network+ practice test Intermediate Practice Exam: Medium Difficulty 2025

A network administrator adds a new VLAN for the Accounting department on a managed switch. Users connected to access ports in the new VLAN cannot reach the default gateway on the router-on-a-stick, but users in existing VLANs work normally. The switch uplink to the router is configured as a trunk. Which misconfiguration is the MOST likely cause?

A small branch office reports intermittent connectivity during business hours. The WAN link is stable, but users complain that "some websites load slowly" and VoIP calls occasionally break up. A technician captures traffic and sees frequent retransmissions and many frames close to the Ethernet MTU size on the LAN. Which change is MOST likely to improve the situation?

An organization is expanding and wants to provide IPv6 connectivity while keeping existing IPv4 services. The network team wants endpoints to automatically configure IPv6 addresses, but they also want to centrally provide DNS server information and a consistent prefix. Which approach BEST meets these requirements?

A company is deploying a new wireless network. They want staff devices to authenticate using individual user accounts integrated with the directory service, and they want to avoid a shared Wi-Fi password. Which wireless security configuration BEST meets these requirements?

A data center uses a pair of distribution switches and wants default gateway redundancy for VLAN 20. Hosts should continue forwarding with minimal disruption if one distribution switch fails. Which solution BEST provides this capability?

A network engineer is asked to reduce the broadcast domain size in a flat Layer 2 network that has grown significantly. The organization also wants to restrict lateral movement between departments while still allowing inter-department access to a shared application server. Which design change BEST meets these goals?

A network operations team wants to detect failing switch ports before users open tickets. They need a solution that provides centralized visibility into interface errors, link flaps, and device health across multiple vendors. Which approach is MOST appropriate?

A security analyst notices repeated outbound connections from an internal host to a known malicious domain over TCP port 443. The traffic volume is low, but the pattern suggests command-and-control (C2). The organization wants to prevent future connections to known-bad domains while maintaining user access to the Internet. Which control would be the MOST effective?

A company needs to allow remote employees to securely access internal resources. The security team requires that endpoints be validated for posture (e.g., up-to-date OS patches and antivirus) before being granted access to the production network. Which solution BEST meets these requirements?

Users report that they can access internal resources by IP address but not by hostname. The issue affects multiple subnets. A technician confirms that DHCP is assigning valid IP settings, including default gateway and DNS server addresses. Which step should the technician perform NEXT to isolate the problem?