Free Cisco CCNA 200-301 Actual Exam Questions - Question 15 Discussion

I’d say D fits learn since it’s not forwarding but still seems aware of the group state. If it were listen, it wouldn't have learned the virtual IP yet. So B active, C standby, D learn makes sense.

I’d swap B and C based on who’s actually forwarding traffic and sending hellos. Active routers forward and send hellos, standby listens but doesn’t forward. D doesn’t forward or send hellos so listen fits better there. Learn usually means it’s starting to learn the virtual MAC but not quite ready, which doesn’t align with D’s lack of activity. So B looks like active, C standby, and D listen. That matches typical HSRP behavior more cleanly without overcomplicating it.

I’m thinking B is the active state since it’s forwarding traffic and sending hellos, which fits active role behavior. That helps confirm others by elimination.

I think you can rule out learn for D because that state usually sends hello packets as part of learning the virtual IP info. Since D isn’t forwarding traffic or sending hellos, listen makes more sense—it’s just waiting and receiving hellos without actively participating. That fits with the typical HSRP listen behavior where the device isn’t the active or standby router but still hears the hellos. So, putting D as listen seems to line up with how HSRP states usually work.

D doesn’t forward traffic and isn’t sending hellos, so listen state fits better than learn, which should send hellos. That’s the key difference to distinguish those two states here.

D looks like the listen state since it’s only receiving hellos and not sending any. That fits because listen routers don’t forward but keep track of the active router. It can’t be learn since learn sends hellos.

I agree with B as standby because it’s responsive but not forwarding. Another angle is looking at the forwarding behavior: C must be active since it’s handling traffic, which standby wouldn’t do. D doesn’t forward and isn’t replying to hellos, so it’s basically passively learning the group state. That silent behavior fits learn perfectly. Makes sense to separate active and standby by who’s actually sending data versus just managing state, with learn being the quiet observer.

Looking at it again, B’s behavior matches standby because it actively participates in hello exchanges but doesn’t forward packets, which is what standby routers do while waiting. D doesn’t send or respond to hellos, so it fits learn perfectly—it’s only gathering info without taking part. C clearly sends hellos, so it’s active, controlling the traffic. That separation makes the most sense based on how HSRP states work.

I see B as standby too since it responds but doesn’t forward, while D is learn because it’s only picking up info without replying. C sending hellos nails active.

B’s behavior matches standby since it replies to hellos but holds off on forwarding traffic. D fits learn because it’s just gathering info, not sending or forwarding anything.

I think B fits standby since the device responds to hellos but doesn’t forward traffic. D must be learn because it’s not involved in sending or forwarding, just learning info.

Looks like C goes with active state, since it sends hellos. Not sure about standby and learn though.