CompTIA Updated N10-009 Exam Questions and Answers by sean

The correct answer is D. Use a cable tester. Even though the technician sees that the cable is terminated, the note about the incorrect color code suggests there may be a wiring issue such as crossed pairs, reversed pairs, split pairs, or another pinout problem. The proper next troubleshooting step is to test the cable rather than assume immediately that it must be replaced.

A cable tester helps verify continuity, pin mapping, and whether the conductors are in the correct order. That gives the technician evidence about whether the cable is actually faulty and what type of fault may exist. In troubleshooting, testing first is the best practice because it confirms the problem before taking corrective action.

The other choices are less appropriate as the next step. Implementing fiber is unnecessary and unrelated to the current copper issue. Replacing the Ethernet cable may eventually be needed, but it skips the diagnostic step the question is asking for. Changing the switchport speed does not address incorrect pair termination.

Network+ often emphasizes using the correct diagnostic tool before replacing hardware. Since the issue centers on cable termination and color sequence, the technician should use a cable tester to validate the wiring and identify the fault accurately.

An out-of-band management solution is the best answer because it provides an alternate administrative path to network equipment when the normal production network path is unavailable. If a switch becomes unresponsive through SSH, the technician needs a separate management method that does not depend on the same in-band network connectivity. Out-of-band management can use a dedicated management network, console server, cellular connection, modem, or management interface to reach devices during outages or configuration failures.

The CompTIA Network+ N10-009 objectives include network operations, device management, availability, and remote access methods. SSH is an in-band management method when accessed over the production network. If routing, VLANs, ACLs, management services, or switch control-plane functions are affected, SSH may fail. Out-of-band access improves administrative redundancy and supports recovery.

A jump host can centralize administrative access, but it still depends on network connectivity to the switch. An administrative GUI may also fail if management access is unavailable. A physical console cable can work locally, but the question specifically asks for remote administrative redundancy. Therefore, an out-of-band management solution is the best answer.

NTP (Network Time Protocol) synchronizes clocks across network devices, ensuring accurate timestamps in logs. This is critical for correlating events across different systems during investigations.

A. Syslog collects logs but relies on accurate timestamps already present.

B. SMTP is an email protocol, unrelated to time synchronization.

C. SNMP is for monitoring and management, not time.

References (CompTIA Network+ N10-009):

Domain: Network Operations — Time synchronization (NTP), log correlation, security operations.

•AAAA records map domain names to IPv6 addresses, enabling proper resolution.

•PTR records (A) are for reverse DNS lookups.

•TXT records (B) store text-based information, not IP addresses.

•NS records (D) define authoritative name servers but don’t directly affect IPv6 resolution.

???? Reference: CompTIA Network+ N10-009 Official Documentation – DNS Configuration & IPv6.