220-1101 Networking Practice Question
A company replaces an unmanaged network switch with a new managed switch in a small office. After reconnecting all devices, some workstations can access the internet, but others cannot. The workstations that cannot access the internet are all connected to ports 1-8 of the new switch, while workstations on ports 9-16 work normally. The router is connected to port 24. The technician checks the switch configuration and finds that all ports are in the default VLAN 1, but ports 1-8 have been accidentally reassigned to VLAN 2. Which of the following is the MOST likely reason the workstations on ports 1-8 cannot access the internet?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often assume all ports on a switch are in the same VLAN by default and overlook that a misconfigured VLAN reassignment can isolate ports from the router, even when the router is connected to the same physical switch.
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 workstations on ports 1-8 are on a different VLAN than the router, preventing them from reaching the default gateway.
The router is connected to port 24, which remains in the default VLAN 1. Workstations on ports 1-8 have been reassigned to VLAN 2. Since VLANs create separate broadcast domains, devices in VLAN 2 cannot communicate with the router's interface in VLAN 1 unless a Layer 3 device (like a router or Layer 3 switch) routes between the VLANs. Without inter-VLAN routing configured, the workstations in VLAN 2 cannot reach their default gateway (the router), and thus cannot access the internet.
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 switch needs to be power cycled to apply the VLAN configuration changes.
Why it's wrong here
Power cycling a switch only reloads the configuration from non-volatile memory (NVRAM); it does not alter the running VLAN database or port assignments. VLAN changes are applied immediately when configured, so a reboot would have no effect on the current connectivity issue. Thus, the problem is not a pending reboot but the actual Layer 2 VLAN membership, which remains unchanged after power cycling.
- ✓
The workstations on ports 1-8 are on a different VLAN than the router, preventing them from reaching the default gateway.
Why this is correct
The router is connected to a port assigned to VLAN 1, while workstations on ports 1-8 belong to VLAN 2. Because switches forward frames only within the same broadcast domain (VLAN), the workstations cannot send an ARP request to the router's default-gateway IP address—the router's interface is not reachable at Layer 2. Without a router interface in VLAN 2 or an inter-VLAN routing configuration, all traffic to the default gateway is dropped, which explains the loss of internet access.
- ✗
The workstations on ports 1-8 have incorrect subnet masks configured.
Why it's wrong here
Even if the subnet mask were incorrect, the workstations would still attempt to send traffic to the default gateway MAC address if they are on the same VLAN. Since they are on a different VLAN, they cannot even reach the gateway at Layer 2.
- ✗
The switch ports are not configured as trunk ports for the router connection.
Why it's wrong here
Trunk ports are not the correct solution here because the router connection is a single endpoint that should be placed in an access port on the relevant VLAN, not configured to carry multiple VLANs simultaneously. Trunking is only needed when carrying multiple VLANs between switches or to a router for router-on-a-stick, but the immediate failure is that the router and workstations are in distinct VLANs with no Layer 3 inter-VLAN routing in place. Even if the router port were made a trunk, without subinterfaces and a VLAN-2 gateway IP, traffic would still not be routed to the default gateway.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1101 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 220-1101 exam.