What technology enables access points to use multiple antennas to transmit and receive data simultaneously?

The correct answer is Multiple Input Multiple Output, commonly known as MIMO. This technology enhances wireless communication by utilizing multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver ends, allowing for the simultaneous transmission and reception of multiple data streams.

MIMO significantly improves the capacity and range of wireless networks, enabling better performance in environments where barriers and interference might affect signal quality. By leveraging spatial diversity and coordinating the transmitted signals, MIMO can effectively increase the throughput of a connection, which is particularly beneficial in modern networking standards like Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) and later.

Non-applicable options include Wi-Fi Protected Access and Pre-Shared Key, which are primarily related to security protocols rather than the physical transmission of data. Meanwhile, 802.11ac is a wireless networking standard that supports MIMO among other advanced technologies but it is not the mechanism itself that facilitates multiple antenna usage. MIMO is the foundational technology that enables these advancements in wireless communication.