220-1101 Networking Practice Question
A user reports that their workstation cannot access the internet. The technician runs ipconfig and sees that the workstation has an IP address of 169.254.23.45 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. The technician checks the network cable and link lights; they are normal. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
The 220-1101 exam often tests the distinction between APIPA (169.254.x.x) and a valid DHCP-assigned address, where candidates mistakenly attribute the issue to DNS or gateway problems instead of recognizing the DHCP failure indicated by the APIPA address.
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 DHCP server is not responding
The IP address 169.254.23.45 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 is an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, which Windows assigns when a DHCP server cannot be reached. Since the link lights are normal and the cable is not faulty, the most likely cause is that the DHCP server is not responding, preventing the workstation from obtaining a valid IP address.
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 Ethernet cable is faulty
Why it's wrong here
A faulty Ethernet cable typically causes the link LED to be off or to blink irregularly because the interface cannot establish a solid link at the physical layer. Here, the link lights are normal and the workstation obtained a link-local (169.254.x.x) address, which requires successful layer 2 communication—the NIC transmitted and received frames for Duplicate Address Detection. Since the physical connection is demonstrably active, a defective cable cannot explain the failure to receive an IP lease from DHCP.
- ✓
The DHCP server is not responding
Why this is correct
The APIPA address indicates the workstation tried to get an IP via DHCP but failed. This is most commonly due to a DHCP server issue (e.g., the server is down, out of addresses, or network connectivity to it is broken).
- ✗
The DNS server is misconfigured
Why it's wrong here
DNS misconfiguration affects only hostname resolution, not the assignment of an IP address itself. The workstation has an APIPA address (169.254.x.x), meaning it never received a DHCP lease—so it has no valid IPv4 settings to use for DNS queries or any other network traffic. Blaming DNS would be premature because the machine cannot reach the DNS server in the first place; the root issue is at the DHCP/IP assignment layer, not name resolution.
- ✗
The default gateway is incorrect
Why it's wrong here
An incorrect default gateway would only be a problem after the workstation has obtained a proper IP address. With an APIPA address, the default gateway is not relevant as the workstation cannot reach the network.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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