Cisco Certified Network Professional Practice Test 2026 – Your All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

The correct answer highlights that the Native VLAN is responsible for handling untagged traffic on an 802.1Q trunk link. When a trunk link is configured, it can carry multiple VLANs, and each VLAN's traffic is typically tagged with a specific identifier (VLAN ID). However, the Native VLAN is a special configuration that allows frames to be sent without any tag.

By default, any traffic that is not specifically tagged when leaving the trunk interface is considered to belong to the Native VLAN. This setup often facilitates backward compatibility with devices that do not understand VLAN tagging. For instance, older network devices or end-user machines connected to a switch may send untagged frames, which are then associated with the Native VLAN.

The concept of the Native VLAN is essential for maintaining seamless connectivity and communication across networks that utilize VLANs while accommodating devices that do not support tagging. This justifies the answer as it correctly identifies the role of the Native VLAN in an 802.1Q trunk link configuration.