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300-410 Practice Question: Which statement about administrative distance is…
Which statement about administrative distance is true regarding the selection of routes in a routing table?
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 route with the lowest administrative distance is installed in the routing table.
When a router receives multiple routes to the same destination from different routing protocols, the route with the lowest administrative distance is installed in the routing table, regardless of metric.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Routes with higher administrative distance are always preferred.
Why it's wrong here
Lower AD values indicate higher preference.
- ✗
Administrative distance is only considered when metrics are equal.
Why it's wrong here
AD is considered first; only if AD is equal are metrics compared.
- ✓
The route with the lowest administrative distance is installed in the routing table.
Why this is correct
AD is the first tiebreaker when routes from different protocols exist; lower AD wins.
- ✗
Administrative distance is used to select the best path within the same routing protocol.
Why it's wrong here
Within the same protocol, metric is used; AD is used between different protocols.
Quick reference
Routing Protocol Comparison
| Protocol | Metric | Max Hops | Algorithm | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RIP v2 | Hop count | 15 | Bellman-Ford | Distance vector |
| OSPF | Cost (bandwidth) | Unlimited | Dijkstra (SPF) | Link state |
| EIGRP | Composite metric | Unlimited | DUAL | Hybrid |
| IS-IS | Cost | Unlimited | Dijkstra | Link state |
| BGP | Policy / attributes | Unlimited | Path vector | Path vector |
RIP's 15-hop limit makes it unsuitable for large networks. OSPF and EIGRP dominate modern enterprise deployments.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 300-410 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 300-410 exam.