Users have been reporting that their wireless access point is not functioning. They state that it allows
slow connections to the internet, but does not provide access to the internal network. The user provides
the SSID and the technician logs into the company’s access point and finds no issues. Which of the
following should the technician do?
A.
Change the access point from WPA2 to WEP to determine if the encryption is too strong
B.
Clear all access logs from the AP to provide an up-to-date access list of connected users
C.
Check the MAC address of the AP to which the users are connecting to determine if it is an imposter
D.
Reconfigure the access point so that it is blocking all inbound and outbound traffic as a troubleshooting
gap
Explanation:
The users may be connecting to a rogue access point. The rogue access point could be hosting a wireless
network that has the same SSID as the corporate wireless network. The only way to tell for sure if the
access point the users are connecting to is the correct one is to check the MAC address. Every network
card has a unique 48-bit address assigned.
A media access control address (MAC address) is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for
communications on the physical network segment. MAC addresses are used as a network address for
most IEEE 802 network technologies, including Ethernet and WiFi. Logically, MAC addresses are used in
the media access control protocol sublayer of the OSI reference model.
MAC addresses are most often assigned by the manufacturer of a network interface controller (NIC) and
are stored in its hardware, such as the card’s read-only memory or some other firmware mechanism. If
assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC address usually encodes the manufacturer’s registered
identification number and may be referred to as the burned-in address (BIA). It may also be known as an
Ethernet hardware address (EHA), hardware address or physical address. This can be contrasted to a
programmed address, where the host device issues commands to the NIC to use an arbitrary address.
A network node may have multiple NICs and each NIC must have a unique MAC address.
MAC addresses are formed according to the rules of one of three numbering name spaces managed by
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): MAC-48, EUI-48, and EUI-64.
Incorrect Answers:A: Strong encryption would not cause slow connections to the internet. WPA2 is the standard wireless
network encryption method today and all new computers are capable of using it.
B: Clearing all access logs on the access point would not resolve the connectivity issues.
D: Blocking all inbound and outbound traffic on the access point will render the access point useless as it
will not be able to send or receive data.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address