easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
220-1201 Practice Question: A small office has a single router with four LAN…
A small office has a single router with four LAN ports. The network uses the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet, and the router's LAN IP is 192.168.1.1. A technician needs to add a new printer that must have a static IP address outside the DHCP range (192.168.1.100-192.168.1.200) but still be reachable by all devices. Which IP address should the technician assign to the printer?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mistake is to think any IP in the same subnet works, ignoring the DHCP exclusion range, leading candidates to pick an address like 192.168.1.150 that is inside the pool.
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
✓
192.168.1.50
(192.168.1.50) is correct because it falls within the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet, is outside the DHCP range of 192.168.1.100–200, and is on the same broadcast domain as all devices, ensuring reachability without an IP conflict.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
192.168.1.150
Why it's wrong here
Assigning 192.168.1.150 statically is problematic because this address falls within the typical DHCP scope (100-200) often configured on SOHO routers. If the router's DHCP server assigns this same address to another device, an IP address conflict will occur, disrupting network connectivity for both devices. Best practice dictates reserving addresses outside the dynamic DHCP pool for static assignments to prevent such conflicts.
- ✓
192.168.1.50
Why this is correct
The address 192.168.1.50 is an ideal choice for a static IP assignment as it resides within the same 192.168.1.0/24 subnet as the existing network. Crucially, it falls outside the common DHCP range (100-200), ensuring it will not be dynamically assigned to another device by the router. This prevents potential IP address conflicts, guaranteeing reliable and consistent network access for the statically configured device.
- ✗
10.0.0.50
Why it's wrong here
Assigning 10.0.0.50 would place the device on a completely different private IP network, specifically the 10.0.0.0/8 subnet, which is distinct from the 192.168.1.0/24 network. Without specific routing configurations on the router to bridge these disparate subnets, the device would be unable to communicate with other devices on the 192.168.1.x network. This would effectively isolate the device from the local network resources.
- ✗
192.168.2.50
Why it's wrong here
While 192.168.2.50 uses the same private IP address class, the change in the third octet places it on a different subnet (192.168.2.0/24) compared to the existing 192.168.1.x network. Devices on the 192.168.1.x subnet would perceive 192.168.2.50 as an external address, attempting to reach it via their default gateway. Without explicit routing rules configured on the router to facilitate communication between 192.168.1.x and 192.168.2.x, direct communication between these subnets would fail.
Visual reference
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
TCP/IP and Common Ports for A+
Key term
IP address
An IP address is a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.
Key term
Subnet
A subnet is a logical subdivision of an IP network, created by partitioning a larger network address space using subnet masks.
About these practice questions
This 220-1201 question is part of Courseiva's 972-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 220-1201 exam.