The A+ Certification & PC Repair Handbook (Charles River Media Networking/Security)

The troubleshooting and basic networking test tips that are provided next have been included to give you a taste of the various types of networking topics and questions that may come your way on the real exam.

Pay very close attention to the following test tips. They just might be what you need to secure a passing score on the networking portion of the Core exam:

• If you have a workstation physically connected to your network, but you cannot PING or communicate with other systems on your network, you should first verify the link status on your network interface card and see if it is blinking.

• If you are connected to the Internet using a 56k modem, but your connection speed is only 28k, it is likely that there is noise on your phone line connection or your ISP is only handing out 28k connections.

• The easiest way to connect two computers that both have NIC cards in a peer-to-peer style network fashion is to use a crossover cable.

• A device called a repeater can be used to extend the length of a 10base2 network.

• If you keep receiving the message “This page cannot be displayed” while attempting to access a particular Web site, it is very likely that the host computer, which provides the resource you are trying to access, is having issues or is down.

• If you are using a dial-up connection and your mouse pointer freezes on your screen when you attempt to access the Internet, it is more than likely that you are experiencing an IRQ conflict. Check this first and then get cable or DSL!

• ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network)—Carries data and voice over traditional telephone networks.

• DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)—Considered a better and faster replacement for ISDN, DSL is a technology that can provide considerable bandwidth capabilities to small business and homeowners alike. DSL uses traditional existing twisted pair telephone lines.

• Cable Modem—Considered the most insecure technology based on the fact that a default installation does not provide firewall or any other sort of packet filtering. With a default installation method, users share a single Coax cable connection.

• Wireless Technologies—Fastest growing area for connectivity.

• Dial-up (Asynchronous)—Traditional connection method that uses an ISP and an analog phone line to connect to the Internet.

• When assessing a network or computer related issue over the phone, you should only ask users or clients troubleshooting questions that are directly relate to gaining information that will assist with fixing the issue at hand. Questions such as, “When did this issue first start happening?” or “What were you specifically doing when the issue began?” are purposeful, structured questions that are directly focused on gaining helpful troubleshooting information. Questions such as, “What color is your mom’s computer?” or “What kind of system would you buy if you won the lottery?” are useless when attempting to gain information that will directly affect the time it takes to resolve a system or network related issue. Yes, you may actually experience customer service related questions like this on the real exam.