Which term describes the loss of signal strength from one end of a link to the other?

• A. Attenuation
• B. Asset
• C. Authentication
• D. Backup

Answer: (A)

Attenuation is the gradual loss of signal strength as it travels from one end of a link to the other. This weakening happens because the signal spreads out and interacts with the transmission medium, and it can worsen with longer distances or poorer cable quality. Engineers measure how much signal is lost in decibels over the length of the link and often use repeaters or amplifiers to keep the signal usable at the far end. The other terms describe different ideas—an asset is something valuable you own, authentication is proving who you are, and backup is creating a copy of data for recovery—so they don’t describe how signal strength degrades along a medium.