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 bgp summary
BGP router identifier 10.0.0.1, local AS number 65001 BGP table version is 10, main routing table version 10
Neighbor V AS MsgRcvd MsgSent TblVer InQ OutQ Up/Down State/PfxRcd 192.168.1.2 4 65002 1024 1020 10 0 0 02:30:15 5 192.168.1.3 4 65003 500 498 10 0 0 00:15:20 3 10.0.0.2 4 65004 0 0 0 0 0 never Active
Based on this output, what can be concluded?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between 'Active' and 'Idle' states—candidates may confuse 'Active' as meaning the session is up or partially up, but 'Active' specifically indicates a TCP connection failure, not a BGP configuration error like wrong AS number (which would cause 'Idle').
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 BGP session to 10.0.0.2 is down due to a TCP connection issue.
The BGP session to neighbor 10.0.0.2 is in the 'Active' state with 'never' uptime and zero messages sent/received. This indicates that the router is actively trying to establish a TCP connection (port 179) but has not yet succeeded, typically due to a connectivity issue such as an unreachable IP, ACL blocking, or incorrect neighbor configuration. The 'Active' state specifically means the BGP process is waiting for the TCP connection to complete, confirming a TCP-level problem.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
All BGP neighbors are fully established.
Why it's wrong here
Not all BGP neighbors are fully established. The output lists three neighbors, but the third one (10.0.0.2) is in the Active state, not Established. In Active state, the router is actively retrying to open a TCP connection to the peer but has not succeeded, so the BGP session is not operational. Only the first two neighbors are in Established state, so stating all are fully established is incorrect.
- ✓
The BGP session to 10.0.0.2 is down due to a TCP connection issue.
Why this is correct
The BGP session to 10.0.0.2 is down due to a TCP connection issue. The Active state indicates that the local router is attempting to initiate a TCP connection to 10.0.0.2 but has not received a successful three-way handshake—either the remote peer is unreachable, a firewall is blocking TCP port 179, or the remote BGP process is not responding. Until the TCP session is established, BGP cannot exchange routes, which is why 0 prefixes are received and the session remains down.
- ✗
The BGP session to 192.168.1.3 has been up for 2 hours 30 minutes.
Why it's wrong here
The uptime for the BGP session to 192.168.1.3 is not 2 hours 30 minutes. The output shows 00:15:20 for that neighbor, indicating the session has been Established for 15 minutes and 20 seconds. 2 hours 30 minutes would be written as 02:30:00 or similar, but the displayed uptime is much shorter, so the statement is factually incorrect based on the provided BGP summary.
- ✗
The router is receiving prefixes from all neighbors.
Why it's wrong here
The claim that the router is receiving prefixes from all neighbors is disproven by the BGP table output: the third neighbor (10.0.0.2) shows 0 prefixes received. A state of Active means the TCP session has not been established, so no UPDATE messages—and therefore no prefixes—can be accepted from that peer. Prefix counts are only populated after the session reaches Established state.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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