CompTIA Network+ (N10-009) — Question 514

A network technician is working on a PC with a faulty NIC. The host is connected to a switch with secured ports. After testing the connection cables and using a known good NIC. the host is still unable to connect to the network. Which of the following is causing the connection issue?

Answer options

• A. MAC address of the new card
• B. BPDU guard settings
• C. Link aggregation settings
• D. PoE over power budget

Correct answer: A

Explanation

The issue is likely caused by the MAC address of the new NIC not being recognized by the switch due to security settings. The switch may be configured to only allow specific MAC addresses, and since the new card has a different MAC address, it is being blocked. The other options, such as BPDU guard, link aggregation, and PoE budget, are less relevant to a basic connectivity issue caused by a MAC address mismatch.