easymultiple choiceObjective-mapped

A user moves their laptop from a conference room to their office and connects the Ethernet cable. The laptop shows a network connection with an IP address of 169.254.22.115 and a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. The user cannot access the internet or any network resources. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Question 1easymultiple choice
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A user moves their laptop from a conference room to their office and connects the Ethernet cable. The laptop shows a network connection with an IP address of 169.254.22.115 and a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. The user cannot access the internet or any network resources. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.

A

Best answer

The DHCP server is unreachable or failed to assign an IP address

A 169.254.x.x address is assigned automatically when the DHCP server cannot be contacted, so the laptop cannot obtain a valid IP.

B

Distractor review

The subnet mask is incorrect

An incorrect subnet mask would result in network connectivity issues, but it would not cause the device to use a 169.254 address; it would still retain the DHCP-assigned IP.

C

Distractor review

The network interface card is faulty

A faulty NIC typically causes no link light or complete lack of connectivity, not assignment of an APIPA address while still showing a connection.

D

Distractor review

The DNS server address is misconfigured

A DNS misconfiguration would prevent name resolution but would not affect the IP address assignment; the laptop would still have a valid IP from DHCP.

Common exam trap

Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses

Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.

Technical deep dive

How to think about this question

Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.

KKey Concepts to Remember

  • CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
  • Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
  • Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
  • The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.

TExam Day Tips

  • Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
  • Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
  • Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.

Related practice questions

Related 220-1101 practice-question pages

Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.

More questions from this exam

Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.

Question 1

A user reports intermittent network connectivity on a desktop computer. The technician observes that the Ethernet link light on the NIC turns off for a few seconds and then turns back on. The cable passes a wiremap test, the switch port is verified good with another device, and the NIC driver is updated. The issue occurs more frequently when the computer's case fan runs at high speed. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Question 2

A workstation is unable to connect to the internet. The technician runs the 'ipconfig' command and sees the IPv4 address is 169.254.15.200 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. The workstation can ping other devices on the local subnet but cannot ping the default gateway or any external addresses. Which TWO actions should the technician take to resolve this issue? (Select two.)

Question 3

A workstation is connected to a managed switch. It obtains a valid IP address (192.168.10.50) from the DHCP server, but it cannot ping the default gateway (192.168.10.1). The link light on both the workstation NIC and the switch port are solid green. Other workstations on the same switch CAN ping the default gateway successfully. The technician accesses the switch management interface and finds that the workstation's port is configured as an access port on VLAN 10. The default gateway is located on VLAN 20. An inter-VLAN router is configured but not explicitly allowing VLAN 10 access to VLAN 20. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the problem?

Question 4

A company develops a web application that relies on a custom library available only for a specific Linux distribution. They want to deploy the application in the cloud with minimal administrative overhead, but they need full control over the software stack, including the ability to install the custom library and configure the web server. Which cloud service model BEST meets these requirements?

Question 5

A company has a legacy virtual machine running on a deprecated hypervisor (Hyper-V). They want to migrate this VM to a new hypervisor (VMware vSphere) hosted in a private cloud while preserving the VM's configuration, installed applications, and data. The migration must be performed with minimal downtime. Which of the following methods is MOST appropriate?

Question 6

A company hosts a critical database on a virtual machine in a public cloud. The database requires persistent storage that must be retained even if the VM is terminated. The storage must also be accessible from multiple VMs simultaneously for a future high-availability configuration. Which type of cloud storage BEST meets these requirements?

FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this 220-1101 question test?

CIDR notation defines the prefix length.

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: The DHCP server is unreachable or failed to assign an IP address — An IP address starting with 169.254 indicates Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA), which Windows assigns when a DHCP server is not reachable. The most likely cause is that the DHCP server failed to assign a valid IP address, or the laptop could not contact the DHCP server. Incorrect subnet mask (A) would typically result in a different issue; a faulty NIC (B) would likely show no connectivity; a DNS resolution issue (D) does not cause a 169.254 address.

What should I do if I get this 220-1101 question wrong?

Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.

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