A ping from a branch office to headquarters shows about 20 percent loss, and file copies collapse under retransmissions. Delay stays modest. Which impairment is this?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
A bucket with a hole in it loses water no matter how short the walk is. Your ping is missing about 20 percent of its replies, and the file copies fall apart because they have to retransmit, so this is packet loss. Uneven spacing with nothing dropped, a long delay, or a full link that only slows packets does not match a path that is throwing packets away.
Full Explanation
Packet loss means traffic sent along the path does not arrive. A ping that loses about 20 percent of its echoes is a direct count of that loss, and a file copy collapses when a fifth of its packets must be sent again. Modest delay rules out a path that is merely far away. Jitter varies the spacing and can hurt voice even when every packet arrives. Pairing it with no loss contradicts a ping that is missing replies. High latency is the tempting twin because copies feel slow, and the stem says the delay stays modest. Congestion can cause loss, and the choice that says it only delays packets leaves out the discards the ping counted. Exam caveat: loss and jitter can occur together. Here the stem gives loss with modest delay, so loss is the impairment to name. Operational check: run the ping long enough to confirm the loss stays near 20 percent, then check drop counters on the branch-to-headquarters path for the link that is discarding. A path with modest delay can still be the one throwing packets away.