INTRODUCTION TO NETWORKING CONCEPTS STUDY
GUIDE 2026/2027 QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Fiber cables, or fiber-optic cables - ✔✔use glass or plastic threads within cables to
transfer the data using light (lasers or LEDs) as opposed to traditional metal cables
using electricity.
✔✔Single-mode cables - ✔✔made up of one single glass or plastic fiber. The benefit of
a single fiber cable is the ability to carry higher bandwidth for 50 times the distance of a
multimode cable. This requires higher cost electronics to create the light and thus is
typically used for longer distances (hundreds or thousands of kilometers) and higher
bandwidth applications.
✔✔Multimode cables - ✔✔wider in diameter due to light modes being sent across the
cable. Multimode fibers are highly effective over medium distances (500 meters or less
at higher speeds) and are generally used within a LAN. They are also less expensive
than single-mode fiber due to the potential for use with LEDs and other lower-cost
options for creating the light.
✔✔ping - ✔✔one of the most basic tools for testing connectivity to other hosts useful in
troubleshooting connectivity with other devices
✔✔traceroute/tracert - ✔✔used to trace the route an IP packet takes to a destination
isplays each hop (next router) in a numerical list with the hop's IP address and the time
it takes to receive the packet
✔✔traceroute - ✔✔used for Linux systems
✔✔tracert - ✔✔used for Windows systems
✔✔traceroute/tracert - ✔✔can be useful in determining where a ping fails,
troubleshooting performance issues, and other aspects regarding connectivity.
✔✔tracepath - ✔✔is similar to traceroute or tracert in that it displays the path taken by a
packet from its source to its destination. This command is useful because it can be used
by any user instead of needing superuser privileges. It is primarily used in Linux.
✔✔ipconfig - ✔✔provides the user with the IP, subnet mask, and default gateway for
each network adapter by default with the /all option information, such as MAC address,
DHCP status, and lease information.
✔✔ifconfig - ✔✔used to configure the kernel network interfaces. It is implemented at the
time of booting to configure the necessary interfaces. Once the interfaces are
configured, it is used for debugging or tuning the system. It is primarily used in Linux.
, ✔✔ARP - ✔✔displays the IP to physical (MAC) address mappings for hosts that have
been discovered in the ARP cache. ARP can be used to add, remove, or modify entries
in the ARP cache.
✔✔netstat - ✔✔displays information about active ports and their state and can be useful
in troubleshooting and capacity management. It is available in Windows, MacOS, and
Linux.
✔✔nslookup - ✔✔displays information for displaying DNS information and
troubleshooting DNS problems. It is useful in displaying names to IP address mappings.
✔✔dig - ✔✔is a command used to query the DNS name servers. It is helpful in
troubleshooting DNS problems. It is also used for lookups and will display answers from
the query. It is a replacement for nslookup.
✔✔name server lookup - ✔✔nslookup
✔✔network statistics - ✔✔netstat
✔✔Address Resolution Protocol - ✔✔ARP
✔✔internet protocol configuration - ✔✔ipconfig
✔✔whois - ✔✔a tool most often used to look up who owns a domain or block of IP
addresses on the internet, including name, email address, and physical address.
However, there are many privacy options that hide this information from being returned.
It is primarily used in Linux.
✔✔route - ✔✔used to display the current route tables on a host. Can also be used to
add or remove routes. This is used by the local host to determine where to send traffic
(0.0.0.0 means the default gateway, where the router sends things if it is not otherwise
defined in the routing table).
✔✔scp - ✔✔command is used to securely copy files between servers, leveraging SSH
(secure shell) for authentication and encryption.
✔✔(Secure Copy Protocol - ✔✔scp
✔✔ftp - ✔✔data is unencrypted copies the file from one host to another host
✔✔FTPS - ✔✔___________encryption is needed uses SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets
Layer, replaced by Transport Layer Security
GUIDE 2026/2027 QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Fiber cables, or fiber-optic cables - ✔✔use glass or plastic threads within cables to
transfer the data using light (lasers or LEDs) as opposed to traditional metal cables
using electricity.
✔✔Single-mode cables - ✔✔made up of one single glass or plastic fiber. The benefit of
a single fiber cable is the ability to carry higher bandwidth for 50 times the distance of a
multimode cable. This requires higher cost electronics to create the light and thus is
typically used for longer distances (hundreds or thousands of kilometers) and higher
bandwidth applications.
✔✔Multimode cables - ✔✔wider in diameter due to light modes being sent across the
cable. Multimode fibers are highly effective over medium distances (500 meters or less
at higher speeds) and are generally used within a LAN. They are also less expensive
than single-mode fiber due to the potential for use with LEDs and other lower-cost
options for creating the light.
✔✔ping - ✔✔one of the most basic tools for testing connectivity to other hosts useful in
troubleshooting connectivity with other devices
✔✔traceroute/tracert - ✔✔used to trace the route an IP packet takes to a destination
isplays each hop (next router) in a numerical list with the hop's IP address and the time
it takes to receive the packet
✔✔traceroute - ✔✔used for Linux systems
✔✔tracert - ✔✔used for Windows systems
✔✔traceroute/tracert - ✔✔can be useful in determining where a ping fails,
troubleshooting performance issues, and other aspects regarding connectivity.
✔✔tracepath - ✔✔is similar to traceroute or tracert in that it displays the path taken by a
packet from its source to its destination. This command is useful because it can be used
by any user instead of needing superuser privileges. It is primarily used in Linux.
✔✔ipconfig - ✔✔provides the user with the IP, subnet mask, and default gateway for
each network adapter by default with the /all option information, such as MAC address,
DHCP status, and lease information.
✔✔ifconfig - ✔✔used to configure the kernel network interfaces. It is implemented at the
time of booting to configure the necessary interfaces. Once the interfaces are
configured, it is used for debugging or tuning the system. It is primarily used in Linux.
, ✔✔ARP - ✔✔displays the IP to physical (MAC) address mappings for hosts that have
been discovered in the ARP cache. ARP can be used to add, remove, or modify entries
in the ARP cache.
✔✔netstat - ✔✔displays information about active ports and their state and can be useful
in troubleshooting and capacity management. It is available in Windows, MacOS, and
Linux.
✔✔nslookup - ✔✔displays information for displaying DNS information and
troubleshooting DNS problems. It is useful in displaying names to IP address mappings.
✔✔dig - ✔✔is a command used to query the DNS name servers. It is helpful in
troubleshooting DNS problems. It is also used for lookups and will display answers from
the query. It is a replacement for nslookup.
✔✔name server lookup - ✔✔nslookup
✔✔network statistics - ✔✔netstat
✔✔Address Resolution Protocol - ✔✔ARP
✔✔internet protocol configuration - ✔✔ipconfig
✔✔whois - ✔✔a tool most often used to look up who owns a domain or block of IP
addresses on the internet, including name, email address, and physical address.
However, there are many privacy options that hide this information from being returned.
It is primarily used in Linux.
✔✔route - ✔✔used to display the current route tables on a host. Can also be used to
add or remove routes. This is used by the local host to determine where to send traffic
(0.0.0.0 means the default gateway, where the router sends things if it is not otherwise
defined in the routing table).
✔✔scp - ✔✔command is used to securely copy files between servers, leveraging SSH
(secure shell) for authentication and encryption.
✔✔(Secure Copy Protocol - ✔✔scp
✔✔ftp - ✔✔data is unencrypted copies the file from one host to another host
✔✔FTPS - ✔✔___________encryption is needed uses SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets
Layer, replaced by Transport Layer Security
