Which statement best describes a directly connected route?

• A. Directly connected routes are learned manually.
• B. Directly connected routes are discovered by routing protocols.
• C. Directly connected routes are learned automatically from an attached interface.
• D. Directly connected routes are not used for networks reachable via the local device.

Answer: (C)

Directly connected routes are networks that the router can reach directly through one of its own interfaces. When an interface becomes active and is assigned an IP address, the router automatically adds a route to the subnet that interface serves. No routing protocol and no manual entry are needed for these routes—the router already has direct access to them through the attached interface. This is why the statement that best describes a directly connected route is that it is learned automatically from an attached interface. For example, if an interface has 192.168.1.1/24, the router immediately creates a connected route to 192.168.1.0/24.