Question 264 of 1,020

IP Addressing →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

220-1201 IP Addressing Practice Question

This 220-1201 practice question tests your understanding of ip addressing. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

A user reports that they can only access the internet intermittently. The technician runs ipconfig and sees an IPv4 address of 192.168.1.105 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and a default gateway of 192.168.1.1. The technician pings the gateway successfully, but pings to 8.8.8.8 fail. What is the most likely issue?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

A
The user's computer has a duplicate IP address.
Why wrong: A duplicate IP would cause intermittent connectivity, but pinging the gateway would likely fail or be inconsistent.
B
The DNS server is not resolving addresses.
Why wrong: DNS issues would affect name resolution, but pinging 8.8.8.8 uses an IP address, not a domain name, so DNS is not involved.
C
The router's WAN connection is down or misconfigured.
Since the local network works but external IPs are unreachable, the problem is likely with the router's connection to the ISP or its WAN settings.
D
The user's firewall is blocking ICMP traffic.
Why wrong: A local firewall could block ping, but it would not explain why internet access is intermittent for other applications.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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 router's WAN connection is down or misconfigured.

The technician can ping the local gateway (192.168.1.1) successfully, which confirms that Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity within the local subnet is working and that the user's IP configuration is valid. However, pings to the public DNS server 8.8.8.8 fail, indicating that traffic cannot reach the internet. Since the gateway is reachable but external IPs are not, the most likely cause is that the router's WAN connection is down or misconfigured, preventing traffic from being routed beyond the local network.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

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 user's computer has a duplicate IP address.
Why it's wrong here
A duplicate IP would cause intermittent connectivity, but pinging the gateway would likely fail or be inconsistent.
✗
The DNS server is not resolving addresses.
Why it's wrong here
DNS issues would affect name resolution, but pinging 8.8.8.8 uses an IP address, not a domain name, so DNS is not involved.
✓
The router's WAN connection is down or misconfigured.
Why this is correct
Since the local network works but external IPs are unreachable, the problem is likely with the router's connection to the ISP or its WAN settings.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The user's firewall is blocking ICMP traffic.
Why it's wrong here
A local firewall could block ping, but it would not explain why internet access is intermittent for other applications.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Cisco often tests the distinction between local and remote connectivity; the trap here is that candidates assume a successful ping to the gateway implies full internet access, but they overlook that the router's WAN link is a separate point of failure that does not affect LAN-side reachability.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

When a router's WAN interface loses connectivity (e.g., due to an ISP outage, misconfigured VLAN, or DHCP lease failure on the WAN side), the router can still forward traffic within the LAN but will drop packets destined for external networks because it has no valid route to the internet. The default gateway 192.168.1.1 is the router's LAN IP, so pinging it succeeds, but the router cannot forward the ICMP echo request to 8.8.8.8 because its next-hop route is unavailable. This scenario is common in SOHO environments where the router relies on a single WAN link and a failed PPPoE session or cable modem sync loss causes the WAN interface to have no IP or default route.

KKey Concepts to Remember

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A network engineer segments a warehouse floor into three subnets: 20 scanners, 5 printers, and 2 management hosts. Picking the wrong mask wastes addresses or leaves too few usable hosts. Exam questions test whether you can apply CIDR notation, calculate block size, and identify the correct usable-host range for a given prefix.

Visual reference

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this 220-1201 question test?

IP Addressing — This question tests IP Addressing — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: The router's WAN connection is down or misconfigured. — The technician can ping the local gateway (192.168.1.1) successfully, which confirms that Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity within the local subnet is working and that the user's IP configuration is valid. However, pings to the public DNS server 8.8.8.8 fail, indicating that traffic cannot reach the internet. Since the gateway is reachable but external IPs are not, the most likely cause is that the router's WAN connection is down or misconfigured, preventing traffic from being routed beyond the local network.

What should I do if I get this 220-1201 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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