Which statement about Internet Protocol (IP) is correct?

• A. It guarantees a reliable connection.
• B. It uses a continuous connection throughout communication.
• C. It is a connectionless protocol with no established end-to-end connection.
• D. It guarantees delivery in the same order.

Answer: (C)

IP is designed as a connectionless protocol at the network layer, meaning it sends individual packets without establishing a dedicated end-to-end connection. There’s no handshake or guaranteed path, so packets can take different routes, arrive out of order, or be lost. Because of this, IP does not guarantee delivery or ordering. Reliability and in-order delivery are handled by higher-layer protocols such as TCP, which add acknowledgments, retransmissions, and sequencing. The statements that it guarantees a reliable connection or that it uses a continuous connection imply properties IP does not provide.