A network technician is troubleshooting a newly relocated workstation in a branch office. The user reports that the computer can successfully communicate with local network printers and shared folders on the same subnet (192.168.10.0/24), but cannot access any remote subnets or external websites. The technician runs `ipconfig /all` on the workstation and observes the following output:
IPv4 Address: 192.168.10.45
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway:
DNS Server: 192.168.10.1
Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of this connectivity issue?
- The workstation network adapter is missing a default gateway address.Answer
- BThe local DNS server is failing to assign IP leases for outbound traffic.
- CThe system has automatically assigned itself an APIPA address due to DHCP failure.
- DThe Ethernet cable is unplugged, causing physical link layer failure.
Answer
The workstation network adapter is missing a default gateway address.
The option identifying a missing default gateway address is correct because the default gateway is required for a host to send network traffic to destinations outside its local IP subnet. Since local communication works fine but remote traffic fails, and the diagnostic output shows an empty Default Gateway line, adding the gateway address will resolve the issue.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Default Gateway Configuration in Wired Networks