Which of the following is the MOST likely reason this happened?

A help desk technician plugged in a user’s new computer to a network port After a few minutes the computer showed an APIPA address.

Which of the following is the MOST likely reason this happened?
A . The WLAN is disabling the NIC card.
B. The network cable is not attached.
C. The PC is unable to contact a DHCP server
D. The DHCP server is using addresses in the range of 169.254.254.1.

View Answer

Answer: C

Explanation:

The most likely reason for a computer showing an APIPA address after being plugged into a network port is that the PC is unable to contact a DHCP server1. Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) is a DHCP fail-safe that protects a computer system from failure. It invokes a standby mechanism for local Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) networks supported by Microsoft Windows. With APIPA, DHCP clients can obtain IP addresses even when DHCP servers are not functional1. The other options are less likely to be the cause of the issue1.