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N10-009 · Question #283

Which of the following traffic types does a DHCP Discover request from a PC use?

The correct answer is A. Broadcast. A DHCP Discover request from a PC uses broadcast traffic because the client lacks an IP address and needs to reach any available DHCP server on the local network segment.

Submitted by amina.ke· Mar 6, 2026Networking Concepts

Question

Which of the following traffic types does a DHCP Discover request from a PC use?

Options

  • ABroadcast
  • BAnycast
  • CUnicast
  • DMulticast

How the community answered

(25 responses)
  • A
    88% (22)
  • B
    4% (1)
  • D
    8% (2)

Why each option

A DHCP Discover request from a PC uses broadcast traffic because the client lacks an IP address and needs to reach any available DHCP server on the local network segment.

ABroadcastCorrect

A DHCP Discover message is sent as a broadcast (destination IP 255.255.255.255, destination MAC FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF) because the client does not yet have an IP address and needs to find any DHCP server available on the local network.

BAnycast

Anycast is a routing technique where data is routed to the nearest server from a group, which is not the mechanism for initial DHCP server discovery by a client.

CUnicast

Unicast traffic is sent from a single source to a single specific destination, which a client cannot do for a DHCP server it has not yet discovered or received an IP from.

DMulticast

Multicast traffic is sent from a single source to a group of specific destinations, which is not the protocol used for a client's initial DHCP Discover request.

Concept tested: DHCP Discover traffic type

Source: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/ip/dynamic-host-configuration-protocol-dhcp/27470-10.html#dhcpc

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