Switching Logic, MAC Tables, and ARP

25–30 min15 Questions

Skills Tested

Understand MAC address learning and CAM tables
Analyze switch forwarding, flooding, and filtering
Identify unknown unicast traffic behavior
Understand collision vs broadcast domains
Explain ARP request and reply process
Trace full packet flow between LAN devices

Progress0%

You are now assisting in troubleshooting a real LAN issue.

Users report:

!Intermittent connectivity between devices
!Devices not responding at first, then working later

Suspected causes:

MAC address learning behavior
ARP discovery process
Switch forwarding decisions

Analyze traffic behavior and determine what the switch is doing at each step.

Network Topology

4-port LAN

💻PC-AGi0/1

🔀SwitchCAM table

🖥️PC-BGi0/2

🖥️PC-CGi0/3

🖥️PC-DGi0/4

📖 Learn

→ Forward

📡 Flood

Device	IP	MAC
💻 PC-A	192.168.1.10	AA:AA:AA:AA:AA:AA
🖥️ PC-B	192.168.1.20	BB:BB:BB:BB:BB:BB
🖥️ PC-C	192.168.1.30	CC:CC:CC:CC:CC:CC
🖥️ PC-D	192.168.1.40	DD:DD:DD:DD:DD:DD

Multiple Choice

Q1/15

What does a switch learn from incoming frames?

Progress0 correct

Q1Q15

Lessons Reinforced

Lesson 16: MAC LearningLesson 17: Forwarding DecisionsLesson 18: Flooding and FilteringLesson 19: Collision vs Broadcast DomainsLesson 20: ARP FundamentalsLesson 21: ARP TablesLesson 22: Packet Walkthrough