FC0-U71 Infrastructure Practice Question
A technician is troubleshooting a network connectivity issue on a laptop. The laptop connects to the company's wireless network but cannot access the internet. The technician checks the IP configuration and sees an IP address of 169.254.1.5. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse APIPA (169.254.x.x) with a DNS or routing problem — candidates who don't recognize the link-local range may pick DNS or router answers instead of the DHCP failure the address actually signals.
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 unreachable.
An IP address in the 169.254.0.0/16 range is an APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing) address, which Windows assigns automatically when a DHCP server cannot be reached to obtain a valid lease. Since the laptop has an APIPA address, it can communicate only on the local link and has no default gateway or DNS, so internet access fails. The most likely cause is that the DHCP server is unreachable — either it is down, the DHCP scope is exhausted, or the client cannot reach it due to a network/VLAN issue.
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 DHCP server is unreachable.
Why this is correct
The 169.254.x.x address is an APIPA self-assigned address, generated when the client's DHCP request receives no response. That indicates the DHCP server is unreachable, so the laptop has no valid gateway or DNS and cannot reach the internet.
- ✗
The DNS server is down.
Why it's wrong here
The 169.254.1.5 address is an APIPA self-assignment, indicating the DHCP server was unreachable; DNS resolution failure would still leave a valid DHCP lease in place. DNS troubleshooting is tempting because name resolution problems also block internet access, but they present with a routable address, not a link-local one.
- ✗
The router is misconfigured.
Why it's wrong here
A misconfigured router would typically still issue a DHCP lease or a routable address; the 169.254.1.5 APIPA address specifically indicates the client received no DHCP response. Router misconfiguration is tempting as a general connectivity culprit, but the link-local address isolates the failure to DHCP reachability.
- ✗
The network cable is faulty.
Why it's wrong here
The laptop connects wirelessly, so no network cable is involved in this path; the 169.254.1.5 APIPA address points to DHCP failure, not physical media. Cable faults are tempting because they also produce APIPA on wired clients, but here the wireless association already succeeded.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This FC0-U71 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 FC0-U71 exam.