Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) NetworkingIP ConnectivityEasy
A network technician is configuring a router to forward traffic for all unknown destinations to a specific next-hop IP address. Which type of route is being configured?
- AHost route
- BDefault route
- CNetwork route
- DFloating static route
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Default route
A default route (0.0.0.0/0 in IPv4) is used to forward traffic when a router does not have a more specific route in its routing table for the destination IP address. It acts as a 'gateway of last resort'.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. A host route specifies a path to a single host (e.g., /32 in IPv4), not all unknown destinations.
- C. A network route specifies a path to a specific network (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24), not all unknown destinations.
- D. A floating static route is a backup static route with a higher administrative distance, not the primary route for all unknown destinations.
Default Route
A default route is a special type of route (0.0.0.0/0 in IPv4, ::/0 in IPv6) that specifies the path for all traffic for which a more specific route is not found in the routing table.
- Acts as the 'gateway of last resort'.
- Essential for connecting to external networks like the Internet.
- Can be static or learned dynamically.
Memory trick: Default Routes Deal with Destinations Unknown.