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CCNA IP Routing Practice Question
Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to describe the router's routing table lookup process for a destination IP address, including the best-path selection logic (longest prefix match, then administrative distance, then metric) and the final forwarding decision.
⚠ Common exam trap
Do not confuse the order of tiebreakers: longest prefix match always comes first, then administrative distance, then metric. Many candidates mistakenly swap AD and metric or think metric is compared first.
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
✓
1. Perform longest prefix match on destination IP address 2. If multiple routes match, compare administrative distance 3. If AD is equal, compare metric 4. Forward packet using the best route
The router applies longest prefix match first, then administrative distance, then metric, in that order, to select the best path and forward the packet.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
1. Perform longest prefix match on destination IP address 2. If multiple routes match, compare administrative distance 3. If AD is equal, compare metric 4. Forward packet using the best route
Why this is correct
This is correct because the router first finds the most specific matching route (longest prefix), then among those, selects the route with the lowest administrative distance, and if AD is equal, the lowest metric. The packet is then forwarded using that best route.
- ✗
1. Compare administrative distance of all routes 2. Compare metric of routes with lowest AD 3. Perform longest prefix match on remaining routes 4. Forward packet using the best route
Why it's wrong here
This sequence incorrectly starts with administrative distance. A router never compares AD across all routes in the routing table; it first performs a longest prefix match on the destination IP to find the most specific route(s). The prefix length is the primary selection criterion, and only when two or more routes share the same prefix length does AD come into play to choose the protocol with lower distance. Placing AD first would, for example, incorrectly prefer a static default route over an OSPF route to a more specific subnet, which is the opposite of real behavior.
- ✗
1. Compare metric of all routes 2. Compare administrative distance of routes with lowest metric 3. Perform longest prefix match on remaining routes 4. Forward packet using the best route
Why it's wrong here
This order is flawed because metric is never the first criterion. Metric is a protocol-specific measure (e.g., OSPF cost vs. EIGRP composite metric), and comparing metrics from different protocols is meaningless—a low metric in one protocol does not indicate it should beat a route from another protocol. Also, longest prefix match must be performed first, and only among routes with the same prefix length is AD compared first; metric is the final tiebreaker and is only compared when AD is equal, not before it.
- ✗
1. Perform longest prefix match on destination IP address 2. If multiple routes match, compare metric 3. If metric is equal, compare administrative distance 4. Forward packet using the best route
Why it's wrong here
This sequence correctly starts with longest prefix match but then swaps the tiebreaker order. After determining the most specific matching route(s), the router compares administrative distance (AD) first; only if AD is equal is the metric considered. Metric is a within-protocol preference, while AD is a cross-protocol trust value. Placing metric before AD could allow a high-AD route (e.g., EIGRP external at 170) to be chosen over a low-AD route (e.g., OSPF at 110) solely because its metric is numerically smaller, which is wrong because the router first needs to decide which routing protocol is more trustworthy.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The 200-301 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓1. Perform longest prefix match on destination IP address 2. If multiple routes match, compare administrative distance 3. If AD is equal, compare metric 4. Forward packet using the best routeCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
This is correct because the router first finds the most specific matching route (longest prefix), then among those, selects the route with the lowest administrative distance, and if AD is equal, the lowest metric. The packet is then forwarded using that best route.
✗1. Compare administrative distance of all routes 2. Compare metric of routes with lowest AD 3. Perform longest prefix match on remaining routes 4. Forward packet using the best routeWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The order is reversed: longest prefix match is the first step, not the third.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think AD is more important than prefix length because it determines route preference between different routing protocols.
✗1. Compare metric of all routes 2. Compare administrative distance of routes with lowest metric 3. Perform longest prefix match on remaining routes 4. Forward packet using the best routeWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Metric is the last tiebreaker, not the first. Longest prefix match and AD take precedence.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse the order of tiebreakers, thinking metric is compared first because it is often used within a routing protocol.
✗1. Perform longest prefix match on destination IP address 2. If multiple routes match, compare metric 3. If metric is equal, compare administrative distance 4. Forward packet using the best routeWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The order of AD and metric is swapped: AD is compared before metric.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think metric is more granular and thus compared first, but AD is the higher-level tiebreaker.
Analysis generated from the official 200-301blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
OSPFv3 Single-Area Configuration for IPv6
Key term
IP address
An IP address is a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.
Key term
Routing table
A routing table is a data set stored in a router or host that contains information about network paths and is used to determine where to forward data packets.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-301 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 200-301 exam.