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Network Engineer practice questions with answers

Updated 15 September 2026 · 2 min read

These questions lean toward what an engineer is expected to master: routing and switching, network design, and the security built into both. Treat each one as a small design review. Before you open the answer, say which fact in the question rules out each wrong option, not only which option you think is right.

How this guide was made

Written for this site with AI assistance, then checked automatically before publishing. The topic table, sample questions, worked examples and study plan are generated from this site’s question bank: each worked example is recalculated by separate code, and each sample answer says where it came from.

The guide deliberately states no salaries, grades, pass marks or exam dates. Those change, and they could not be checked here, so take them from the advert itself.

This site is independent and is not affiliated with MIFOTRA or any employer.

Practice questions

  1. An engineer analyzes a packet capture and observes ARP replies arriving without corresponding ARP requests. This behavior is indicative of what process or attack?

    1. DHCP discover
    2. ICMP redirect
    3. DNS recursion
    4. Gratuitous ARP or ARP spoofing
    Show the answer

    D. Gratuitous ARP or ARP spoofing

    Gratuitous ARPs are sent without requests to update neighbor caches (e.g., for HA failover), but they can also be used maliciously for ARP spoofing (poisoning).

    Original practice question, written against published exam objectives. Open this question

  2. A router has three routes to 10.1.1.0/24: an OSPF route, an EIGRP route, and a Static route. Which route will be installed in the routing table?

    1. The EIGRP route
    2. All of them
    3. The Static route
    4. The OSPF route
    Show the answer

    C. The Static route

    Administrative Distance determines route preference. Static=1, EIGRP=90, OSPF=110. The static route has the lowest AD and is preferred.

    Original practice question, written against published exam objectives. Open this question

  3. A junior technician notices collisions on an interface connected to a legacy hub. Which duplex setting is most likely causing this issue?

    1. Half-duplex
    2. Full-duplex
    3. Auto-negotiation
    4. Simplex
    Show the answer

    A. Half-duplex

    Hubs operate in half-duplex, which is a shared collision domain. Full-duplex allows simultaneous transmission and reception without collisions.

    Original practice question, written against published exam objectives. Open this question

  4. You need to route traffic to the internet but do not have a specific route in the routing table. What kind of route should be configured?

    1. A loopback route
    2. A host route (/32)
    3. A dynamic routing protocol
    4. A default static route (0.0.0.0/0)
    Show the answer

    D. A default static route (0.0.0.0/0)

    A default route (0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0) acts as the gateway of last resort when no specific route matches the destination.

    Original practice question, written against published exam objectives. Open this question

  5. An enterprise connects its 5 branch offices directly to every other branch office using point-to-point links for maximum redundancy. What topology does this represent?

    1. Ring
    2. Partial Mesh
    3. Full Mesh
    4. Star
    Show the answer

    C. Full Mesh

    Objective 1.2: A full mesh topology connects every node to every other node. Partial mesh only connects some, Star uses a central hub.

    Original practice question, written against published exam objectives. Open this question

  6. Which of the following tools is used to diagnose network connectivity issues?

    1. Disk Cleanup
    2. Ping
    3. System Restore
    4. Device Manager
    Show the answer

    B. Ping

    ping sends ICMP echo requests to test reachability and latency. The other three are local maintenance tools with no network diagnostic role.

    Real past-paper question; answer cross-checked against the original session. Open this question

  7. A campus network consists of several star-topology building networks connected together via a high-speed fiber backbone ring. Which term best describes this overall design?

    1. Hybrid
    2. Star
    3. Mesh
    4. Bus
    Show the answer

    A. Hybrid

    Objective 1.2: A hybrid topology combines two or more different topologies, such as star networks linked via a ring.

    Original practice question, written against published exam objectives. Open this question

  8. To save costs, a regional ISP connects its routers in a circle, where each router only links to its two nearest neighbors. What topology is deployed?

    1. Ring
    2. Star
    3. Bus
    4. Mesh
    Show the answer

    A. Ring

    Objective 1.2: Connecting nodes in a closed loop where each connects to exactly two neighbors is a ring topology.

    Original practice question, written against published exam objectives. Open this question

Using practice to find weak rules

Engineering mistakes often come from a rule you almost know. You may remember that administrative distance matters but forget that prefix length is checked first, or know that spanning tree elects a root without being sure how. When an answer surprises you, write down the rule you applied, then the correct rule beside it. Over a few weeks that list becomes the most valuable revision sheet you own.

Mixing in the lab

For any routing or redundancy question you get wrong, rebuild the scenario in a lab if you can. Watching a standby router take over, or a more specific route win, fixes the rule in memory in a way that rereading an explanation rarely does.

Beyond this page

The worked examples below cover the addressing arithmetic engineers use in design work, generated fresh for this page. The questions from the full bank are real practice items on routing, switching and security; you can read them all, and an access code opens their answers.

Two calculations to try

Try each one on paper first. Every figure is generated and then recalculated by separate code before it is published.

  1. Subnet details for a /29 address

    A host is configured as 10.196.229.47/29. Find the subnet mask, network address, broadcast address, usable host range and number of usable hosts.

    Show the working
    1. /29 means 29 network bits, so the mask is 255.255.255.248.
    2. The interesting octet is the fourth, where the mask is 248. Block size = 256 − 248 = 8.
    3. The network address is the multiple of 8 at or below the address in that octet: 10.196.229.40.
    4. The broadcast is one below the next network: 10.196.229.47.
    5. Usable hosts run from 10.196.229.41 to 10.196.229.46: 2^3 − 2 = 6 addresses.

    Answer: Mask 255.255.255.248, network 10.196.229.40, broadcast 10.196.229.47, hosts 10.196.229.41–10.196.229.46 (6 usable)

  2. Choosing the smallest subnet that fits

    A department needs 120 usable IPv4 host addresses on one subnet. What is the longest prefix (smallest subnet) that fits, and how many usable addresses does it give?

    Show the working
    1. Usable hosts = 2^(host bits) − 2, because the network and broadcast addresses cannot be assigned.
    2. Find the fewest host bits h where 2^h − 2 ≥ 120: h = 7 gives 126, while h = 6 gives only 62.
    3. Prefix = 32 − 7 = /25.

    Answer: /25, giving 126 usable addresses

More from the full bank

Anyone can read these questions. Their answers and explanations open with an access code.

Common questions

How are these questions chosen for a network engineer?

They come mostly from routing and switching and networking fundamentals, with ports and security alongside, in proportion to the emphasis shown for this position.

What should I do when two answers both seem correct?

Go back to the stem and find the requirement that separates them, such as cost, redundancy or the word "first". If you still cannot separate them, mark the question and look up the rule afterwards.

More Network Engineer guides

The same guide for related positions