8 sits in Networking, which carries 23% of the A+ Core 1 exam. The questions below are original, written from the official objective title above, and each explanation cites the CompTIA page it rests on.
Objective title verbatim from the official objectives. CompTIA exam page ↗
A worked example
Shown solved, with the whole explanation open: this is what every question here carries.
A source machine's SYN packets are retransmitted repeatedly with no reply, and a trace at the destination shows the packets never arrive. To confirm whether an intermediate switch is dropping them, a technician wants to capture traffic at that midpoint without removing the switch from service. Which tool should be used?
Correct.
Checked against learn.microsoft.com, September 2026Concept
When SYN packets seen leaving the source never appear in a destination trace, the failure point lies somewhere in between, so a technician needs a way to capture traffic at intermediate points along the path.
Why C
A network tap inserted inline at the suspect switch mirrors traffic passing through it to a capture device, letting the technician confirm whether the packets actually reach or leave that midpoint without taking the switch offline.
Source
Microsoft Learn: Troubleshoot TCP/IP connectivity, checked September 2026You need to engage your internal network team to investigate the different hops between the source and the destination, and check whether any of the hops are potentially causing packet drops.
Now you: objective 2.8 questions
No account needed. The explanation opens when you answer.
Sample question 1 of 3
A line of business application times out against a database server a few times an hour, with nothing useful in its own log. What should the technician collect?
Sample question 2 of 3
A capture shows SYN packets arriving at a server that never answers them. Which command on that server confirms whether the port is accepting connections?
Sample question 3 of 3
A technician wants to know how many times this build of Windows retries an unanswered SYN before giving up. Which command reports that setting?
That’s 3 of the full A+ Core 1 bank.
Keep going free: 10 questions per certification in bank practice, with no account.
Continue practicingRead the sources
These are the official pages the questions above cite. Reading them is studying the objective from the primary source, which is what the explanations point you toward anyway.
More objectives in Networking
- 2.1 Compare and contrast Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports, protocols, and their purposes.
- 2.2 Explain wireless networking technologies.
- 2.3 Summarize services provided by networked hosts.
- 2.4 Explain common network configuration concepts.
- 2.5 Compare and contrast common networking hardware devices.
- 2.6 Given a scenario, configure basic wired/wireless small office/home office (SOHO) networks.
- 2.7 Compare and contrast internet connection types, network types, and their characteristics.