Chapter 5:
LANs &
Switching (50
MCQs)
Topics: Switches, MAC addresses, RSTP, 802.1D, star-wired bus, contention-
based protocols, etc.
1. The primary function of a network switch is to:
a) Route packets between networks
b) Forward frames based on MAC addresses
c) Convert analog signals to digital
d) Block unauthorized traffic
2. A MAC address is a _____-bit identifier.
a) 16
b) 32
c) 48
d) 64
3. Early Ethernet LANs (e.g., 10Base5) transmitted data at:
a) 1 Mbps
b) 10 Mbps
c) 100 Mbps
d) 1 Gbps
4. In a dedicated segment network, each device has:
a) Shared bandwidth
b) Full bandwidth to the switch
c) No MAC address
d) Wireless connectivity
5. RSTP (Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol) improves upon STP by:
a) Reducing convergence time
b) Increasing broadcast domains
c) Using IP addresses instead of MAC
d) Eliminating VLANs
6. A star-wired bus topology combines:
a) Physical ring and logical star
b) Physical star and logical bus
c) Mesh and hybrid topologies
d) Bus and ring topologies
7. The 802.1D standard defines:
a) Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
b) Ethernet frame formats
c) Wi-Fi security
d) IP routing
8. The MAC sublayer is part of the OSI _____ layer.
a) Network
b) Data Link
c) Transport
d) Physical
9. The logical topology of Ethernet is a:
a) Star
b) Bus
c) Ring
d) Mesh
10. The most popular contention-based protocol for wired
LANs is:
a) Token Ring
b) CSMA/CD
c) CSMA/CA
d) FDDI
11. 100Base-FX uses _____ as its transmission medium.
a) UTP
b) Fiber-optic cable
c) Coaxial cable
d) Wireless
12. A switch’s switching table maps _____ to ports.
a) IP addresses
b) MAC addresses
c) DNS names
d) VLAN IDs
13. Which device operates at Layer 2 of the OSI model?
a) Router
b) Switch
c) Hub
d) Repeater
14. The 802.1Q standard is associated with:
a) VLAN tagging
b) Wi-Fi encryption
c) IP routing
d) Fiber-optic cabling
15. Which protocol replaces the 802.1D STP with faster
convergence?
a) RSTP (802.1w)
b) OSPF
c) BGP
d) VTP
16. A collision domain is split by a:
a) Hub
b) Switch
c) Repeater
d) Router
17. The term “cut-through switching” refers to:
a) Forwarding frames immediately after reading the
destination MAC
b) Storing the entire frame before forwarding
c) Blocking broadcast traffic
d) Encrypting data
18. In a star-wired bus topology, the central device is
typically a:
a) Hub or switch
b) Router
c) Firewall
d) Modem
19. The maximum number of MAC addresses a switch can
store is determined by its:
a) CAM table size
b) CPU speed
c) Port density
d) VLAN capacity
20. Which switching method has the lowest latency?
a) Store-and-forward
b) Cut-through
c) Fragment-free
d) Adaptive switching
21. A switch’s primary advantage over a hub is:
a) Reduced collisions via dedicated bandwidth
b) Higher transmission speed
c) Support for wireless devices
d) Built-in firewall
22. The MAC address table is also called the _____ table.
a) Forwarding
b) Routing
c) ARP
d) NAT
23. A switch floods a frame out all ports when:
a) The destination MAC is unknown
b) The source MAC is invalid
c) The frame is a broadcast
d) The VLAN ID is missing
24. The 802.1D STP uses _____ to elect a root bridge.
a) Bridge ID (Priority + MAC)
b) IP address
c) Port speed
d) VLAN ID
25. Which topology is fault-tolerant but expensive to
implement?
a) Star
b) Bus
c) Mesh
d) Ring
26. In STP, a blocked port still:
a) Listens for BPDUs
b) Forwards data frames
c) Discards all traffic
d) Acts as a root port
27. Which is a disadvantage of store-and-forward switching?
a) Higher latency
b) Increased collisions
c) No error checking
d) Limited MAC table size
28. The default priority value for a switch in STP is:
a) 0
b) 32768
c) 65535
d) 1024
29. Which is NOT a port state in STP?
a) Blocking
b) Listening
c) Forwarding
d) Routing
30. The “learning” state in STP allows a switch to:
a) Populate its MAC address table
b) Forward frames immediately
c) Block BPDUs
d) Elect a root bridge
31. Which standard defines Ethernet over twisted pair?
a) 802.3
b) 802.11
c) 802.1Q
d) 802.5
32. A switch’s backplane bandwidth determines its:
a) Total data-carrying capacity
b) Number of VLANs
c) MAC address size
d) Power consumption
33. In RSTP, a port in the _____ state can forward frames
immediately.
a) Forwarding
b) Blocking
c) Listening
d) Learning
34. Which protocol is used to prevent switching loops?
a) STP
b) ARP
c) DNS
d) DHCP
35. A switch port operating in full-duplex mode:
a) Can send and receive data simultaneously
b) Shares bandwidth with other devices
c) Uses CSMA/CD
d) Is half the speed of half-duplex
36. The logical topology of a VLAN is a:
a) Broadcast domain
b) Collision domain
c) Physical segment
d) Wireless network
37. Which device extends LAN segments but does not isolate
traffic?
a) Hub
b) Switch
c) Router
d) Firewall
38. The primary purpose of VLANs is to:
a) Segment broadcast domains
b) Increase cable length
c) Encrypt data
d) Block MAC addresses
39. In a switched network, broadcasts are forwarded to:
a) All devices in the same VLAN
b) Only the destination device
c) The root bridge
d) The default gateway
40. Which switching method checks the first 64 bytes of a
frame?
a) Fragment-free
b) Cut-through
c) Store-and-forward
d) Adaptive
41. The term “port security” refers to:
a) Restricting MAC addresses on a switch port
b) Encrypting data on a port
c) Blocking IP addresses
d) Disabling unused ports
42. A root port in STP is the:
a) Best path to the root bridge
b) Port with the lowest MAC address
c) Port connected to a hub
d) Port with the fastest speed
43. Which is a Layer 2 broadcast address?
a) FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF
b) 255.255.255.255
c) 0.0.0.0
d) 192.168.1.255
44. A switch’s address aging time determines:
a) How long MAC entries remain in the table
b) Port activation delay
c) STP convergence time
d) VLAN tagging duration
45. Which is true about a managed switch?
a) Supports VLANs and STP
b) Has no MAC address table
c) Operates only at Layer 1
d) Cannot forward broadcasts
46. The “designated port” in STP is the:
a) Best port on a segment to forward traffic
b) Port connected to the root bridge
c) Disabled port
d) Port with the highest cost
47. Which is a disadvantage of cut-through switching?
a) Forwarding corrupted frames
b) High latency
c) Limited MAC table size
d) Incompatibility with VLANs
48. The default STP cost for a 100 Mbps link is:
a) 10
b) 19
c) 100
d) 200
49. A switch using store-and-forward will:
a) Check the entire frame for errors
b) Forward frames after reading the destination MAC
c) Prioritize VoIP traffic
d) Block ARP requests
50. Which term describes a switch’s ability to handle multiple
VLANs?
a) Trunking
b) Bridging
c) Routing
d) Aggregation
Answer Key:
1. b | 2. c | 3. b | 4. b | 5. a | 6. b | 7. a | 8. b | 9. b | 10. b | 11. b | 12. b |
13. b | 14. a | 15. a | 16. b | 17. a | 18. a | 19. a | 20. b | 21. a | 22. a |
23. a | 24. a | 25. c | 26. a | 27. a | 28. b | 29. d | 30. a | 31. a | 32. a |
33. a | 34. a | 35. a | 36. a | 37. a | 38. a | 39. a | 40. a | 41. a | 42. a |
43. a | 44. a | 45. a | 46. a | 47. a | 48. b | 49. a | 50. a
