CWAP-404 Sample Questions Answers

An AIFS is a variable interframe space introduced by 802.11e to help prioritize medium access for different Access Categories (ACs). An interframe space is a period of time that a STA (station) has to wait before attempting to access the medium. An AIFS is a type of interframe space that varies depending on the AC of the traffic. An AC is a logical queue that corresponds to a QoS (Quality of Service) level for different types of traffic. There are four ACs defined by 802.11e: AC_VO (Voice), AC_VI (Video), AC_BE (Best Effort), and AC_BK (Background). Each AC has a different AIFSN (Arbitration Interframe Space Number) value, which determines how long it has to wait before attempting to access the medium. A lower AIFSN value means a higher priority and a shorter waiting time. The other options are not correct, as they do not describe what an AIFS is. An AIFS is not a medium access method introduced by 802.11n, but never implemented, as it is part of the 802.11e standard and widely used in QoS-enabled WLANs. An AIFS is not a form of aggregation performed at the PHY layer based on 802.11e UP values interpreted from DSCP values, as aggregation is a technique that combines multiple frames into one larger frame to improve efficiency and throughput, not prioritization or medium access. An AIFS is not the shortest period of time a STA can sleep, as sleeping is a power saving mode that allows a STA to conserve battery power by periodically turning off its radio, not accessing the medium. References: [Wireless Analysis Professional Study Guide CWAP-404], Chapter 7: QoS Analysis, page 194-195

A STA that supports 802.11k Radio Measurement would send a Neighbor Request to an AP to request a list of neighboring APs which the STA can use as roaming candidates. A Neighbor Request is an Action frame that contains a subelement specifying the type of information that the STA wants to receive from the AP. A Neighbor Report is an Action frame that contains a subelement with a list of neighboring APs that match the criteria specified in the Neighbor Request. The Neighbor Report provides information such as BSSID, channel, operating class, and PHY type of each neighboring AP. This information helps the STA to perform intelligent roaming decisions based on signal quality, load, and compatibility . References: CWAP-404 Certified Wireless Analysis Professional Study and Reference Guide, Chapter 12: 802.11k/v/r/u/w/ai Amendments, page 434; CWAP-404 Certified Wireless Analysis Professional Study and Reference Guide, Chapter 12: 802.11k/v/r/u/w/ai Amendments, page 435.

The configured Minimum Basic Rate (MBR) of a BSS can be identified by looking at the Supported Rates and Extended Supported Rates elements in a Beacon frame. A Beacon frame is a type of management frame that is transmitted by an AP to advertise its presence and capabilities to potential clients. A Beacon frame contains various information elements (IEs) that provide details about the BSS configuration and operation. The Supported Rates andExtended Supported Rates IEs list the data rates that are supported by the AP for data transmission. The MBR is the lowest data rate among these supported rates that is required for all clients to join and communicate with the BSS. The MBR is usually marked with a flag bit in these IEs to indicate its mandatory status. The other options are not correct, as they do not exist or do not indicate the MBR of a BSS. References: [Wireless Analysis Professional Study Guide CWAP-404], Chapter 5: 802.11 MAC Sublayer, page 123-124

The length of an AIFS (Arbitration Interframe Space) is calculated by multiplying the AIFSN (Arbitration Interframe Space Number) by the Slot Time and adding the SIFS (Short Interframe Space). An AIFS is a variable interframe space introduced by 802.11e to help prioritize medium access for different Access Categories (ACs). An AC is a logical queue that corresponds to a QoS (Quality of Service) level for different types of traffic. Each AC has a different AIFSN value, which determines how long it has to wait before attempting to access the medium. A lower AIFSN value means a higher priority and a shorter waiting time. The Slot Time is a fixed value that depends on the PHY type and channel width. The SIFS is the shortest interframe space that is used for high-priority transmissions, such as ACKs or CTSs. The formula for calculating the AIFS length is: AIFS = AIFSN * Slot Time + SIFS. References: [Wireless Analysis Professional Study Guide CWAP-404], Chapter 7: QoS Analysis, page 194-195

The STA is discovering a list of available BSSs by sending a Probe Request with an empty SSID element. This is also known as a broadcast Probe Request, as it does not specify any particular SSID to probe for. Any AP that receives this Probe Request will respond with a Probe Response containing its own SSID and other information about its BSS. This way, the STA can learn about all the BSSs in its vicinity and choose which one to associate with . References: CWAP-404 Certified Wireless Analysis Professional Study and Reference Guide, Chapter 6: MAC Sublayer Frame Exchanges, page 191; CWAP-404 Certified Wireless Analysis Professional Study and Reference Guide, Chapter 6: MAC Sublayer Frame Exchanges, page 193.

In a protocol analyzer, you would find an indication that a frame was transmitted as part of an A-MPDU by looking at the Aggregation flag in the Radio Tap Header. The Radio Tap Header is a pseudo-header that is added by some wireless capture devices to provide additional information about the physical layer characteristics of a frame. The Aggregation flag is one of the fields in this header, and it indicates whether the frame belongs to an A-MPDU or not. If the flag is set to 1, it means that the frame is part of an A-MPDU; if it is set to 0, it means that the frame is not part of an A-MPDU . References: CWAP-404 Certified Wireless Analysis Professional Study and Reference Guide, Chapter 9: PHY Layer Frame Formats andTechnologies, page 303; CWAP-404 Certified Wireless Analysis Professional Study and Reference Guide, Chapter 9: PHY Layer Frame Formats and Technologies, page 304.

A PHY header is added to the PSDU at the PHY layer. A PHY header is a part of the PPDU that contains information such as modulation, coding, and data rate. The PHY header is added by the PHY layer when it converts a PSDU to a PPDU for transmission, or removed by the PHY layer when it converts a PPDU to a PSDU for reception. The other layers do not add or remove a PHY header. References: [Wireless Analysis Professional Study Guide CWAP-404], Chapter 4: 802.11 Physical Layer, page 97-98

The most likely cause of higher airtime utilization on the first 20 MHz of the 80 MHz channel is non-Wi-Fi interference. Non-Wi-Fi interference can prevent an AP from using its full channel width, as it will degrade the signal quality and increase the noise floor on some parts of the channel. This will force the AP to fall back to a narrower channel width, such as 20 MHz or 40 MHz, to maintain communication with its clients. The waterfall plot can help identify non-Wi-Fi interference by showing spikes or bursts of RF energy on specific frequencies or sub-channels. The other options are not correct, as they do not explain why only the first 20 MHz of the channel has higher airtime utilization. References: [Wireless Analysis Professional Study Guide], Chapter 3: Spectrum Analysis, page 74-75

Display filters are applied after the capture is completed and they only hide the packets from view. The filtered packets are still present in the capture file and can be enabled for view later by changing or removing the display filter. This is an advantage over capture-time filters, which discard the packets that do not match the filter criteria and cannot be recovered later34 References:

• CWAP-403 Study Guide, Chapter 2: Protocol Analysis, page 37
• CWAP-403 Objectives, Section 2.3: Apply display filters

The HT protection mode in which an AP is operating can be identified by looking at the HT Operations element in a Beacon frame. The HT Operations element is a part of the Beacon frame that contains information about the High Throughput (HT) capabilities and operation of an 802.11n BSS. The HT Operations element has a field called HT Protection, which indicates how the BSS protects its HT transmissions from interference or collisions with non-HT devices or BSSs. The HT Protection field can have four values: No Protection, Nonmember Protection, 20 MHz Protection, or Non-HT Mixed Mode. The other options are not correct, as they do not contain information about the HT protection mode. The HT Protection element does not exist, the ERP Information element is used for Extended Rate PHY (ERP) protection mode for 802.11g devices, and the HT Capabilities element is used for indicating the supported HT features of an individual device. References: [Wireless Analysis Professional Study Guide CWAP-404], Chapter 5: 802.11 MAC Sublayer, page 125-126

Every Beacon frame must contain a DTIM is not a true statement concerning DTIMs. DTIM stands for Delivery Traffic Indication Message, and it is a subfield within the TIM (Traffic Indication Map) element in a Beacon frame. The DTIM indicates how many Beacon frames (including the current one) will appear before the next DTIM. For example, if the DTIM interval is set to 3, it means that every third Beacon frame will contain a DTIM. Buffered broadcast and multicast traffic will be transmitted following a DTIM, so that STAs in power save mode can wake up and receive them. The DTIM interval can also dictate when an STA will wake up to listen to Beacon frames, as some STAs may choose to only listen to Beacon frames that contain a DTIM . References: CWAP-404 Certified Wireless Analysis Professional Study and Reference Guide, Chapter 6: MAC Sublayer Frame Exchanges, page 200; CWAP-404 CertifiedWireless Analysis Professional Study and Reference Guide, Chapter 6: MAC Sublayer Frame Exchanges, page 201.

The function of the PHY layer is to convert PSDUs to PPDUs for transmissions and PPDUs to PSDUs for receptions. A PSDU (PHY Service Data Unit) is the data unit that is passed from the MAC layer to the PHY layer for transmission, or from the PHY layer to the MAC layer for reception. A PPDU (PHY Protocol Data Unit) is the data unit that is transmitted or received over the wireless medium by the PHY layer. A PPDU consists of a PSDU and a PHY header, which contains information such as modulation, coding, and data rate. The PHY layer adds or removes the PHY header to or from the PSDU during the conversion process. References: [Wireless Analysis Professional Study Guide CWAP-404], Chapter 4: 802.11 Physical Layer, page 97-98

The difference between a Data frame and a QoS-Data frame is that QoS Data frames include a QoS control field. A Data frame is a type of data frame that is used to carry user data or upper layer protocol data between STAs and APs. A QoS Data frame is a type of data frame that is used to carry user data or upper layer protocol data between STAs and APs that support QoS (Quality of Service) features. QoS features allow different types of traffic to be prioritized and handled differently according to their QoS requirements, such as delay, jitter, throughput, etc. QoS Data frames include a QoS control field in their MAC header, which contains information such as traffic identifier (TID), queue size (TXOP), acknowledgment policy (ACK), etc., that are used for QoS purposes. The other options are not correct, as they do not describe the difference between Data and QoS Data frames. QoS Data frames do not include a DSCP (Differentiated Services Code Point) control field, which is part of the IP header in the network layer, not the MAC header in the data link layer. QoS Data frames do not include a QoS information element (IE), which is part of some management frames that indicate QoS capabilities or parameters, not data frames. QoS Data frames do not include an 802.1Q VLAN tag, which is part of some Ethernet frames that indicate VLAN membership or priority, not wireless frames. References: [Wireless Analysis Professional Study Guide CWAP-404], Chapter 5: 802.11 MAC Sublayer, page 118-119

The data rate at which the PHY preamble was transmitted is 6 Mbps. The PHY preamble is a part of the PPDU that is transmitted before the PHY header and the PSDU. The PHY preamble consists of a series of training fields that help the receiver to detect and synchronize with the signal. The PHY preamble is always transmitted at a fixed data rate that depends on the type of PPDU (e.g., OFDM, HT, VHT, HE). For an 802.1 lac data frame on channel 52, which uses VHT PPDUs, the data rate for the PHY preamble is 6 Mbps. This data rate does not depend on MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme), which only affects the data rate for the PSDU. References: [Wireless Analysis Professional Study Guide CWAP-404], Chapter 4: 802.11 Physical Layer, page 99-100

The PHY layer provides framing by adding a header to create a PPDU. A PPDU (PHY Protocol Data Unit) is the data unit that is transmitted or received over the wireless medium by the PHY layer. A PPDU consists of a PSDU (PHY Service Data Unit) and a PHY header, which contains information such as modulation, coding, and data rate. The PHY layer adds the PHY header to the PSDU to create a PPDU for transmission, or removes the PHY header from the PPDU to extract the PSDU for reception. The other options are not correct, as they are not created by adding a header at the PHY layer. An MPDU (MAC Protocol Data Unit) is created by adding a MAC header and FCS to an MSDU (MAC Service Data Unit) at the MAC layer. An MSDU is the data unit that is passed from the LLC sublayer to the MAC sublayer or vice versa. References: [Wireless Analysis Professional Study Guide CWAP-404], Chapter 4: 802.11 Physical Layer, page 97-98