Cisco CCNA (200-301)Network FundamentalsMedium
A network engineer is configuring a router to connect to two different subnets: 192.168.1.0/24 and 192.168.2.0/24. Each subnet will be connected to a separate physical interface on the router. What is the minimum number of IP addresses that must be configured on this router to enable basic connectivity between these two subnets?
- A4
- B1
- C3
- D2
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. 2
A router acts as a gateway between different IP subnets. For a router to connect two distinct subnets, it must have at least one IP address configured on an interface for each subnet. Therefore, to connect to two subnets, it needs two IP addresses, one for each interface connected to a subnet.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Four IP addresses are more than what's needed for basic connectivity between two subnets.
- B. One IP address would only allow connectivity to a single subnet, not two distinct ones.
- C. Three IP addresses are not strictly necessary for basic connectivity between two subnets; two are sufficient.
Router Interfaces and IP Addresses
Each active interface on a router that connects to a unique IP subnet must be configured with an IP address from that subnet to enable routing between networks.
- A router connects different IP broadcast domains/subnets.
- Each interface acts as the default gateway for its connected subnet.
- Each interface needs a unique IP address from its respective subnet.
Memory trick: One subnet, one address; two subnets, two addresses, to connect them through!