If a network port that supports auto-negotiation is connected with a network port that does not support auto-negotiation, half-duplex to full-duplex may occur.

Question

Options

• ATrue
• BFalse

• A
  73% (40)
• B
  27% (15)

Explanation

Option A is correct because when an auto-negotiating port connects to a non-auto-negotiating port, the IEEE 802.3 standard dictates that the auto-negotiating side falls back to its default - typically half-duplex - since it cannot complete the negotiation handshake. Meanwhile, the non-auto-negotiating port may be statically configured for full-duplex, resulting in a duplex mismatch: one side operating at half-duplex and the other at full-duplex.

Option B is incorrect because this duplex mismatch is a well-documented and common real-world problem - it does not fail silently. The link will appear to be up, but performance degrades significantly due to late collisions and retransmissions caused by the mismatch.

Memory tip: Think of auto-negotiation as two people agreeing on a language - if one person can't negotiate, they revert to the "safe default" (half-duplex), but the other person may still speak full-duplex. The conversation becomes garbled. The phrase "auto = half by default, manual = what you set" can help you remember that mismatched ports almost always end up in a duplex mismatch.

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