CompTIA Network+ (N10-007) — Question 200

A network engineer is working on a network connectivity problem between a site in California and a site in New York. The connection went down overnight, and the engineer is unsure where the connection failed. The technician is logged into the primary switch in the customer's network, which is also the company's connection to the WAN.
Which of the following tools should the technician use to determine the last available network hop?

Answer options

• A. netstat
• B. Nmap
• C. traceroute
• D. pathping

Correct answer: C

Explanation

The correct answer is C (traceroute), as it specifically traces the route taken by packets across the network, helping to identify the last reachable hop before a failure. Options A (netstat) provides information about network connections and statistics but does not trace routes, B (Nmap) is primarily used for network discovery and security auditing, and D (pathping) combines features of ping and traceroute but is not as straightforward for simply finding the last hop.