NSE7 Advanced Networking and SD-WAN Practice Question
A FortiGate has two equal-cost paths to a destination network through two different ISPs. The administrator wants to load balance traffic across both links using ECMP, but notices that all traffic uses only one link. What should the administrator check first?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often jump to configuring ECMP hashing modes or interface settings, overlooking the fundamental requirement that routes must be truly equal in administrative distance and priority before ECMP can function.
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
✓
Check that both routes have the same administrative distance and priority
ECMP requires that all candidate routes have identical administrative distance and priority values. If either differs, FortiGate will select only the route with the lower distance/priority, breaking load balancing. The administrator should verify these parameters first because they directly control route selection before ECMP is applied.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Check that both routes have the same administrative distance and priority
Why this is correct
ECMP requires equal cost; if distances differ, the lower distance route is preferred.
- ✗
Configure 'set v4-ecmp-mode' to 'source-ip-based'
Why it's wrong here
Source-IP based may cause one IP to use one link; but the issue is that all traffic uses one link, not per-session distribution.
- ✗
Verify that 'set load-balance-eligible' is enabled on both WAN interfaces
Why it's wrong here
Load-balance-eligible is for SD-WAN, not ECMP.
- ✗
Disable 'anti-replay' on the security policy
Why it's wrong here
Anti-replay affects session tracking but not ECMP path selection.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This NSE7 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Fortinet 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 NSE7 exam.