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CCNA Switching and Network Access Practice Question
Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure a router-on-a-stick topology for inter-VLAN routing between VLANs 10 and 20, using 802.1Q trunking with native VLAN 99 for management traffic.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create VLANs 10, 20, and 99 on the switch.
The sequence follows Cisco's best practices: VLANs are created first, then access ports are assigned to them. The switch trunk is configured with 802.1Q encapsulation and the native VLAN set to 99 before the router end. On the router, the physical interface must be enabled before subinterfaces can operate. The native VLAN subinterface is created first to handle untagged frames, then the data VLAN subinterfaces are configured. This order avoids errors such as missing VLANs, incorrect encapsulation, and physical link down state.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Create VLANs 10, 20, and 99 on the switch.
Why this is correct
Creating VLANs 10, 20, and 99 in the switch's VLAN database is the foundational step because VLANs must exist before they can be assigned to interfaces or used for 802.1Q tagging. VLAN 99 serves as a dedicated native VLAN, typically for management or control traffic, and must be defined even though it carries no end-user data. Without these VLANs, attempts to assign access ports or configure trunk encapsulation would fail or cause traffic to be dropped as undefined.
- ✓
Assign switch access ports to VLANs 10 and 20.
Why this is correct
Assigning access ports to VLANs 10 and 20 segments end devices into separate Layer 2 broadcast domains, which is required for inter-VLAN routing. An access port carries untagged traffic for exactly one VLAN, so each host belongs to its respective VLAN. This setup ensures that frames from PCs in VLAN 10 are isolated from VLAN 20 until the router performs Layer 3 forwarding between them.
- ✓
Configure the switch port connected to the router as an 802.1Q trunk and set the native VLAN to 99.
Why this is correct
Configuring the switch port connected to the router as an 802.1Q trunk with native VLAN 99 is essential for router-on-a-stick. The trunk must carry tagged frames for VLANs 10 and 20 while leaving native VLAN 99 untagged, and the native VLAN must match on both the switch and the router subinterface. If the native VLAN values mismatch, the switch and router will interpret untagged frames differently, causing broadcast or control traffic to be misdirected.
- ✓
Enable the connected router physical interface (no shutdown).
Why this is correct
Issuing no shutdown on the connected router physical interface brings the interface administratively up; a router subinterface cannot become operational unless its parent physical interface is up. The physical interface itself does not carry an IP address in this design; it only provides the carrier and Layer 1 connectivity for the subinterfaces. Without this step, all subinterfaces remain in a down/down state, and inter-VLAN routing is impossible.
- ✓
On the router, create subinterface GigabitEthernet0/0.99 with encapsulation dot1Q 99 native and assign an IP address.
Why this is correct
Creating subinterface GigabitEthernet0/0.99 with encapsulation dot1Q 99 native and an IP address enables the router to handle untagged frames arriving on the native VLAN. The keyword native tells the router to accept untagged traffic as belonging to VLAN 99 and to transmit frames from that subinterface without an 802.1Q tag. Assigning an IP address on this subinterface provides a default gateway for devices in the native VLAN, allowing them to participate in routing.
- ✓
Create subinterfaces for VLANs 10 and 20 with dot1Q encapsulation and assign IP addresses.
Why this is correct
Creating subinterfaces for VLANs 10 and 20, each with the appropriate dot1Q encapsulation and an IP address, provides the Layer 3 gateway for each VLAN. The subinterface number (for example, .10) does not have to match the VLAN ID, but the encapsulation dot1Q command must specify the exact VLAN ID so the router correctly tags outbound frames and decapsulates inbound frames. Each subinterface's IP address becomes the default gateway for hosts in its respective VLAN, enabling traffic to be routed between VLAN 10 and VLAN 20.
Visual reference
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Related to this question
Learn chapter
Configuring Switch Ports for Desktops, VoIP Phones, APs, IoT, and Virtualized Hosts
Key term
Switch Virtual Interface
A logical interface on a network switch that allows it to be managed and communicate with other devices using IP addresses.
Key term
VLAN
A VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) is a logical grouping of network devices that behave as if they are on the same physical network segment, regardless of their actual physical location.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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