Question 1hardmultiple choice
Full question →hardmultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A static default route is configured with an administrative distance of 250. What is the most likely design intention?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Best answer
To keep the route as a backup of last resort behind normal learned routes
This is correct because a very high administrative distance makes the static route float behind preferred sources.
B
Distractor review
To make the route override all dynamic routing immediately
This is wrong because a high administrative distance does the opposite.
C
Distractor review
To disable default routing entirely
This is wrong because the route remains configured as a backup path rather than being disabled conceptually.
D
Distractor review
To convert the default route into a host route
This is wrong because administrative distance does not change the prefix itself.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
A common exam trap is assuming that increasing the administrative distance disables the static route or forces it to override dynamic routes. In reality, a higher AD causes the static route to be less preferred, effectively floating it behind all other routes. Candidates might confuse the AD value with route priority or think that setting it to 250 disables the route, but the route remains active and is used only as a last resort. Misinterpreting this can lead to incorrect answers about route behavior and fail to recognize the floating static route design pattern.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
Administrative distance (AD) is a Cisco-specific value that rates the trustworthiness of routing information sources. Lower AD values indicate more preferred routes. Static routes default to an AD of 1, making them highly trusted and preferred over most dynamic routing protocols. However, by manually increasing the AD, network administrators can control when and if a static route is used in the routing table. In this scenario, configuring a static default route with an AD of 250 intentionally makes it less preferred than almost all dynamic routing protocols, which typically have AD values well below 250 (e.g., OSPF 110, EIGRP 90, RIP 120). This technique is known as a floating static route, designed to act as a backup route that only becomes active if all other routes fail or disappear. The router will ignore this static route unless no better routes exist. The exam trap here is misunderstanding the effect of a high administrative distance. Some candidates might think that setting a high AD disables the route or makes it primary, but it actually causes the route to float behind all other learned routes. Practically, this allows for backup routing without removing the static route configuration, ensuring network resilience during failures or routing protocol outages.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Administrative distance determines the trustworthiness of routing sources, with lower values preferred over higher ones in Cisco routers.
- Static routes have a default administrative distance of 1, making them more preferred than most dynamic routing protocols by default.
- Increasing the administrative distance of a static route creates a floating static route that acts as a backup path behind dynamic routes.
- A floating static route only appears in the routing table when no better routes with lower administrative distances exist.
- Dynamic routing protocols like OSPF, EIGRP, and RIP have default administrative distances of 110, 90, and 120 respectively, which are lower than 250.
- Configuring a static default route with an AD of 250 ensures it is used only as a last resort, preserving network resilience.
- Administrative distance does not disable routes or change their prefix length; it only affects route selection priority.
- Misunderstanding administrative distance values can lead to incorrect assumptions about route behavior and network design intentions.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Related practice questions
Related 200-301 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
CCNA subnetting practice questions
Practise IPv4 subnetting, CIDR, masks, host ranges and subnet selection.
CCNA OSPF practice questions
Practise OSPF neighbours, router IDs, metrics, areas and routing-table interpretation.
CCNA VLAN practice questions
Practise VLANs, access ports, trunks, allowed VLANs and switching scenarios.
CCNA STP practice questions
Practise spanning tree, root bridge election, port roles and STP troubleshooting.
CCNA EtherChannel practice questions
Practise LACP, PAgP, port-channel behaviour and bundle requirements.
CCNA ACL practice questions
Practise standard and extended ACLs, permit/deny logic and traffic filtering.
CCNA NAT practice questions
Practise static NAT, dynamic NAT, PAT and inside/outside address translation.
CCNA DHCP practice questions
Practise DHCP scopes, relay, leases and troubleshooting.
CCNA show ip route practice questions
Practise routing-table output, longest-prefix match, AD and route selection.
CCNA show interfaces trunk practice questions
Practise trunk verification and VLAN forwarding across switches.
CCNA wireless security practice questions
Practise WLAN security, authentication and wireless architecture concepts.
CCNA IPv6 practice questions
Practise IPv6 addressing, routes, neighbour discovery and common IPv6 exam traps.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A router learns the same prefix from both OSPF and EIGRP. Which route is installed by default?
Question 2
A router shows this output: R1#show ip ospf neighbor Neighbor ID Pri State Dead Time Address Interface 10.1.1.2 1 FULL/DR 00:00:34 192.168.12.2 GigabitEthernet0/0 10.1.1.3 1 2WAY/DROTHER 00:00:39 192.168.12.3 GigabitEthernet0/0 Which statement is correct?
Question 3
What is the OSPF metric called?
Question 4
A non-root switch has two uplinks toward the root bridge. One path has a lower total STP cost than the other. What role will the lower-cost uplink have?
Question 5
A router interface applies this ACL inbound: 10 deny tcp any any eq 80 20 permit ip any any A user reports that web browsing to a server by IP address fails, but ping works. Which statement best explains the behavior?
Question 6
A router learns route 198.51.100.0/24 from OSPF with AD 110 and also has a static route to the same prefix configured with AD 150. Which route is installed?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this 200-301 question test?
Administrative distance determines the trustworthiness of routing sources, with lower values preferred over higher ones in Cisco routers.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: To keep the route as a backup of last resort behind normal learned routes — The design intention is to make the static default route a very low-priority backup path. In plain language, the administrator wants the route to exist only as a last resort behind almost any normal learned path. By assigning such a high administrative distance, the route stays out of the active table unless better routes disappear. This is a floating-static design concept. The route is not meant to be primary. It is intentionally configured to sit in reserve and become relevant only during failure conditions or severe loss of normal routing information.
What should I do if I get this 200-301 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
Discussion
Loading comments…
Sign in to join the discussion.