ICND1 Practice Test

People who study ICND1 material are usually learning switching, routing and IP addressing from scratch, or refreshing it before the replacement 200-301 CCNA exam. This page gives you free practice sets sorted by topic, worked explanations of sample questions, a study plan and a short summary of the official exam details. Practice with the free Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 practice test on PracticeTestGeeks (9 questions with answer explanations).

Free Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 Study Tools

Interactive Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 resources on PracticeTestGeeks, free to start:

• Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 flashcards — review key terms and concepts card by card
• Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 study guide — topic-by-topic overview of what the exam covers
• Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 cheat sheet — one-page printable summary for last-minute review

ICND1 Exam at a Glance

What the ICND1 is and how it works

According to Cisco Systems, “Take your Cisco exam from home through OnVUE online proctored testing.”^[2]

ICND1, Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1, covers the entry-level skills for configuring and troubleshooting small Cisco networks: how data moves across a LAN, how addresses work, and how routers and switches make forwarding decisions. Cisco now lists the 200-301 CCNA as the replacement exam, so the exam facts below come from that listing rather than from an ICND1 page.

Cisco gives the fee as $300 per attempt, or you can use Cisco Learning Credits. The exam is a 120-minute exam. You can take it at a Pearson VUE test center, or from home through OnVUE online proctored testing.

This page does not state a passing score, a question count, eligibility rules or a retake policy, because those details are not in the verified facts we hold. They can change, and they can differ by region and by the way you book. Check the Cisco exam page and the Pearson VUE Cisco page before you pay, and read the current retake rules there.

Our practice questions are written by us with AI tools. They are not real exam questions and are not taken from the live exam. Use them to find weak topics, then confirm details against Cisco's own material.

ICND1 content outline and where to practise each area

The content areas below are copied from the official ICND1 content outline published by Cisco Systems. The right-hand column shows which of our practice sets covers it.

Worked examples: how to reason through ICND1 questions

These are practice questions written for this site, not questions from the real exam. Each explanation shows why the right answer is right and why the others are wrong.

Example 1

Question: What is the default STP Max Age timer value?

1. 5 seconds
2. 10 seconds
3. 15 seconds
4. 20 seconds

Answer: D. 20 seconds

Explanation:

The correct answer is 20 seconds. The Max Age timer sets how long a switch keeps the last BPDU it heard before it treats that information as stale. If no BPDU arrives in that time, the switch discards the stored information and starts reacting to a possible topology change.

The other options, 5 seconds, 10 seconds and 15 seconds, are not the Max Age default. They are tempting because STP uses several timers with similar-looking values, and it is easy to attach the wrong value to the wrong timer.

Rule to remember: learn each STP timer by its job, not as a loose list of values. Max Age is the stale-information timer, so tie that one value to that one job.

Example 2

Question: In STP, which port state actively forwards user traffic and learns MAC addresses?

1. Blocking
2. Listening
3. Learning
4. Forwarding

Answer: D. Forwarding

Explanation:

Forwarding is correct. A port in the Forwarding state sends and receives user traffic and also learns MAC addresses, so it is the only state that does real work for the network.

Blocking is wrong because the port discards user traffic to prevent a loop, although it still listens for BPDUs. Listening is wrong because the port is taking part in the election but does not forward frames and does not learn addresses yet. Learning is the closest wrong answer: the port builds its MAC table but still does not forward user traffic.

Rule to remember: the states before Forwarding are preparation steps, and only Forwarding carries data. When a question asks which state moves user traffic, ignore the transitional states.

Example 3

Question: Which protocol operates at Layer 2 and is used to map IP addresses to MAC addresses?

1. RARP
2. ICMP
3. ARP
4. DHCP

Answer: C. ARP

Explanation:

ARP is correct. When a host knows a destination IP address on its own segment but needs the MAC address to build a frame, it uses ARP to ask who owns that address and gets the MAC address in reply.

RARP does the reverse job, looking up an IP address from a known hardware address, so it is the opposite direction. ICMP carries error and diagnostic messages, such as the replies you see when you ping, and does not map addresses. DHCP hands out IP configuration to hosts and does not resolve addresses on the local segment.

Rule to remember: ARP goes from IP to MAC on the local segment. If the direction in the question is reversed, think of the opposite protocol.

How to use these practice tests

Start with the official material. Read the current Cisco exam page for the replacement 200-301 CCNA exam and note every topic it lists, because that is the source of truth for what you need to know. Then use the practice sets to find where you are weak.

1. Take the Start Practice Test set cold, without notes, and write down every topic you miss.
2. Work through the sets for your weakest areas first, such as subnetting, VLAN management and Spanning Tree.
3. After each wrong answer, read the explanation, then close it and explain the answer aloud in your own words. If you cannot, repeat the topic.
4. Practise on real or simulated Cisco equipment where you can. Reading about commands is not the same as typing them and reading the output.
5. Finish with troubleshooting and OSPF configuration, since these ask you to combine several topics at once.

Before test day, check how you will sit it, at a test center or online, and read the provider's rules for the room and the identification you need. Keep your timing in mind: the exam is a 120-minute exam, so practise answering at a steady pace.

Sources & last verified

1. Cisco Systems — time limit, exam fee (official source). “120-minute exam” Verified Oct 25, 2026 · source checked Oct 24, 2026.
2. pearsonvue.com — delivery (official source). “Take your Cisco exam from home through OnVUE online proctored testing.” Verified Oct 25, 2026.
3. Cisco Systems — other (official source). “infrastructure maintenance” Verified Oct 25, 2026.

How we verify: editorial & fact-checking policy. Report an error: contact us.