CCNA Switching and Network Access Practice Question
Which three of the following are correct statements about VLAN configuration and verification on a Cisco switch? (Choose three.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse the native VLAN as carrying tagged frames, and mistakenly believe VLANs 1002–1005 are user-configurable, when in fact they are reserved for legacy technologies.
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
✓
The 'switchport mode access' command places the interface into a non-trunking mode.
The correct statements are: (1) The 'switchport mode access' command places the interface into a non-trunking mode; (2) By default, all ports on a Cisco switch are in VLAN 1; (3) The 'show vlan brief' command displays VLANs that are active on the switch. The remaining statements are false because: VLANs 1002–1005 are reserved for legacy FDDI/Token Ring VLANs, not for user-created VLANs; a VLAN does not need to be manually created before its name can be assigned (assigning a port to a new VLAN can automatically create it, after which you can set its name); and the 'switchport trunk native vlan' command does not restrict the native VLAN to only tagged frames—native VLAN traffic is sent untagged.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The 'switchport mode access' command places the interface into a non-trunking mode.
Why this is correct
The 'switchport mode access' command configures the interface as a static-access port, which means it carries traffic for only one VLAN and does not negotiate trunking. Unlike trunk ports, access ports do not use IEEE 802.1Q tagging on their frames, and they also disable Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP), so the link can never become a trunk unless the mode is changed.
- ✓
By default, all ports on a Cisco switch are in VLAN 1.
Why this is correct
On a freshly booted Cisco switch, every Ethernet port is automatically assigned to VLAN 1, which is the default VLAN. VLAN 1 also carries crucial control-plane traffic such as CDP, STP BPDUs, VTP advertisements, and DTP frames, and it cannot be renamed or deleted. This default assignment can be changed per interface using the 'switchport access vlan' command.
- ✓
The 'show vlan brief' command displays VLANs that are active on the switch.
Why this is correct
The 'show vlan brief' command lists all VLANs that exist in the VLAN database and are currently active, showing their VLAN ID, name, status, and access ports. It does not show trunk ports' allowed VLAN lists or per-VLAN trunking information, and it only includes VLANs that are not suspended or deleted. For trunk-related details, a separate command such as 'show interfaces trunk' is required.
- ✗
VLANs 1002–1005 are reserved for user-created VLANs.
Why it's wrong here
VLANs 1002 through 1005 are not available for user-created VLANs; they are reserved by Cisco for legacy Token Ring and FDDI networking. These reserved VLANs exist in the default VLAN database, cannot be deleted, and should never be used for Ethernet user traffic. The statement is false because it claims they are reserved for user-created VLANs, whereas the opposite is true.
- ✗
A VLAN must be manually created before its name can be assigned.
Why it's wrong here
It is not necessary to manually create a VLAN in one step and then assign a name in a separate step; the 'name' command is simply an option within the VLAN configuration mode. When you enter 'vlan 10' and then 'name Marketing,' you are creating and naming the VLAN as one configuration sequence. Additionally, VLAN 1 already has a name by default, so it can be renamed without being 'manually created' first.
- ✗
The 'switchport trunk native vlan' command restricts the native VLAN to only tagged frames.
Why it's wrong here
The 'switchport trunk native vlan' command is used to set the VLAN that carries untagged frames on an 802.1Q trunk, not the one restricted to tagged frames. On a standard Cisco trunk, the native VLAN is precisely the opposite: it is transmitted without a dot1Q tag, unless the 'vlan dot1q tag native' command is enabled. Thus the statement incorrectly reverses the meaning of the native VLAN.
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Configuring Switch Ports for Desktops, VoIP Phones, APs, IoT, and Virtualized Hosts
Key term
VLAN
A VLAN logically segments a physical network into isolated broadcast domains without requiring separate physical switches.
Key term
VLAN
A VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) is a logical grouping of network devices that behave as if they are on the same physical network segment, regardless of their actual physical location.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.