200-301 · domain
Switching and Network Access
Practise identifying common networking hardware like routers, switches, access points, and their roles in a network.
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Practice Switching and Network Access questions
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Start 20-question practice test →What this domain covers
What to know about Switching and Network Access
Tests identification, purpose, and configuration of routers, switches, access points, and patch panels.
Identify routers, switches, and access points by function
Understand PoE and PoE+ power requirements
Differentiate managed vs unmanaged switches
Recognize cable types: Cat5e, Cat6, fiber
Why learners struggle
Why Switching and Network Access questions are commonly missed
Common Networking Hardware questions are often missed because learners confuse device functions and port types. The exam tests specific hardware features like PoE and managed switching that are easy to mix up.
- ·Router vs switch — routing vs switching function
- ·PoE vs PoE+ — power budget differences
- ·Managed vs unmanaged — configuration capability
- ·Access point vs router — wireless vs routing
- ·Patch panel vs switch — termination vs active
- ·Cat5e vs Cat6 — speed and frequency limits
Watch out for
Common Switching and Network Access exam traps
- ▸Confusing a switch with a router on the exam
- ▸Thinking all switches support PoE by default
- ▸Mixing up patch panel and switch roles
- ▸Assuming fiber requires the same connectors as copper
Question index
All Switching and Network Access questions (299)
Click any question to see the full explanation, or start a practice session above.
Refer to the exhibit. A network administrator is troubleshooting a trunk link between SW1 and SW2. The trunk on interface GigabitEthernet0/0 on SW1 is not passing traffic, and all VLANs are isolated. The administrator issues the command 'show interfaces GigabitEthernet0/0 trunk' on SW1. What is the most likely cause of the issue?
Hard2An engineer wants rapid transition to forwarding on end-user switchports while still protecting the topology from accidental switch connections. Which two STP-related features fit that design?
Medium3Which spanning-tree port state listens for BPDUs and participates in STP, but does not learn MAC addresses yet?
Medium4Exhibit: After a new switch was connected, the access-layer port went into err-disabled state immediately. Which feature most likely caused this?
Hard5A network administrator notices that a switchport in access mode with PortFast enabled has transitioned to an err-disabled state. What is the most likely cause?
Hard6You are connected to the console of a Catalyst 2960+ switch named SW2. Configure the switch so that the IP phone connected to interface FastEthernet0/5 receives power via PoE and uses VLAN 150 for voice traffic, while the PC connected through the phone uses VLAN 50 for data. Additionally, the access point connected to interface FastEthernet0/10 must receive PoE and be placed in VLAN 100. Assume the interfaces are already correctly configured as access ports in VLAN 50 and VLAN 100, respectively. Verify your configuration using the appropriate show commands.
Hard7A switch port connected to an edge host immediately transitions to forwarding and then later goes err-disabled after a BPDU is received. Which feature combination most likely produced this behavior?
Hard8Two switches are connected by an 802.1Q trunk. Hosts in VLAN 30 cannot communicate across the link, but VLAN 10 works. What is the most likely cause?
Medium9A switchport connected to another switch should carry VLANs 10, 20, and 30. The interface is operational, but only VLAN 10 works. VLANs 20 and 30 fail. Which explanation is most likely if the port was accidentally configured as an access port in VLAN 10?
Hard10Two switches should form an LACP EtherChannel. One side is configured passive, and the other side is also passive. What is the most likely result?
Hard11Which TWO statements correctly describe the behavior of Root Guard, Loop Guard, and BPDU Guard in a Rapid PVST+ environment?
Medium12A switchport is configured as an access port in VLAN 10, but a user plugs in a small unmanaged switch and connects multiple devices behind it. Which security feature most directly limits that behavior at the switchport?
Hard13An administrator wants a switchport connected to an end device to move to forwarding quickly but does not want that setting used on inter-switch links. Which feature is intended for that edge-port behavior?
Medium14Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure inter‑VLAN routing between VLANs 10 and 20, using a router‑on‑a‑stick with VLAN 99 as the native VLAN on the trunk link.
Medium15You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch with two redundant links to SW2 (G0/1 and G0/2). The network administrator wants to use both links for load balancing and redundancy by configuring EtherChannel. You need to configure a Layer 2 EtherChannel using LACP on both switches. The port-channel should be in VLAN 1.
Medium16What is a common requirement for interfaces to successfully bundle into an EtherChannel?
Medium17Which TWO statements correctly describe the configuration and behavior of a router-on-a-stick setup for inter-VLAN routing?
Medium18Drag and drop the items on the left to match the descriptions on the right.
Medium19You are connected to SW1. Configure an LACP EtherChannel between SW1 and SW2 using interfaces GigabitEthernet0/1 and GigabitEthernet0/2. The port-channel interface must be configured as a trunk allowing VLANs 10, 20, and 30. Currently, the channel is not forming due to a mismatch in speed/duplex and VLAN configuration on SW2. Troubleshoot and resolve the issue so that the EtherChannel comes up as a Layer 2 trunk.
Hard20Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to capture and analyze traffic on IOS-XE using the embedded packet capture feature, and in Wireshark to isolate a Layer 2 or Layer 3 fault.
Medium21A switch trunk must carry VLANs 10, 20, and 30, but traffic for VLAN 20 is failing. The trunk allowed list on one side is `10,30`. What is the most likely cause?
Hard22Two switches are bundled with LACP, but only one physical link is forwarding traffic in the port-channel. What is the most likely reason?
Hard23Which TWO of the following statements about Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) and Rapid PVST+ are true?
Medium24A trunk link between two switches is up, but voice phones connected through one access switch no longer receive the correct voice VLAN treatment. Data users still pass traffic. Which area should be checked first?
Hard25A switch port configured with PortFast and BPDU Guard receives a BPDU and transitions to an error-disabled state. Which statement best explains why this is considered useful protection?
Hard26A network engineer is configuring an EtherChannel between two switches. After applying the configuration, the port-channel fails to form. What is the most likely reason?
Hard27You are connected to a multilayer switch MLS1. Configure FastEthernet0/1 as an access port for an IP phone and a PC, with voice VLAN 20 and data VLAN 10. Also enable PoE on the port. Then verify the configuration using 'show interfaces switchport' and 'show power inline'.
Hard28A phone and PC share one switchport. The phone registers successfully, but the workstation receives an address from the wrong subnet. Which explanation is strongest?
Hard29After configuring a trunk port to allow VLAN 40, a technician finds that VLAN 40 is not listed among the VLANs in spanning tree forwarding state in the show interfaces trunk output. What is the most likely cause?
Hard30In a router-on-a-stick design, what is configured on the physical router interface connected to the switch?
Medium31Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to capture and analyze traffic on IOS-XE using the embedded packet capture feature, then export to Wireshark to isolate a Layer 2 or Layer 3 fault.
Medium32A switchport connected to a user workstation is placed in VLAN 30. The administrator also wants to prevent that port from learning more than one MAC address. Which feature should be configured?
Hard33In a controller-based WLAN, what is the main job of the access point?
Medium34A multilayer switch has SVIs for VLAN 10 and VLAN 20. Hosts in both VLANs can reach their local SVI, but they cannot reach each other. Which additional configuration is most likely required?
Hard35An EtherChannel between SW1 and SW2 is not forming. The technician runs the show etherchannel summary command on both switches and sees that all configured interfaces are in the 'I' (stand-alone) state. Both switches have their interfaces configured with channel-group 1 mode active. What should the technician check next?
Hard36A network engineer configures an EtherChannel between two Cisco switches SW1 and SW2 using LACP. After configuration, hosts connected to SW1 report intermittent connectivity to hosts on SW2. The engineer checks the EtherChannel status and sees that the trunk is up but only allows VLAN 1, while the hosts communicate across VLANs 10 and 20. Which command should the engineer apply to both switches to resolve the issue?
Hard37A switch port connected to an end host should forward traffic for one VLAN only and should not negotiate trunking. Which configuration approach best fits that requirement?
Medium38Which TWO statements about 802.1Q trunking, native VLANs, and inter-VLAN routing are correct? (Choose two.)
Medium39A client can join a corporate SSID and authenticate successfully, but it consistently loses connectivity when moving between floors. Which area is most strongly suggested for deeper investigation?
Hard40A switchport is configured as an access port for VLAN 20, but users connected to it cannot reach the default gateway. The switch shows the interface as up/up. Which switch misconfiguration is the most likely cause?
Medium41A switch interface connects to a user PC and should belong only to VLAN 30. Which command assigns that VLAN after the interface is in access mode?
Medium42PCs in VLAN 30 on SwitchA cannot reach PCs in VLAN 30 on SwitchB. VLAN 30 exists on both switches and all other VLANs work across the same link. Based on the exhibit, what is the most likely cause?
Hard43You are connected to SW1 via the console. The network uses Rapid-PVST+ and you need to ensure that SW1 becomes the root bridge for VLAN 10 and VLAN 20. Additionally, configure PortFast and BPDU Guard on interface GigabitEthernet0/1, which connects to a workstation. After configuration, the workstation is moved and the port goes err-disabled. Diagnose the cause and recover the port without reloading the switch.
Hard44Which TWO statements correctly describe EtherChannel configuration and verification with LACP?
Medium45You are connected to a Multilayer Switch MLS1. Configure the switch so that interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1 is an access port for VLAN 10, with voice VLAN 110 for an IP phone, and enable PoE. Additionally, interface GigabitEthernet1/0/2 must be an access port for VLAN 20 to connect an AP. Verify the configuration using 'show interfaces switchport' and 'show power inline'.
Hard46A network technician notices CDP native VLAN mismatch warnings between switches SW1 and SW2 on their trunk link. The technician runs 'show interfaces trunk' on SW1 and sees native VLAN 1, then on SW2 and sees native VLAN 99. Data traffic is currently passing, but the mismatch can cause broadcast loops. What should the technician do next?
Hard47Which TWO statements accurately describe the use of packet capture tools for troubleshooting Layer 2/3 issues?
Medium48Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure an LACP EtherChannel on two Cisco switches using active mode.
Medium49Match each switching feature to its most accurate purpose.
Medium50Exhibit: A switch port connected to an end host is stuck in a blocking state much longer than expected after a reboot. Which configuration change most directly speeds host access while still keeping loop protection elsewhere?
Medium51A trunk link between two switches is operational, but one side shows a native VLAN mismatch warning. What is the main concern with that condition?
Hard52Which four of the following are characteristics of Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) and VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) used in Cisco switching? (Choose four.)
Medium53A switch displays the following output: Switch# show interfaces trunk Port Mode Encapsulation Status Native vlan Gi1/0/24 on 802.1q trunking 99 Port Vlans allowed on trunk Gi1/0/24 10,20,30 Port Vlans active in management domain Gi1/0/24 10,20,30,40 Users in VLAN 40 cannot reach resources across this trunk. What is the most likely reason?
Hard54A multilayer switch has SVIs for VLAN 10 and VLAN 20, but hosts in those VLANs still cannot reach each other. The SVIs are up/up. Which additional condition is most likely required?
Hard55You are connected to R1, a multilayer switch acting as the root bridge for VLAN 10. The network has experienced a loop, and interface GigabitEthernet0/1 on R1 is currently in err-disabled state due to a BPDU guard violation. Configure the switch to recover automatically from err-disable state after 300 seconds, then verify that the interface comes back up.
Hard56Which TWO statements correctly describe the behavior of PortFast and BPDU Guard on a Cisco switch?
Medium57A switch port should allow an IP phone and attached PC to operate correctly. The phone should place voice traffic in VLAN 200 while the PC remains in VLAN 20. Which configuration approach best supports that design?
Hard58A network engineer notices that a root port on a switch has transitioned to a loop-inconsistent state. The port was previously receiving BPDUs normally, but after a suspected unidirectional fiber cut, it no longer receives BPDUs. What is the most likely cause?
Hard59You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch. Port GigabitEthernet0/1 connects to a PC in VLAN 10, and port GigabitEthernet0/2 connects to a server in VLAN 20. Both ports are currently in VLAN 1. Configure SW1 to assign GigabitEthernet0/1 to VLAN 10 and GigabitEthernet0/2 to VLAN 20, and verify the configuration.
Medium60Match each STP or switch protection feature to the problem it is mainly designed to prevent.
Medium61You are connected to R1, a multilayer switch acting as the STP root bridge. Configure Root Guard on the designated port toward R2 (G0/1), Loop Guard on the uplink port G0/2, and BPDU Guard on PortFast-enabled access port G0/3. After configuration, a superior BPDU is received on G0/1, causing it to be blocked by Root Guard; later, an unauthorized BPDU on G0/3 triggers err-disable. Troubleshoot and verify the expected port states.
Hard62Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure Root Guard on designated ports, Loop Guard on non-designated ports, and BPDU Guard on PortFast ports, and then recover a port that enters err-disabled due to BPDU Guard.
Medium63Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure Rapid PVST+ on SW1, make it the root bridge, and enable PortFast with BPDU Guard on all access ports.
Medium64You are connected to SW1. Configure LACP EtherChannel between SW1 and SW2 using interfaces GigabitEthernet0/1 and GigabitEthernet0/2. Ensure the channel forms and passes traffic for VLAN 10. Troubleshoot and fix any issues preventing the channel from coming up.
Hard65Which THREE statements correctly describe the behavior of LACP modes in an EtherChannel configuration?
Medium66A technician is troubleshooting a network-wide broadcast storm that has caused severe performance issues. The technician notices that BPDU guard is globally enabled on the access layer switch, but no ports are in an err-disabled state. All access ports have PortFast enabled. What is the most likely cause?
Hard67Which two statements accurately describe CAPWAP in a controller-based WLAN context?
Medium68You are securing the spanning-tree topology on R1, the root bridge for VLAN 10. Intended configurations: Root Guard on GigabitEthernet1/0/3, Loop Guard on gigabit interfaces 1/0/1 and 1/0/2, and BPDU Guard on all PortFast-enabled interfaces. After initial configuration, a superior BPDU on G1/0/3 blocks the port (expected), and a host on G1/0/5 triggers BPDU Guard, causing err-disable (expected). However, you realize Loop Guard was not applied to the uplinks. Troubleshoot and apply the missing configuration.
Hard69You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch with two links to SW2: G0/1 and G0/2. The administrator wants to combine these two links into an EtherChannel using LACP. Configure an EtherChannel on SW1 for these ports and verify.
Medium70You are connected to SW1. An EtherChannel between SW1 and SW2 using LACP must be established on interfaces GigabitEthernet0/1 and GigabitEthernet0/2. Currently, the channel is not forming. Inspect the provided configuration and output, then apply the necessary commands on SW1 to resolve the issue and bring up the Port-Channel interface.
Hard71Refer to the exhibit. A network engineer is troubleshooting a connectivity issue on SW3. A host connected to the same segment as SW3's GigabitEthernet0/0 interface cannot reach any network resources. The engineer issues the show spanning-tree vlan 10 command and receives the output shown. Based on the output, what is the most likely cause?
Hard72You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch with three redundant links to SW2: G0/1, G0/2, and G0/3. The network is experiencing loops, and STP is not configured. You need to enable STP and ensure that SW1 becomes the root bridge for VLAN 1. Configure STP on SW1 and set its priority to 4096 for VLAN 1.
Hard73You are connected to SW1. Configure an LACP EtherChannel between SW1 and SW2 using interfaces GigabitEthernet0/1 and GigabitEthernet0/2. Set the channel-group mode to active on both switches. Verify that the port-channel interface is configured with VLAN 100 as an access port. Then, troubleshoot and fix the issue that prevents the EtherChannel from forming due to a mismatched speed on one of the member links. After correction, verify the EtherChannel is up with 'show etherchannel summary'.
Hard74A two-switch EtherChannel bundle is configured with LACP. One side uses active mode on both member links, while the other side uses passive mode on both member links. What is the result?
Medium75A switch receives a unicast frame for a destination MAC address that is not yet in its MAC address table. What does the switch do?
Medium76Which three of the following are correct statements about VLAN configuration and verification on a Cisco switch? (Choose three.)
Medium77When spanning tree elects a root bridge, which value is considered first?
Medium78You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch. Ports G0/1 and G0/2 are connected to two PCs that should be in VLAN 10 (Sales). Port G0/3 is a trunk link to another switch. The PCs are currently unable to communicate because the ports are in VLAN 1. Configure the switch to place the ports in the correct VLAN and ensure the trunk is properly configured with 802.1Q encapsulation and native VLAN 99.
Medium79A technician is troubleshooting a network issue where hosts in VLAN 20 on SW1 cannot communicate with hosts in VLAN 20 on SW2. Both switches are connected by an Ethernet trunk link that is up/up and configured as a trunk. The VLAN databases on both switches include VLAN 20, and the spanning tree for VLAN 20 is in a forwarding state on all ports. Hosts within VLAN 20 on each switch can communicate with each other locally. What is the most likely cause?
Hard80Drag and drop the switch port configuration commands on the left to the correct descriptions on the right.
Medium81A user connects a small unmanaged switch to an access port, and the port immediately transitions to err-disabled. Which feature most likely caused this behavior?
Hard82A network technician is troubleshooting an inter-VLAN routing issue on a multilayer switch. Hosts on VLAN 10 can reach the SVI for VLAN 10 (10.0.10.1) but cannot reach hosts on VLAN 20. The technician has verified that 'ip routing' is enabled and that the 'show ip route' command displays directly connected routes for both VLANs. No static routes are configured. What should the technician do next?
Hard83Refer to the exhibit. A network administrator is troubleshooting connectivity to devices in VLAN 10 on a Layer 3 switch. The administrator issues the show ip interface brief command on SW1 and sees the output displayed. What is the most likely reason that the VLAN 10 SVI is not functioning?
Hard84A wireless client can see two SSIDs from the same company: Corp and Guest. Which statement best explains what an SSID represents in this situation?
Medium85A network administrator implements a set of spanning-tree enhancements to secure the switching infrastructure. Later, a help desk ticket reports that a user in a remote office cannot connect to any network resources. While investigating, the administrator notices that the switch port connecting the remote office switch to the distribution switch is in a 'root-inconsistent' state and is blocking traffic. Which protection feature, if misapplied, most likely caused this issue?
Hard86Two switches are configured for LACP EtherChannel. One side is set to passive and the other side is also set to passive. What is the most likely outcome?
Hard87Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure Root Guard on designated ports, Loop Guard on non-designated ports, and BPDU Guard on PortFast ports, and then recover a port that enters err-disabled state.
Medium88Match each wireless term to its most accurate meaning.
Medium89A switch interface connected to another switch must carry VLANs 10, 20, and 30 only. Which command best enforces that requirement on the trunk?
Medium90An EtherChannel should form using LACP between two switches. One side is configured for LACP active, and the other side is configured for LACP active. What is the expected result if the other link settings also match?
Hard91Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure and recover from a BPDU Guard violation on a PortFast-enabled access port using Cisco IOS-XE CLI commands.
Medium92A wireless client can associate to the correct corporate SSID and authenticate successfully, but receives an address from the guest network instead of the employee network. Which troubleshooting area is strongest?
Hard93A network administrator recently configured BPDU Guard on all access ports of a switch to protect against rogue switches. After the change, users in VLAN 10 report intermittent connectivity issues and frequent link flaps. The administrator checks the switch and notices that several ports are in an err-disabled state. What is the most likely cause of the problem?
Hard94A wireless client joins the correct SSID and gets an address in the correct employee subnet, but cannot reach only one internal application while everything else works. Which troubleshooting area is the strongest first target?
Hard95You are connected to SW1 via console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch with two ports (G0/1 and G0/2) connected to a host. The host should be able to send and receive traffic on VLAN 10 and VLAN 20. Configure the two ports as a trunk link to the host, but ensure that the trunk only carries VLANs 10 and 20, and set the native VLAN to VLAN 99.
Medium96Drag 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.
Medium97Two switches should form an EtherChannel using LACP. One side is configured active and the other passive. If the port settings otherwise match, what is the expected result?
Hard98You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch with two VLANs: VLAN 10 (Sales) and VLAN 20 (Engineering). Port G0/1 is connected to a sales PC, and port G0/2 is connected to an engineering PC. You need to ensure that each PC is in the correct VLAN. However, the sales PC is currently unable to ping the engineering PC because they are in different VLANs. You have a router R1 connected to SW1 via port G0/3. Configure inter-VLAN routing using Router-on-a-Stick on R1, and ensure SW1's port G0/3 is properly configured as a trunk.
Medium99Drag and drop the port configuration commands/technologies on the left to their corresponding descriptions on the right.
Medium100You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a multilayer switch with SVIs for VLANs 10 (192.168.10.1/24) and 20 (192.168.20.1/24). Hosts in VLAN 10 can ping their default gateway (192.168.10.1), but cannot ping hosts in VLAN 20. You suspect IP routing is not enabled or the SVIs are not up.
Medium101You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch connected to a PC on port G0/1. The network administrator wants to secure the port by allowing only two MAC addresses and enabling sticky MAC learning. Additionally, if a violation occurs, the port should be put into error-disabled state. Configure port security on G0/1 with maximum MAC addresses of 2, sticky learning, and shutdown violation mode.
Hard102An EtherChannel uses LACP. One side is configured correctly, but the peer side has a different switchport mode on one of the member links. What is the most likely result?
Hard103A client connects to an employee WLAN using 802.1X authentication. The authentication process completes successfully, but the client fails to obtain an IP address via DHCP. What is the most likely cause?
Hard104You are connected to R1, a multilayer switch acting as the STP root for VLAN 10. Configure Root Guard on the designated port facing a downstream switch to prevent a rogue switch from becoming root. Also, enable Loop Guard on the uplink port to prevent STP loops, and configure BPDU Guard on a PortFast-enabled access port. Ensure that if a superior BPDU is received on the Root Guard port, it is blocked, and if a BPDU is received on the BPDU Guard port, it goes err-disabled.
Hard105You are connected to a multilayer switch MLS1 via the console. Configure MLS1 so that IP phones connected to interface GigabitEthernet0/1 receive power via PoE, use VLAN 10 for data traffic, and use VLAN 20 for voice traffic, while the access port for an AP on GigabitEthernet0/2 should be placed in VLAN 30 and have PoE disabled. Verify your configuration using appropriate show commands.
Hard106Which command places a switch interface into trunking mode directly instead of relying on negotiation?
Medium107A network engineer receives a call that users in VLAN 10 on Switch B cannot ping the default gateway, which is a router on a stick connected to Switch A. The engineer checks the Spanning Tree Protocol state on the interface connecting Switch A to Switch B (GigabitEthernet0/1) and finds it is in a root-inconsistent state. Which command output best explains the cause of the issue?
Hard108You are connected to SW1 via console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch. Port G0/1 connects to a PC that should be allowed only one MAC address. Currently, the port is configured with default settings. You need to enable port security on G0/1, set the maximum MAC addresses to 1, configure the port to shut down if a violation occurs, and ensure that the first learned MAC address is sticky (i.e., saved to the running config).
Medium109A network administrator is troubleshooting connectivity loss in a switched network. All switches run Rapid PVST+. A host connected to an access port on SwitchC can no longer reach the default gateway. The access port is configured with PortFast and BPDU Guard. The administrator checks the interface status and finds it in an err-disabled state. What is the most likely cause of this issue?
Hard110Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to create VLANs, assign access ports, configure 802.1Q trunks, set the native VLAN, and verify with 'show vlan brief' and 'show interfaces trunk'.
Medium111Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure Rapid PVST+ with a designated root bridge, PortFast, and BPDU Guard on access ports.
Medium112A trunk link between two switches is up, but hosts in VLAN 30 on opposite switches cannot communicate. VLAN 10 works across the same trunk. Which two causes are the most likely?
Hard113Drag and drop the items on the left to match the descriptions on the right.
Medium114A switch port is configured with `switchport voice vlan 150` and `switchport access vlan 20`. Which statement best explains the design purpose?
Hard115You are connected to SW1. The network has experienced a spanning-tree topology change, and the new root bridge is not the intended core switch. Configure SW1 with a root primary priority, enable PortFast and BPDU Guard on interface GigabitEthernet0/3 (an edge port connected to a server), and verify that a specific port in the topology is blocking. Then, after a BPDU violation occurs on G0/3, recover the interface from err-disable state without reloading the switch.
Hard116Match each Layer 2 protection feature to its most accurate purpose.
Medium117A network engineer configures an EtherChannel between two switches. Switch A's interface is set with channel-group 1 mode active, while Switch B's identical interface is set with channel-group 1 mode auto. When verifying with show etherchannel summary, the engineer observes that the port-channel interface is down and the physical interfaces are not bundled. What is the most likely cause of the problem?
Hard118You are connected to SW1 via console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch connected to SW2 via three links (G0/1, G0/2, G0/3) that should form an EtherChannel using LACP. Currently, the interfaces are configured as access ports in VLAN 1. Configure the three interfaces as a LACP EtherChannel trunk that carries VLANs 1-100, and ensure the port-channel interface is operational.
Hard119An IP phone connected to switch port Gi0/4 is working and receiving calls, but the PC connected to the phone's data port cannot obtain an IP address. The technician confirms that interface Gi0/4 has switchport mode access and shows switchport access vlan 10 and switchport voice vlan 100. What should the technician do next?
Hard120A switchport on one side of a link is configured as a trunk, but the peer side is configured as an access port. The physical link is up, but VLAN traffic behaves unexpectedly. What is the most likely cause?
Hard121Which TWO statements correctly describe the configuration and effect of Root Guard and BPDU Guard on a Cisco switch?
Medium122You are connected to SW1. A LACP EtherChannel between SW1 and SW2 has already been configured using interfaces GigabitEthernet0/1 and GigabitEthernet0/2 with channel-group 1 mode active on both sides and assigned to VLAN 100. However, the channel is not forming because of a speed/duplex mismatch. The correct interface settings for this network are speed 1000 and duplex full. Interface GigabitEthernet0/1 is already configured with these settings. Only interface GigabitEthernet0/2 needs to be corrected. Identify the configuration change needed to resolve the mismatch and verify the EtherChannel is up with 'show etherchannel summary'.
Hard123You are connected to a multilayer switch SW1 via console. SW1 has an IP phone and an access point connected to interfaces GigabitEthernet0/1 and GigabitEthernet0/2 respectively. Configure the access ports so that the IP phone receives a voice VLAN (VLAN 110) and PoE priority critical, and the access point receives PoE priority high. Verify your configuration using show interfaces switchport and show power inline.
Hard124Refer to the exhibit. A network engineer expects SW1 to be the root bridge for VLAN 1, but the show spanning-tree vlan 1 output on SW2 shows that SW2 is the root. What is the most likely cause of this issue?
Hard125Which two statements accurately describe a controller-based WLAN compared with a set of independently managed APs?
Medium126You are connected to SW1. Two switches, SW1 and SW2, are connected via four GigabitEthernet links. Configure LACP EtherChannel between them using interfaces GigabitEthernet0/1 through GigabitEthernet0/4 on SW1. Set the channel-group mode to active on SW1. The port-channel interface must be configured as a trunk, allowing VLANs 10, 20, 30. However, the EtherChannel is not forming. The current configuration is shown below. Identify and fix the issue, then verify the EtherChannel is operational.
Hard127A network engineer is troubleshooting a connectivity issue between two hosts on different VLANs. The engineer captures traffic on an IOS-XE router's GigabitEthernet0/1 interface using embedded packet capture (EPC). The output shows ARP requests from Host A (192.168.1.10) but no ARP replies from Host B (192.168.2.20). What is the most likely cause of this issue?
Medium128A switch port connected to a user PC should be placed in VLAN 20 and must not negotiate trunking. Which configuration is the most appropriate?
Hard129Two switches should form an EtherChannel with LACP. One side is set to active and the other is set to passive. If the remaining interface settings match, what is the expected result?
Hard130A switch receives BPDUs on a user-facing port configured as an edge port, but instead of just blocking the port role it fully error-disables it. Which protection feature most likely explains that behavior?
Hard131Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure a switch port for data and voice traffic.
Medium132A switchport should allow only one learned MAC address and shut down if a different device is connected later. Which port security violation mode and limit combination best fits that goal?
Easy133Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure an LACP EtherChannel on Cisco IOS-XE switches.
Medium134Users in VLAN 60 on switch SW2 cannot reach the default gateway located on switch SW1. The trunk between SW1 and SW2 is operational and allows VLAN 60. What is the most likely reason for this issue?
Hard135After a hub was connected to interface Gi0/10, the interface immediately entered errdisable state. The following syslog message was generated: '%PORT_SECURITY-2-PSECURE_VIOLATION: Security violation occurred on interface Gi0/10.' What is the strongest explanation for why Gi0/10 shut down?
Hard136What is the correct order of steps to capture and analyze traffic on IOS-XE using the embedded packet capture feature, and in Wireshark to isolate a Layer 2 or Layer 3 fault?
Medium137Exhibit: Clients can see the corporate SSID but fail authentication after entering valid usernames and passwords. Which issue is the best explanation?
Hard138A port connected to an end-user PC should not send or expect VLAN tags from the endpoint. Which interface type is appropriate on the switch?
Medium139You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch with an access port G0/1 connected to a server. The network administrator has noticed that the server is sending BPDUs, which could cause network instability. You need to configure PortFast and BPDU Guard on port G0/1 to prevent BPDU-related issues and ensure the port transitions to forwarding state immediately.
Easy140You are connected to R1. Configure inter-VLAN routing on R1 using router-on-a-stick so that hosts in VLAN 10 (192.168.10.0/24) and VLAN 20 (192.168.20.0/24) can communicate. The switch SW1 is already configured with VLANs and trunking, but R1's current configuration prevents traffic. Identify and fix the issues.
Hard141Why is BPDU Guard commonly enabled on PortFast-enabled access ports?
Medium142Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure inter-VLAN routing using a router-on-a-stick topology.
Medium143A trunk link has a native VLAN mismatch between two switches. What is the most likely result?
Hard144A network troubleshooter is using Cisco IOS-XE's embedded packet capture feature to capture traffic on an interface and then analyze it in Wireshark to isolate a Layer 2 or Layer 3 fault. Which of the following sequences represents the correct order of steps?
Medium145Which two statements accurately describe why organizations use separate employee and guest WLANs?
Medium146An administrator connects a new access-layer switch to a distribution switch. The link comes up but remains in a blocking state and does not forward frames. The administrator issues the show command shown in the exhibit. What is the most likely reason the link is blocked?
Hard147After a switch replacement, users in VLAN 30 cannot reach devices in other VLANs. The replacement switch has a trunk link to the distribution switch that shows as up/up. What is the most likely cause?
Medium148A switch administrator enters the following commands on interface GigabitEthernet1/0/10: interface g1/0/10 switchport mode access switchport access vlan 30 spanning-tree portfast spanning-tree bpduguard enable A user connects a small managed switch to this port, and the access port immediately changes to an err-disabled state. Which feature caused the port to shut down?
Medium149Which TWO statements correctly describe the configuration and verification of EtherChannel with LACP?
Medium150Which two statements accurately describe WPA2 and WPA3 in wireless security?
Medium151You are connected to R1. The network uses a router-on-a-stick design with a single switch (SW1) and two VLANs (10 and 20). Currently, hosts in VLAN 10 cannot ping hosts in VLAN 20, and the trunk between R1 and SW1 shows a native VLAN mismatch. Examine the provided configuration and output, then apply the necessary corrections to R1 so that inter-VLAN routing works correctly.
Hard152A network engineer notices that a newly connected switch-to-switch link is up, but traffic from multiple VLANs is not passing. When issuing the show interfaces trunk command, no trunk ports are listed. Both switch ports are configured with switchport mode dynamic auto. What is the most likely cause?
Hard153Two switches, SW1 and SW2, are connected via a trunk link. Hosts in VLAN 50 on SW1 cannot communicate with hosts in VLAN 50 on SW2, while hosts in other VLANs communicate normally. What is the most likely cause?
Hard154Users report that their PCs take over 30 seconds to obtain IP addresses and reach the network after being powered on. A network technician checks a switch port connected to a PC and observes that the port transitions through blocking, listening, learning, and then forwarding states, taking about 30 seconds to complete. The switch is running standard 802.1D STP. The technician confirms the port is an access port and only connects to a PC. What should the technician do next?
Hard155A phone and PC share one switchport. The phone works, but the PC cannot reach its normal data resources. The switchport voice VLAN is configured, and the access VLAN is incorrect. Which explanation is strongest?
Hard156Which TWO statements correctly describe the behavior of Rapid PVST+ in a Layer 2 network?
Medium157A network administrator is troubleshooting connectivity issues in a switched network. Users on VLAN 10 report intermittent connectivity to the server farm. The network uses Rapid PVST+ as the spanning-tree protocol. The administrator examines the switch that is the root bridge for VLAN 10 and notices that one of the uplink interfaces to an access switch is in a blocking state. What is the most likely cause of this issue?
Hard158Which command places a switch port into access mode directly?
Medium159What problem does Spanning Tree Protocol solve in a switched network?
Easy160SW1 is the root bridge for VLAN 10. A user switch receives a BPDU on an access port connected to a desk-side unmanaged switch. What should happen if BPDU Guard is enabled on that port?
Medium161Drag and drop the VLAN/trunking commands and terms on the left to their correct descriptions or functions on the right.
Medium162Exhibit: A wireless client can see the SSID and associates successfully, but it never gets network access. Other users on the same SSID work. Which issue is the best fit?
Medium163A network engineer checks EtherChannel status on a switch and sees the following output: Group Port-channel Protocol Ports ------+-------------+---------+----------------------------- 1 Po1(SD) LACP Gi1/0/1(s) Gi1/0/2(I) What is the most likely reason the EtherChannel is not forwarding traffic?
Medium164You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch with two links to SW2 configured as an EtherChannel using LACP. The EtherChannel is not coming up. Interface G0/2 was accidentally configured as an access port in VLAN 10, while G0/1 is configured as a trunk. The administrator wants to use LACP to bundle the links. Troubleshoot and fix the configuration to bring up the EtherChannel.
Hard165Which TWO statements correctly describe aspects of interpreting packet capture output for Layer 2/3 troubleshooting using Wireshark or embedded packet capture on IOS-XE?
Medium166You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch connected to two other switches (SW2 and SW3) via redundant links. All switches run IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol. The network administrator wants SW1 to become the root bridge for VLAN 1. Currently, the root bridge is SW2. Configure SW1 to achieve this and ensure that port G0/1, which connects to an end device, immediately transitions to forwarding state upon link up and is protected from BPDU attacks.
Hard167A switch receives superior BPDUs on a port where the design requires that no downstream device ever become the root path for that segment. Which feature is the best fit for that requirement?
Hard168A switchport should automatically disable itself if too many MAC addresses are learned beyond the configured secure limit. Which port-security violation mode causes that behavior?
Medium169A user can connect to the employee SSID and receive the correct employee IP subnet, but access to one internal application fails only for that WLAN while wired users succeed. Which troubleshooting area is the strongest first focus?
Hard170A phone and a PC are attached to the same switchport. The intended data VLAN is VLAN 10, and the phone uses voice VLAN 20. The switchport currently has `switchport voice vlan 20` configured. The phone works, but the PC cannot reach the data network. Which command is most likely missing?
Medium171Two switches are connected with EtherChannel using LACP. One side is configured with mode active and the other side with mode passive. What happens?
Medium172Two switches are connected using four Gigabit Ethernet interfaces configured as an EtherChannel with LACP. The network administrator notices that only two of the four interfaces are active in the port-channel, and the other two are in a suspended state. Upon further investigation, the administrator finds that the two inactive interfaces correspond to remote interfaces that are configured with the 'on' mode, while the active ones correspond to remote interfaces configured with LACP active/passive. The administrator also verifies that all local interfaces have the same speed, duplex, and VLAN. What is the most likely cause of the suspended interfaces?
Hard173You are connected to SW1 via console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch connected to two other switches (SW2 and SW3) via trunk links. The network administrator wants to ensure that SW1 becomes the root bridge for VLAN 10 and VLAN 20. Currently, SW2 is the root for both VLANs. Configure SW1 to become the root bridge for these VLANs using the Cisco-recommended macro STP commands.
Medium174You are connected to a multilayer switch MLS1. Configure Root Guard on switchport GigabitEthernet 0/1 (connected to an unauthorized switch) so that if a superior BPDU is received, the port is blocked instead of causing a topology change. Also enable Loop Guard on uplink GigabitEthernet 0/2 (connected to the root bridge) to prevent unidirectional link issues. Finally, enable BPDU Guard on PortFast-enabled access port GigabitEthernet 0/3 (connected to a host) so that if a BPDU is received, the port goes err-disabled. After configuration, a superior BPDU is received on G0/1 and the port is blocked; a BPDU is received on G0/3 and the port goes err-disabled. Verify these protections are active.
Hard175You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch connected to multiple PCs. The network administrator wants to implement port security on port G0/1 to allow only one MAC address and to shut down the port if a violation occurs. Additionally, the administrator wants the MAC address to be learned dynamically and added to the running configuration as sticky. Configure port security on G0/1 accordingly.
Easy176You are connected to Switch1. Configure an LACP EtherChannel between Switch1 and Switch2 using interfaces GigabitEthernet0/1 and GigabitEthernet0/2. The channel must be in active mode on both sides, and the port-channel interface must have VLAN 10 as the access VLAN. The current configuration has a speed/duplex mismatch and inconsistent VLAN assignments preventing the channel from forming. Verify the channel is up using 'show etherchannel summary'.
Hard177An EtherChannel between two switches is configured for LACP. One switch shows the member interfaces as bundled, while the other shows them as individual interfaces. Which explanation is most likely if both sides are using LACP?
Hard178Exhibit: SW2 receives superior BPDUs on both uplinks. One uplink becomes the root port and the other becomes alternate. Which factor is considered first when SW2 chooses the root port?
Hard179Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure and recover from a BPDU guard violation on a PortFast-enabled access port.
Medium180Which spanning-tree port role receives the best BPDU toward the root bridge on a nonroot switch?
Medium181You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch connected to router R1 via trunk link G0/1. R1 performs inter-VLAN routing using subinterfaces. VLANs 10, 20, and 30 exist on SW1. Hosts in VLAN 10 (192.168.10.0/24) can ping R1's subinterface, but cannot communicate with hosts in VLAN 20. You suspect the trunk is not allowing VLAN 20 traffic.
Medium182You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch with two VLANs: VLAN 10 (Sales) and VLAN 20 (Engineering). A router R1 is connected to port G0/1 on SW1 for inter-VLAN routing. Currently, the router is not routing between VLANs because the trunk is not configured correctly. Configure the switch port as a trunk and ensure the router can route between VLANs using subinterfaces (Router-on-a-Stick).
Medium183Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure spanning-tree protection features including BPDU Guard, Root Guard, and Loop Guard on a Cisco switch.
Medium184Which TWO of the following statements accurately describe the configuration and behavior of Root Guard, Loop Guard, and BPDU Guard in Rapid PVST+ environments?
Medium185Exhibit: SW1 is configured for EtherChannel with LACP, but the bundle does not form. What is the most likely cause?
Hard186You are connected to a multilayer switch MLS1. The network has two other switches: SW2 and SW3. The interface GigabitEthernet0/1 already has PortFast and BPDU Guard enabled. Configure MLS1 as the root bridge for VLAN 10 and VLAN 20 using the root primary command. After configuration, verify that the interface is not in err-disabled state and that the root bridge role is correctly assigned.
Hard187A switchport on one side of a link is configured as a trunk, but the peer side is configured as an access port. What is the most likely result?
Hard188A switchport is configured as a trunk on one side and access on the other side of the same physical link. What is the most likely result?
Hard189Which TWO statements are true regarding VLAN configuration, 802.1Q trunking, and the native VLAN?
Medium190You are connected to a multilayer switch MLS1. Configure Root Guard on the designated port facing another switch SW2 to prevent it from becoming root, configure Loop Guard on the uplink port to the core, and configure BPDU Guard on a PortFast-enabled access port. After configuration, a superior BPDU arrives on the designated port—confirm it is blocked by Root Guard. Then, simulate a BPDU on the access port to verify it goes err-disabled due to BPDU Guard.
Hard191An administrator notices that hosts in VLAN 30 on SW1 cannot communicate with hosts in VLAN 30 on SW2, even though both switches are connected via an 802.1Q trunk. Traffic for VLANs 10 and 20 passes without issues across the same trunk. The trunk is configured to allow all VLANs, and the allowed VLAN list explicitly includes VLAN 30. What is the most likely cause of the problem?
Hard192Exhibit: A switch interface connected to an IP phone and PC is configured as an access port in VLAN 10. The PC works, but the phone does not register. What additional configuration is most likely needed?
Hard193A host is physically connected to switch port Gi0/3. The technician runs 'show mac address-table' but does not find the host's MAC address for Gi0/3. The port status shows 'up/up', and the host was connected only a few minutes ago. What should the technician do next?
Hard194Hosts in VLAN 10 need to communicate with hosts in VLAN 20. What is required for that communication to work?
Medium195A multilayer switch must route traffic between VLAN 10 and VLAN 20. Which condition is required for that to happen?
Hard196You are connected to switch SW1. The network uses Rapid-PVST+ and SW1 has been accidentally configured with a low spanning-tree priority, causing it to become the root bridge for VLAN 10 even though it should not be. Additionally, an edge port connected to a server is repeatedly receiving BPDUs, causing it to go into err-disabled state. Configure SW1 so that it is never the root bridge for VLAN 10, and configure the edge port so that it automatically recovers from err-disabled state after 300 seconds. Finally, verify that SW1 is not the root bridge for VLAN 10.
Hard197Refer to the exhibit. A network administrator runs the show vlan brief command on SW2. Interface GigabitEthernet0/2 is intended to be an access port in VLAN 10, but it does not appear in the output. What is the most likely cause?
Hard198A network engineer is troubleshooting connectivity between two hosts in different VLANs on the same switch. Host A in VLAN 10 (10.10.10.5/24) cannot ping Host B in VLAN 20 (10.10.20.5/24). The switch is configured as a router-on-a-stick with a trunk port to an external router. The trunk port is up/up, but inter-VLAN routing fails. What is the most likely cause?
Hard199A user on a wireless guest network can associate successfully, obtains an IP address, but cannot reach the Internet. Which troubleshooting area should be examined first if the WLAN itself is working?
Hard200On an 802.1Q trunk, which VLAN is sent untagged by default on many Cisco switches unless changed?
Medium201A multilayer switch has working SVIs for VLAN 10 and VLAN 20, but traffic between the VLANs fails. Hosts can ping their own gateway interfaces. Which misconfiguration is most strongly suggested if the SVIs themselves are correct?
Hard202Exhibit: Users report that they can see the corporate SSID but fail authentication immediately after entering credentials. Guest wireless works on the same access point. Which issue is most likely?
Medium203Two switches are connected by a trunk. VLAN 50 exists on both switches, but traffic still fails across the link. The allowed VLAN list is correct. Which additional item should be checked next?
Hard204Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure an LACP EtherChannel on two Cisco switches using active mode.
Medium205A network administrator is troubleshooting an issue where hosts on VLAN 10 cannot ping the default gateway at 192.168.10.1. The router (R1) has an SVI for VLAN 10 with IP 192.168.10.1/24. The administrator captures traffic on the router's G0/0/0 interface (trunk to the switch) and reviews the embedded packet capture output. What is the root cause of the problem?
Hard206You are connected to Multilayer Switch SW1. Configure LACP EtherChannel between SW1 and SW2 using ports GigabitEthernet0/1 and GigabitEthernet0/2. Ensure the channel is formed and active. The current configuration has mismatched VLAN assignments and speed/duplex settings preventing the channel from coming up. Verify the channel state using 'show etherchannel summary'.
Hard207A user reports that the corporate SSID is visible and accepts the correct password, but the client always lands in a quarantined remediation network. Which troubleshooting area is strongest?
Hard208Which two conditions must match on two switch ports before they can successfully form a Layer 2 EtherChannel? (Choose two.)
Hard209A user says the phone connected to a switch port works, but the attached PC does not get network access. What is the most likely switch-side issue?
Medium210A switch has a root port and an alternate port for the same VLAN. Which statement best explains the operational role of the alternate port?
Hard211A trunk between two switches is up, but users in VLAN 40 cannot communicate across it. The output shows both sides allow VLAN 40. What is another likely trunk-related cause to check next?
Hard212You are connected to a multilayer switch MLS1. The network has two other switches SW1 and SW2 forming a triangle topology. Currently, SW1 is the root bridge but it should be SW2. Additionally, configure PortFast and BPDU Guard on interface GigabitEthernet0/2 of MLS1, which connects to a host. Simulate a BPDU violation on that port and then recover the port from err-disabled state.
Hard213Exhibit: Users on SW2 in VLAN 30 can reach local devices but not hosts in VLAN 30 on SW1. What is the most likely reason?
Hard214A network administrator has several access points. All APs except one have successfully joined the wireless controller. The administrator verifies the failing AP’s IP address, subnet mask, and controller IP address are correctly configured. What is the most likely reason the AP cannot join the controller?
Hard215Refer to the exhibit. A network engineer notices that a user connected to GigabitEthernet0/5 cannot access the network. The engineer issues the show port-security interface GigabitEthernet0/5 command. Based on the output, what is the most likely cause of the issue?
Hard216Which command output would be the best next step to verify whether the port-channel is operational after configuration changes?
Hard217You are connected to SW1. Configure an LACP EtherChannel between SW1 and SW2 using ports GigabitEthernet0/1 and GigabitEthernet0/2. Set the channel-group mode to active on both sides. The port-channel interface should be configured as a trunk allowing VLANs 10, 20, and 30. Initially, the EtherChannel fails to form due to mismatched speed/duplex on one link. Identify and correct the issue, then verify the channel is up and operational.
Hard218An AP broadcasts the correct SSID, but many clients on one floor experience poor performance while the same SSID works well on another floor. Which category of issue is most strongly suggested first?
Easy219A trunk is up between two switches, but traffic for VLAN 40 fails while other VLANs work. Which output item should be checked first?
Hard220A switchport connected to another switch is configured with `switchport mode dynamic auto` on both ends. What is the most likely outcome if neither side actively negotiates trunking?
Hard221A 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?
Hard222Clients in VLAN 30 are not receiving addresses from the DHCP server located in VLAN 99. Which configuration change should be made on the Layer 3 interface for VLAN 30?
Hard223Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure BPDU Guard, Loop Guard, and Root Guard on a Cisco switch.
Medium224Refer to the exhibit. A network administrator is troubleshooting connectivity issues for hosts on VLAN 50 on SW1. The hosts on VLAN 50 cannot reach any devices outside SW1, even though the trunk link between SW1 and SW2 is up. The administrator issues the 'show interfaces GigabitEthernet0/1 trunk' command on SW1. Based on the output, what is the most likely cause of the issue?
Hard225A switch port connected to an end host is configured with both PortFast and BPDU Guard. What is the most likely outcome if a small switch is connected there and starts sending BPDUs?
Hard226Match each trunking or switchport term to its most accurate description.
Medium227Refer to the exhibit. A network administrator connects an IP phone to interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1 on a Cisco Catalyst switch. The PC connected through the phone works normally on the data VLAN, but the phone cannot obtain an IP address and fails to register with the call server. Which action will resolve the problem?
Hard228A network engineer notices that an uplink port on a distribution switch has moved to a root-inconsistent state and is blocking traffic. The port is configured with Root Guard and is connected to a new access switch. The new access switch has a lower bridge priority than the current root bridge. What is the most likely cause?
Hard229A PC connected to switch port Gi0/10 should be in VLAN 20 but receives broadcasts only from VLAN 1. Which switchport setting is most likely wrong?
Medium230After connecting a new switch to interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1 on a distribution switch, a network engineer notices that the interface is in err-disable state. The engineer checks the configuration and finds that spanning-tree portfast and spanning-tree bpduguard enable are applied to the interface. What is the most likely cause of the err-disable state?
Hard231A switch displays this output: Port Name Status Vlan Fa0/1 connected 10 Fa0/2 connected 10 Fa0/24 connected trunk Which port should be checked first if a user in VLAN 20 cannot reach the distribution switch over the uplink?
Medium232A switch trunk is carrying several VLANs, but VLAN 99 traffic is failing. The trunk allowed list includes VLAN 99 on both sides. Which statement best explains why a VLAN can still fail even when it is allowed?
Hard233You are connected to SW1. The network has three switches (SW1, SW2, SW3) running Rapid-PVST+. SW1 should be the root bridge for VLAN 10. PortFast and BPDU Guard must be enabled on all edge ports connected to end hosts. An err-disabled port (G0/1) has occurred due to a BPDU violation on an edge port. Recover the port and ensure it is configured correctly to prevent recurrence.
Hard234Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to interpret packet capture output for L2/L3 troubleshooting.
Medium235A switch port connected to a user PC is configured as a trunk. The PC cannot communicate normally. What is the best explanation?
Hard236You are connected to SW1 via the console. The network has three switches connected in a triangle: SW1 (G0/1 to SW2 G0/1), SW1 (G0/2 to SW3 G0/1), and SW2 (G0/2 to SW3 G0/2). SW1 is the root bridge. A PC is connected to SW3's G0/3 port, which should be an edge port. However, the PC has been sending BPDUs, causing the port to go err-disabled. Configure SW3 to prevent this in the future: enable PortFast and BPDU Guard on G0/3. Then, verify that the port recovers from err-disabled state and that a specific blocked port on SW2 is identified. Use the provided show output to determine the current state and necessary commands.
Hard237A controller-based WLAN is deployed across multiple floors. Users can associate to the SSID on both floors, but their experience improves when moving between APs compared with a poorly designed standalone deployment. Which wireless concept is most closely related to that client movement experience?
Medium238Which VLAN is used by default for most switch ports on a new Cisco switch?
Easy239A switch port connected to a workstation is configured with sticky MAC learning and a maximum secure MAC count of 1. What is the main operational benefit of sticky learning in this case?
Hard240Which TWO commands are required to configure a switch port to support both a desktop PC and a VoIP phone using voice VLAN?
Medium241Which wireless design objective is achieved by using nonoverlapping channels in adjacent cells?
Easy242You are connected to SW1. The current configurations of interfaces GigabitEthernet0/1 and GigabitEthernet0/2 are as follows: Gi0/1: speed 100, duplex half, switchport access vlan 10 Gi0/2: speed 1000, duplex full, switchport access vlan 20 The port-channel interface 1 does not exist. Configure a LACP EtherChannel between SW1 and SW2 using these two interfaces, with port-channel 1 and mode active on both sides. Ensure the channel forms by resolving any speed/duplex or VLAN mismatches. After configuration, verify with 'show etherchannel summary'.
Hard243Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to capture and analyze traffic for L2/L3 troubleshooting.
Medium244You are connected to a multilayer switch MLSW1. PortFast and BPDU Guard have already been enabled on interface GigabitEthernet0/1, which connects to an end device, and a BPDU received on that interface placed it in the err-disabled state. Configure Rapid PVST+ so that MLSW1 becomes the root bridge for VLAN 10 with a priority of 4096. Recover the interface by re-enabling it. Finally, verify which port is blocking on VLAN 10 by connecting to MLSW2 and executing the appropriate show command.
Hard245You are connected to SW1 via console. SW1 is a multilayer switch with SVIs for VLAN 10 (192.168.10.1/24) and VLAN 20 (192.168.20.1/24). Hosts in VLAN 10 and VLAN 20 need to communicate with each other. Currently, inter-VLAN routing is not working. You need to enable routing on SW1 and verify that the SVIs are operational.
Medium246Refer to the exhibit. A network engineer notices that on a four-link EtherChannel bundle between two switches, all traffic from a particular VLAN is being forwarded over only one physical link, while the other three links remain idle. The engineer suspects a load-balancing issue and issues the show etherchannel load-balance command, the output of which is shown. What is the most likely cause of the uneven traffic distribution?
Hard247A switchport connected to another switch is configured as an access port by mistake. Which symptom is most likely in a multi-VLAN design?
Hard248Which TWO statements are true about configuring and verifying VLANs, 802.1Q trunking, native VLAN, and inter-VLAN routing with router-on-a-stick?
Medium249A user joins the employee SSID successfully and can browse internal resources, but VoIP over Wi-Fi calls fail only while roaming between floors. Which troubleshooting area is the strongest first focus?
Hard250Why is PortFast typically enabled on switch ports connected to end devices?
Medium251A network administrator connects an IP phone to interface Gi0/1 and a PC to the phone's PC port. Users report that the phone cannot register with the call manager and the PC does not obtain an IP address. The administrator verifies the configuration shown in the exhibit. What is the most likely cause of the problem?
Hard252Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to capture and analyze traffic on IOS-XE using the embedded packet capture feature, and in Wireshark to isolate a Layer 2 or Layer 3 fault.
Medium253A switch port connected to an IP phone and a PC should separate voice traffic from data traffic while still using one physical edge connection. Which feature best supports that design?
Hard254Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to capture and analyze traffic on IOS-XE using the embedded packet capture feature, and in Wireshark to isolate a Layer 2 or Layer 3 fault.
Medium255An administrator configures an EtherChannel between SW1 and SW2. The port-channel interfaces are physically up, but the EtherChannel bundle fails to come up. On SW1, the channel-group is set to mode active; on SW2, it is set to mode on. What is the most likely cause?
Medium256Two switches are connected by a trunk. VLAN 50 exists on both switches, but hosts in VLAN 50 cannot communicate across the link. All other VLANs work. Based on the exhibit, what is the most likely cause?
Hard257You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch connected to router R1 via trunk port G0/1. The trunk is currently using VLAN 1 as native VLAN, but the network administrator wants to change the native VLAN to VLAN 99 for security. Configure the trunk on G0/1 to use native VLAN 99 and verify.
Medium258You are connected to R1, a multilayer switch acting as the STP root for VLAN 10. Configure Root Guard on port GigabitEthernet0/1 (designated port) to protect against superior BPDUs from an unauthorized switch, Loop Guard on uplink GigabitEthernet0/2 to prevent forwarding loops on unidirectional links, and BPDU Guard on PortFast-enabled GigabitEthernet0/3 to shut down the port if a BPDU is received. After configuration, troubleshoot the scenario: a superior BPDU is received on G0/1, causing it to be blocked by Root Guard, and an unauthorized switch sends a BPDU to G0/3, placing it in err-disable state. Verify the final configuration and state.
Hard259A host on a guest WLAN can browse the Internet but cannot reach internal corporate resources, while employees on another SSID can. Which statement best explains why that can be a correct design outcome?
Hard260You are connected to R1, a Catalyst 3650 multilayer switch running IOS-XE. Configure Root Guard on all designated ports, Loop Guard on uplink interfaces, and BPDU Guard on all PortFast-enabled ports. Troubleshoot the current issue: one port is receiving a superior BPDU and is being blocked by Root Guard, and a different PortFast port has gone err-disabled after BPDU Guard triggered. Verify that Root Guard is active on port Gi1/0/1, Loop Guard is active on Gi1/0/2, and BPDU Guard is enabled on Gi1/0/3.
Hard261Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure a switch port for a VoIP phone (voice VLAN + data VLAN), an AP trunk, and a PoE-powered IoT device.
Medium262A switch shows this output from the "show interfaces trunk" command: Gi0/1 on 802.1q trunking 1 Gi0/2 auto 802.1q not-trunking 1 Which statement is correct?
Medium263A network engineer notices that a new switch, SW3, was connected to port GigabitEthernet0/1 on SW1, but the port immediately went into an err-disabled state. The network uses Rapid PVST+ with BPDU Guard enabled globally on all access ports. The engineer checks the logs and sees 'bpduguard error detected' messages. What is the most likely cause of the err-disabled state?
Hard264PCs in VLAN 30 on SwitchA cannot reach servers in VLAN 30 on SwitchB. All other VLANs work across the trunk. What is the most likely cause?
Medium265Which two statements accurately describe good design thinking for wireless guest access?
Medium266Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure Root Guard on designated ports, Loop Guard on non-designated ports, and BPDU Guard on PortFast ports, and to recover a port that enters err-disabled due to a BPDU guard violation.
Medium267A switchport connected to another switch should carry multiple VLANs, but it was manually configured as an access port. What is the most likely operational result?
Hard268A port connected to an end host is configured with PortFast and BPDU Guard. What is the most likely result if a small unmanaged switch is connected and starts sending BPDUs?
Hard269A network engineer notices that Host A in VLAN 10 (10.10.10.50/24) can successfully ping its default gateway 10.10.10.1, but cannot ping the VLAN 20 SVI (10.20.20.1) or any hosts in VLAN 20. The SVIs for both VLAN 10 and VLAN 20 are in an up/up state, and the switch's trunk ports are correctly allowing both VLANs. What is the most likely cause?
Hard270Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure Root Guard on a designated port, Loop Guard on a non-designated port, and BPDU Guard on a PortFast port, along with the recovery steps when a port enters err-disabled state.
Medium271You are connected to R1. The network consists of R1, SW1, and two hosts (Host-A on VLAN 10, Host-B on VLAN 20). SW1 has two access ports (one per VLAN) and a trunk to R1. Configure R1 for router-on-a-stick inter-VLAN routing. The current configuration has a native VLAN mismatch and a missing subinterface for VLAN 20. Fix these issues so that Host-A and Host-B can ping each other.
Hard272A network engineer has configured an LACP EtherChannel between Switch1 and Switch2 by assigning interfaces to channel-group 1 with the mode passive on both switches. The engineer issues the show etherchannel summary command on Switch1 and sees the output below. The Port-channel interface remains down. Which action resolves the issue?
Hard273A PC connected to SW1 cannot reach the default gateway. The access port is assigned to VLAN 20, and the switch output shows that VLAN 20 is inactive. What is the most likely cause?
Hard274You are connected to SW1, a Layer 2 switch. Port G0/1 connects to a PC in VLAN 10. Management requires that only one MAC address is allowed on this port, and if a violation occurs, the port should shut down and a log message should be generated. Additionally, you need to ensure that the port enables rapidly and does not wait for STP convergence. Currently, the PC has MAC address aaaa.bbbb.cccc.
Medium275After configuring DHCP snooping on VLAN 10 to prevent rogue DHCP servers, all clients in the VLAN stop receiving DHCP offers from the legitimate DHCP server that is connected to port Gi0/1. The administrator verifies the DHCP server is operational and reachable. What should the technician do next?
Hard276Which TWO switch port configurations are required when connecting a Cisco IP phone and a desktop PC to a single access port?
Medium277A network engineer notices that after adding a new switch to the network, a different switch unexpectedly becomes the STP root bridge, disrupting all VLANs. The new switch has the default priority (32768) but has a lower MAC address than all existing switches. What is the most likely cause?
Hard278Two switches are connected via an IEEE 802.1Q trunk. Hosts in VLAN 30 on opposite sides cannot communicate, yet hosts in VLAN 10 communicate normally. Both switches have VLAN 30 in their VLAN database, and the trunk link is operational. What is the most likely cause?
Hard279Which TWO statements correctly describe the configuration and use of a voice VLAN on a Cisco switch port?
Medium280You are connected to SW1, a Layer 2 switch. The network administrator wants to prevent unauthorized switches from being connected to access ports. Port G0/1 is an access port in VLAN 10. You need to configure BPDU Guard on this port to protect against STP loops caused by rogue switches. Additionally, enable PortFast for immediate transition to forwarding.
Easy281Which STP port state on a classic 802.1D switch listens for BPDUs and prepares to participate in the topology, but does not yet learn MAC addresses?
Easy282A switch interface is configured as `dynamic desirable`, and the peer interface is configured as `dynamic auto`. What is the most likely result?
Hard283Refer to the exhibit. An engineer configured PortFast on interface GigabitEthernet0/1, which connects to a server that does not participate in spanning tree. However, the port remains in the listening state for the full forward delay period before transitioning to forwarding. The engineer issues the show spanning-tree vlan 10 detail command. Based on the output, what is the most likely cause?
Hard284Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure and recover from a BPDU guard violation on a PortFast-enabled access port in RSTP.
Medium285You are connected to R1, a multilayer switch acting as the STP root for VLAN 10. Configure Root Guard on port GigabitEthernet0/1 (designated port) to protect against superior BPDUs from an unauthorized switch, Loop Guard on uplink GigabitEthernet0/2 to prevent loops, and BPDU Guard on PortFast-enabled GigabitEthernet0/3. After configuration, a superior BPDU arrives on G0/1, blocking the port; verify the Root Guard state and ensure BPDU Guard triggers err-disable on G0/3.
Hard286A user connects a Cisco IP Phone with a PC attached to the phone's PC port to switch interface GigabitEthernet0/5. The PC obtains an IP address and can reach the network, but the phone displays "Configuring IP" and never registers. Based on the exhibit outputs, what is the most likely cause?
Hard287Exhibit: Users complain of slow wireless performance in a dense office even though signal strength is strong. Multiple APs are using channels 1, 2, and 3 on 2.4 GHz. Which change is most appropriate?
Medium288A Layer 2 switch port connected to an end host should move to forwarding quickly but also shut down if a BPDU is received. Which pair of features best supports that design?
Hard289A network administrator has configured a switch port to support a VoIP phone and a desktop PC. Users report that the desktop PC cannot obtain an IP address via DHCP, while the VoIP phone registers successfully. The switch port is up/up, and the desktop is connected to the phone's PC port. What is the most likely cause of the issue?
Hard290Based on the exhibit, which action is most likely required to allow AP-22 to join the controller successfully?
Hard291Exhibit: An access switch shows Gi1/0/10 as err-disabled shortly after an IP phone and a workstation are connected through the same wall jack. What is the most likely cause?
Hard292Exhibit: A user reports intermittent connectivity after a new switch was connected to an access port. Which feature would have prevented this by immediately disabling the port when a BPDU was received?
Medium293You are connected to a single switch, SW1, which is a Cisco Catalyst 2960 running Cisco IOS. Configure port GigabitEthernet0/1 as an access port for a Cisco IP phone and a PC on the same VLAN (Voice VLAN 20, Data VLAN 10). The switch must provide PoE to the phone. Additionally, configure GigabitEthernet0/2 as an access port for a wireless access point (AP) that requires PoE. Verify both configurations using the appropriate show commands. The current running-config is incomplete; you must add the necessary commands.
Hard294A switchport connected to an IP phone and a PC must carry user traffic and voice traffic separately. Which feature is designed for that purpose on a Cisco access port?
Medium295Drag and drop the following steps into the correct order to configure a Cisco switch access port with a data VLAN and a voice VLAN.
Medium296A switch should learn one MAC address on an access port and shut the port down if a second unauthorized device appears. Which two port-security settings support that requirement?
Medium297A user reports that a laptop can connect to the correct SSID but repeatedly fails authentication when joining the WLAN. Which category of issue is most strongly indicated?
Hard298You are connected to SW1 via the console. SW1 is a Layer 2 switch with two VLANs (10 - Sales, 20 - Engineering). Port G0/1 is connected to a PC in VLAN 10, and port G0/2 is connected to a PC in VLAN 20. The switch needs to be configured to allow inter-VLAN communication using an external router connected to port G0/3. Currently, the PCs cannot communicate across VLANs. Configure the switch to support Router-on-a-Stick with VLAN 10 as the native VLAN on the trunk.
Medium299Refer to the exhibit. A network engineer is troubleshooting an EtherChannel on R1 that is not passing traffic. The output of the show etherchannel summary command is displayed. What is the most likely cause?
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the Switching and Network Access domain cover on the 200-301 exam?
- Tests identification, purpose, and configuration of routers, switches, access points, and patch panels.
- How many questions are in this domain?
- This page lists all 299 Switching and Network Access questions in the 200-301 question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
- What is the best way to practise this domain?
- Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
- Can I practise only Switching and Network Access questions?
- Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.