Work the four-question split on a real device before changing anything

short · 30 min · Objective 3.2

Task

Take a real device and work through the four questions that separate radio, network, account and application -- recording what each answer eliminated. Nothing is reset: the exercise is the elimination, and the reset that people reach for first is the one this lab exists to postpone.

Steps

  1. Record the four-question results in lab/mobcon/split.csv with header question,answer,eliminates -- radio, network, account, application.
  2. Record every saved wireless network on the device in lab/mobcon/saved.csv with header network,security_type,auto_join,still_needed, and note how many you no longer recognise.
  3. Forget one network you know the password for, rejoin it, and record what that proved in lab/mobcon/forget.txt.
  4. Record the cellular settings in lab/mobcon/cellular.csv with header setting,value,symptom_if_wrong covering mobile data, per-app data, roaming, data saver and the access point name.
  5. Write lab/mobcon/reset.md listing everything a network settings reset would destroy on this device, and what you would record first.

Verify

awk -F, 'NR>1 && NF>=3 {n++} END {print n" question(s) answered"}' lab/mobcon/split.csv
awk -F, 'NR>1 && NF>=4 {n++} END {print n" saved network(s)"}' lab/mobcon/saved.csv
awk -F, 'NR>1 && $4 ~ /no/ {n++} END {print n" network(s) no longer needed"}' lab/mobcon/saved.csv
awk -F, 'NR>1 && NF>=3 {n++} END {print n" cellular setting(s)"}' lab/mobcon/cellular.csv
grep -Ec '^[-*0-9]' lab/mobcon/reset.md
grep -Eic 'password|pairing|vpn|apn' lab/mobcon/reset.md

Four questions answered, five cellular settings, and a reset list naming passwords, pairings and either a VPN or the access point name. The count of networks no longer needed is usually startling and is the point of that step.

Notes

The distinctive signature worth remembering: calls and texts working while data does not points at the access point name, and almost nothing else produces that exact split.

This is an independent study companion for CompTIA A+ Core 2 220-1202 and is not produced by or endorsed by CompTIA.