CWS Wireless Client Devices Flashcards
6 cards from real CWS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 CWS Wireless Client Devices flashcards as text
A user with a laptop moves from a conference room to their desk in another part of the building. They notice their Wi-Fi connection drops and then reconnects. In a properly configured network with multiple access points, which client-initiated process is responsible for transitioning the connection between access points?
Answer: Roaming
Roaming is the process that allows a wireless client device to move from one access point's coverage area to another within the same network (ESS) without losing connectivity. The decision to roam is made by the client device based on factors like signal strength.
A network administrator is configuring a new laptop for a user who needs to connect to a secure corporate wireless network using WPA2-Enterprise. What specific piece of software on the client device is responsible for handling the 802.1X authentication process with the RADIUS server?
Answer: The client supplicant
The supplicant is the software on a client device that provides credentials (like username and password or certificates) to the authenticator (the access point) as part of the IEEE 802.1X authentication process. The access point then forwards these credentials to an authentication server, such as RADIUS.
A user reports that their new, high-end 802.11ax laptop is getting the same slow speeds as an older 802.11g device on the company's legacy wireless network. What is the MOST likely reason for this?
Answer: The network's access points only support the 802.11g standard.
Wireless networks operate at the capabilities of the least-capable device in the communication link. If the access points only support the older 802.11g standard, then any client device, regardless of its own advanced capabilities (like 802.11ax), will be limited to the data rates and features of 802.11g.
Which of the following is a critical factor determined by the wireless client device's capabilities, rather than the access point's configuration, that directly impacts its ability to connect to a network?
Answer: Support for specific frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz)
A client device must have the correct radio hardware to operate on the frequency bands used by the wireless network. For example, a 2.4 GHz-only client cannot connect to an SSID that is broadcast only on the 5 GHz or 6 GHz bands. While APs are configured to operate on specific bands, the client's physical ability to use those bands is inherent to its own hardware.
A technician is troubleshooting a client device that can see the correct SSID but fails to connect. The access point logs show 'authentication failure' for the client's MAC address. The network uses WPA3-Personal security. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue from the client device's perspective?
Answer: The user has entered an incorrect passphrase.
In WPA2/WPA3-Personal security, an incorrect passphrase (pre-shared key) entered on the client device will cause the 4-way handshake to fail, resulting in an authentication failure. The client can still see the SSID and attempt to connect, but the connection will be rejected.
During the process of connecting to a Wi-Fi network, what is the first type of active frame a client device typically sends to discover available access points?
Answer: Probe Request
While clients can passively listen for Beacon frames sent by APs, the active discovery process involves the client sending a Probe Request frame. Any APs that hear this request and are configured to respond will send a Probe Response frame back to the client.