Question 1hardmultiple choice
Full question →hardmultiple choiceObjective-mapped
Exhibit
ip route 192.0.2.0 255.255.255.0 10.1.1.1 10 ip route 192.0.2.0 255.255.255.0 10.1.1.2 5
Exhibit: A router has routes to the same destination from two static routes. Which next hop is used?
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
Distractor review
10.1.1.1 because it appears first in the configuration
Config order does not determine the best route here.
B
Best answer
10.1.1.2 because it has the lower metric
Among equal-AD statics to the same prefix, the lower metric wins.
C
Distractor review
Both next hops because all static routes always load balance
They load balance only when relevant attributes are equal.
D
Distractor review
Neither next hop because static routes need tracking to be installed
Tracking is optional, not required.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
A frequent exam trap is believing that the first static route configured to a destination is always preferred, which is incorrect because Cisco routers prioritize routes based on administrative distance and metric, not configuration order. Another common mistake is assuming static routes require tracking to be installed; tracking is optional and used only for failover scenarios. Additionally, some candidates incorrectly think all static routes load balance by default, but load balancing only happens when routes have equal AD and equal metrics. Misunderstanding these details can lead to incorrect answers about route selection behavior.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
Static routing is a fundamental routing method where network administrators manually configure routes to specific destinations. Each static route has an administrative distance (AD) value, which Cisco routers use to rank the trustworthiness of routes from different sources. By default, static routes have an AD of 1, making them highly preferred over dynamic routing protocols with higher ADs. However, when multiple static routes to the same destination exist, the router must decide which next hop to use based on additional criteria. When two static routes share the same AD, the router compares their metrics to determine the best path. The metric in static routes is an optional value that can be manually assigned to influence route selection. The route with the lower metric is preferred and installed in the routing table. This behavior allows network engineers to fine-tune path selection for static routes without changing the AD. If the metrics are equal, the router can perform equal-cost load balancing by installing both routes. A common exam trap is assuming that the first configured static route or the presence of tracking determines route preference. In reality, configuration order does not affect route selection, and tracking is optional for static routes to be installed. Additionally, load balancing only occurs when routes have equal AD and metrics. Practically, understanding this behavior helps network engineers design static routing with predictable failover and load balancing, ensuring reliable IP connectivity in Cisco networks.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static routes use administrative distance (AD) to determine route preference when multiple routes to the same destination exist.
- When two static routes share the same AD, the router compares their metrics to select the preferred next hop.
- A static route with a lower metric is preferred over one with a higher metric if both have the same AD.
- The order of static route configuration does not influence route selection in Cisco IOS routing tables.
- Static routes do not require tracking to be installed in the routing table; tracking is optional for failover scenarios.
- Load balancing occurs only when multiple routes have equal AD and equal metrics; otherwise, only the best route is installed.
- Cisco routers use the metric value in static routes to influence path selection when multiple static routes exist to the same prefix.
- Understanding how Cisco IOS prioritizes static routes based on AD and metric is essential for effective IP connectivity troubleshooting.
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?
Static routes use administrative distance (AD) to determine route preference when multiple routes to the same destination exist.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: 10.1.1.2 because it has the lower metric — Both routes have the same prefix length and the same administrative distance. The route with the lower metric is preferred for a static route when the AD is equal only if different metrics are configured, and here the route via 10.1.1.2 has metric 5 versus metric 10.
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.