hardMultiple Choice
350-401 Practice Question: Runs the following command on Router R1: R1# show…
A network engineer runs the following command on Router R1:
R1# show ip eigrp traffic
EIGRP-IPv4 Traffic Statistics for AS(100) Hellos sent/received: 1000/950 Updates sent/received: 45/40 Queries sent/received: 2/3 Replies sent/received: 3/2 Acks sent/received: 50/48 Input queue high water mark: 1 Input queue depth: 0 Total packets sent: 1100 Total packets received: 1043
Based on this output, what can be concluded?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that a high number of Hellos indicates instability or that a small difference between sent and received packets automatically means packet loss, when in fact EIGRP Hellos are sent unreliably (multicast) and may be lost without retransmission, so a small discrepancy is normal.
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 network is stable with few topology changes.
The output shows a very low number of EIGRP Queries (2 sent, 3 received) and Replies (3 sent, 2 received), which indicates that the network has experienced very few topology changes. A stable EIGRP network with minimal route flaps will have a high ratio of Hellos to Updates/Queries, as seen here (1000 Hellos vs. 45 Updates). Therefore, the network is stable with few topology changes, making option B correct.
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 router has experienced many route flaps.
Why it's wrong here
A route flap is a rapid state transition (up/down) of a route, and EIGRP responds to each topology change by sending Update and Query packets. The output would show elevated query and reply counts (as well as retransmissions and SIA events) if flapping were occurring. Here, the counters are minimal and balanced, indicating the network has not experienced the churn associated with repeated route flaps.
- ✓
The network is stable with few topology changes.
Why this is correct
EIGRP sends Queries when a feasible successor is lost and it must ask neighbors for alternate paths; Replies are the responses. Low values for both show that the topology has not changed often. Stable network conditions are also reflected by low update counts and no excessive retransmissions, meaning the EIGRP adjacency has remained healthy with few convergence events.
- ✗
The router is using EIGRP stub to suppress queries.
Why it's wrong here
EIGRP stub routers are configured to not originate queries, and they rely on the hub to answer queries on their behalf for connected and summary routes. If this router were a stub, it would not transmit any Query packets toward its neighbors. The presence of two sent queries in the counters proves that the router is not acting as a stub; a stub would have a query count of zero.
- ✗
There is a high packet loss on the network.
Why it's wrong here
Packet loss on an EIGRP network forces the reliable transport mechanism to retransmit lost packets, which would show up as elevated retransmission counts in the EIGRP peer statistics. In this output, the retransmission and retry counters are very low, and the number of sent and received packets is balanced, indicating the link is delivering EIGRP packets reliably. High packet loss would also cause neighbor adjacencies to become unstable, but the low query/reply counts suggest a clean and healthy converged state.
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 350-401 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 350-401 exam.