Cisco ENCOR Practice Exam 2025 – All-in-One Comprehensive Guide to Mastering Enterprise Network Core Technologies!

The standard reference bandwidth for EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol) is 100 Mbps. This value serves as a baseline for calculating the EIGRP metrics, specifically the bandwidth metric which influences route selection.

EIGRP uses a composite metric based on bandwidth, delay, load, and reliability; however, the reference bandwidth is primarily used for metric calculations. In Cisco routers, unless altered, any bandwidth above the standard reference of 100 Mbps is typically treated as 100 Mbps for the purpose of EIGRP calculations.

Choosing a reference bandwidth that is significantly higher, such as the 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps options, is not standard practice and would result in metrics that do not accurately represent lower bandwidth links. Therefore, the correct answer emphasizing the significance of the standard reference bandwidth is crucial for understanding how EIGRP develops its routing decisions based on metric calculations across different network scenarios.