Networking Interview Questions :
Basics of Networking
1. What is a network?
2. What is the purpose of networking?
3. What are the types of networks (LAN, MAN, WAN)?
4. Define IP address and its types.
5. What is a subnet mask?
6. Explain the difference between IPv4 and IPv6.
7. What are private IP addresses? Provide examples.
8. What is a MAC address?
9. Explain the OSI model and its layers.
10. What is the TCP/IP model?
11. What is the purpose of a router?
12. What is the difference between a hub, switch, and router?
13. What is a VLAN?
14. What is DNS, and how does it work?
15. Explain the concept of NAT.
Protocols
16. What is HTTP, and how is it different from HTTPS?
17. What is FTP, and what is it used for?
18. What is DHCP, and how does it work?
19. Explain the ARP protocol.
20. What is ICMP, and where is it used?
21. What is the difference between TCP and UDP?
22. What is SNMP?
23. What is the BGP protocol?
24. Define the difference between OSPF and EIGRP.
25. What is the use of SMTP and POP3?
26. What is the difference between Telnet and SSH?
27. What is SIP in networking?
28. How does MPLS work?
Network Devices
29. What is the role of a firewall in a network?
30. What are the different types of firewalls?
31. What is a proxy server?
32. What is the function of a modem?
33. What is a wireless access point?
34. Explain the difference between managed and unmanaged switches.
35. What is a load balancer?
36. What is the purpose of a gateway in a network?
IP Addressing and Subnetting
37. What is CIDR?
38. How do you calculate the number of hosts in a subnet?
39. What is the range of Class A, B, and C IP addresses?
40. What is a default gateway?
41. How is an IP address assigned dynamically?
Network Security
42. What is a VPN, and how does it work?
43. What is encryption in networking?
44. What is the difference between symmetric and asymmetric encryption?
45. What are network security protocols?
46. What is a DMZ in networking?
47. How does two-factor authentication work?
48. What is a brute-force attack?
49. What is a man-in-the-middle attack?
Troubleshooting
50. What is ping, and how is it used?
51. What is traceroute?
52. What are the steps to troubleshoot a network issue?
53. What is the difference between a hardware issue and a software issue in
networking?
54. What tools are commonly used for network troubleshooting?
55. How would you troubleshoot a slow network?
Wireless Networking
56. What is Wi-Fi?
57. What are the different Wi-Fi standards (e.g., 802.11a/b/g/n/ac)?
58. What is SSID?
59. What is the difference between WEP, WPA, and WPA2?
60. What is an ad-hoc network?
Advanced Concepts
61. What is QoS?
62. What is the difference between unicast, multicast, and broadcast?
63. Explain the term "latency" in networking.
64. What is jitter?
65. What is network redundancy?
66. What is SDN (Software-Defined Networking)?
Command-Line Tools
67. Explain the use of the `ipconfig` command.
68. What is the `nslookup` command used for?
69. How is the `tracert` command used in Windows?
70. What is the difference between `netstat` and `ping`?
Cloud Networking
71. What is cloud networking?
72. What is a VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)?
73. What are the differences between public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud?
74. Explain the term "cloud load balancing."
75. What is SD-WAN?
Real-Life Scenarios
76. How would you handle a DNS resolution failure?
77. What would you do if a user reports intermittent network connectivity?
78. How do you prioritize traffic in a congested network?
79. How would you configure a router from scratch?
Network Connectivity Issues
80.A user cannot connect to the internet, but others in the same network can. How
would you troubleshoot this?
81.A website is accessible via its IP address but not through its domain name. What
could be the problem?
82.What steps would you take if a specific device on the network cannot reach the
default gateway?
DNS and IP Addressing
83.A DNS server is responding slowly. How would you identify and resolve the issue?
84.You receive complaints of intermittent IP conflicts on the network. What could
cause this, and how would you resolve it?
85.How would you troubleshoot a situation where DHCP fails to assign an IP address
to a client?
Packet Loss and Latency
86.A user reports high latency while accessing a remote server. How would you
troubleshoot?
87.If a network is experiencing packet loss, what tools and steps would you use to
diagnose the problem?
88.What could cause jitter in a VoIP call, and how would you minimize it?
Wireless Network Issues
89.A user is unable to connect to the Wi-Fi network, but other users are connected.
How would you troubleshoot this?
90.The Wi-Fi signal is weak in specific parts of the office. What steps would you
take to resolve this?
91.How would you secure a wireless network in a small business environment?
VLAN and Routing Issues
92.Devices in one VLAN cannot communicate with devices in another VLAN. How would
you resolve this?
93.A router is unable to forward packets to a specific subnet. How would you
troubleshoot?
94.You are tasked with configuring inter-VLAN routing on a Layer 3 switch. What
steps would you follow?
Firewall and Security Problems
95.A user cannot access a specific website, and you suspect the firewall is
blocking it. How would you confirm and fix this?
96.You discover a network port that is being used for unauthorized purposes. How
would you handle this situation?
97.What steps would you take if you suspect a DDoS attack on your network?
Network Monitoring and Maintenance
98.You are tasked with identifying the source of unusual network traffic. What
tools and methods would you use?
99.How would you ensure 24/7 network availability during a major system update?
100.A link in a redundant network setup has failed. How do you verify that the
failover mechanism is working correctly?
