IT ESSENTIALS

Final Exam Preparation Paper

Chapter 6: Applied Networking

Network Addressing

Every NIC, network interface card has a unique 48 bit hexadecimal media access control (MAC)
address embedded into the card represented in hexadecimal notation. Also known as a physical
address, the MAC address never changes and will be the same wherever the device is located.

A MAC address has 2 parts. The first 24 bits represent the organizationally unique identifier
(OUI). This is the vendor or manufacturer portion of the address. The second 24 bits are
assigned by the vendor and unique to that particular OUI. For example 3A-07-BC is unique to
the vendor code 00-60-2F. MAC addresses are 48 bits with the OUI and vendor assigned
portions, each being 24 bits and having 6 hexadecimal digits.

For example, if PC A sends a message to printer B, it will send it to printer B's MAC address.

MAC addresses have different names. Windows calls it a “Physical Address”, on an iPhone it is
called the “Wi-Fi Address” and on an Android it is called “Wi-Fi MAC address”.

Additionally, your device may have two or more MAC addresses.

IP addresses allow devices to communicate with each other that are on the same or different
networks. Routers are used to forward messages between IP networks. IPv4 addresses are 32-
bit addresses, represented in dotted decimal notation. Each number separated by a period is
called an octet. IPv6 addresses are 128-bit addresses, represented by colon-separated
hexadecimal notation.

IPv4 address example: 192.168.1.0 - 4 decimal numbers, each 8 bits, 32 bits in total
IPv6 address example: 2001:db8:acad:100:37ef:100:a765:1 - 8 segments of 4 digits, each 16
bits, 128 bits total

IPv6 addresses are typically represented in compressed format. This is done using two rules.
1. Leading zeros of any 16 bit segment can be omitted
2. A single string of contiguous all-zero segments can be replaced by a single double colon.
Subnet masks can be represented in slash notation, using a slash followed by the number of one
bits in the subnet mask (e.g. 255.255.255.0 = /24).

An IP address has 2 parts: a network portion and a host portion. The subnet mask is used to
differentiate these 2 parts. The ones in the subnet mask indicate the network portion of the
address, whereas the zeroes in the subnet mask indicate the host portion (in the examples
above, 192.168.1 is the network portion and 0 is the host portion).

All the devices the same network share the same subnet mask, which means the network
portion of their addresses are identical. However, their host portions are unique. If a device
where to move to a different network, its IPv4 address would change, and it would share the
same subnet mask, along with the same network portion of its address, with all other devices on
that network.

If a computer with IP address 192.168.200.8 has data to send to a host at 192.168.200.25, it

sends the data directly to that host because it has the same prefix of 192.168.200. If the
destination’s IPv4 address is 192.168.201.25, then the Window’s computer will send the data to
a router, because the destination is on a different network.

In the early 1990s, there was a concern about running out of IPv4 network addresses. The
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) began to look for a replacement. This led to the
development of IPv6. Currently, IPv6 is operating alongside IPv4 and is beginning to replace it.

Assigning a unique IP address to each host within the same small network is known as static IP
addressing. With static IP addressing, you can assign the following IPv4 address configuration
information to a host:

• IP address - identifies this device on the network

• Subnet mask - is used to identify the network on which this device is connected
• Default gateway - identifies the router that this device uses to access the internet or
another network
• Optional values - such as the preferred DNS server address and the alternate DNS
server address

Rather than manually configure every device, you can take advantage of implementing a
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. A DHCP server automatically assigns IP
addresses. Automatically configuring some of the IP addressing parameters reduces the
possibility of assigning duplicate or invalid IP addresses.
A IPv6/IPv4 link-local address enables your device to communicate with other IPv6/IPv4-
enabled devices on the same network and only on that network.

The major difference between IPv4 and IPv6 is the following:

• An IPv4 device uses the link-local address if the device cannot obtain an IPv4 address,
meaning that If a computer cannot communicate with a DHCP server to obtain an IPv4
address, then it will automatically assign an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA)
address, which is in the range of 169.254.0.0 to 169.254.255.255.
• An IPv6 device must always be dynamically or manually configured with a link-local IPv6
address, meaning that unlike IPv4, every IPv6 enabled device is required to have a link-
local address.

Configure a NIC

NIC card installation process is the same as installing adapter cards + updating driver software.
After the NIC is installed, it needs to be configured. After NIC installation the computer will
automatically send out a request for IPv4 addressing to the DHCP server.

Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is used by devices on a network to send control and
error messages.

Ping is commonly used to test connections between computers. It works by sending an ICMP
echo request to the IP address you entered. If the IP address is accessible, the receiving device
then sends back an ICMP echo reply message to confirm connectivity.

Configure a Wired and Wireless Network

Steps:

1. Connect computer Ethernet cable to router’s LAN port

2. Plug modem Internet cable and plug into router’s LAN port
3. In computer’s browser, type in the router’s default IP address
4. Log in
5. Change the default password
6. Log back in with new credentials
7. Enable and configure SSID
Out of the box, a wireless router provides wireless access to devices using a default wireless
network name, the Service Set Identified (SSID) and password. The wireless router announces
its presence by sending broadcasts advertising the SSID. This allows wireless hosts to
automatically discover the name of the wireless network. If SSID broadcast is disabled, you must
manually enter the SSID on each device that connects to the WLAN.

Devices configured with the same channel within the 2.4GHz band can overlap and cause
distortion. To avoid this, configure non-overlapping channels to wireless routers and access
points near each other. Channels 1, 6 and 11 are non-overlapping.

Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2 (WPA2 Personal) uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
encryption. AES is currently the strongest security mode.

The IPv4 address that the router uses to send data to the internet is publicly routable on the
internet, while the IPv4 address assigned to the router’s LAN interface (and all the devices
connected to that LAN) are not publicly routable. Therefore, a router will use a process called
Network Address Translation (NAT) to convert private private IPv4 addresses to Internet-
routable ones. With NAT, a private (local) source IPv4 address is translated to a public (global)
address. The process is reversed for incoming packets.

Many home and small office routers have an option for configuring Quality of Service (QoS). By
configuring QoS, you can guarantee that certain traffic types, such as voice and video, are
prioritized over traffic that is not as time-sensitive, such as email and web browsing.

Firewall Settings

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a protocol that enables devices to dynamically add
themselves to a network without the need for user intervention or configuration. It is convenient,
but insecure.

A demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a network that provides services to an untrusted network. An

email, web, or FTP server is often placed into the DMZ so that the traffic using the server does
not come inside the local network. This protects the internal network from attacks by this traffic
but does not protect the servers in the DMZ in any way. It is common for a firewall to manage
traffic to and from the DMZ.

On a wireless router, you can create a DMZ for one device by forwarding all traffic ports from the
internet to a specific IP address or MAC address.
Hardware firewalls can be used to block TCP and UDP ports to prevent unauthorized access in
and out of a LAN. Port forwarding is a rule-based method of directing traffic between devices on
separate networks.

When traffic reaches the router, the router determines if the traffic should be forwarded to a
certain device based on the port number found with the traffic. Port numbers are associated with
specific services, such as FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, and POP3. The rules determine which traffic is
sent on to the LAN.

MAC address filtering specifies exactly which device MAC addresses are allowed to or blocked
from sending data on your network. The MAC address for your Windows computer can be found
with the ipconfig /all command.

Whitelisting and blacklisting specify which IP addresses are allowed or denied on your network.
Similar to MAC address filtering, you can manually configure specific IP addresses to allow or
deny into your network. On a wireless router, this is typically done using an access list or access
policy.

IoT Device Configuration

The evolving internet is becoming an Internet of Things (IoT). The sensor-equipped, internet-
ready devices of tomorrow will include everything from automobiles and biomedical devices, to
household appliances and natural ecosystems.

Network Problems and Solutions

• NIC LED lights not lit - network cable unplugged/damaged, NIC damaged
• Cannot use SSH to access remote device - remote device not configured for SSH, SSH not
allowed
• Device cannot detect wireless router - router configured with 802.11 standard, SSID not
broadcast, wireless NIC in laptop disabled
• Windows computer has IPv4 of 168.254.x.x - network cable unplugged, router off, connection
faulty, DHCP not operational, NIC damaged
• Remote device doesn’t support ping - Windows firewall disables ping, remote device
configured against ping
• User can access local network but not Internet - gateway address incorrect/not configured,
ISP down
• Wireless device cannot connect to network - wireless capability of device off, device out of
range, there is interference
• Local resources (file sharers, printers) unavailable - bad cabling, switch/router malfunction,
firewall block, DNS not working, service failed
• Device can connect to network by IP address, not host name - incorrect host name, incorrect
DNS settings, DNS not operational
• Device doesn’t obtain/renew IP address - using a static IP from another network, firewall
blocking DHCP, DHCP not operational, wireless NIC disabled
• IP address conflict message when connecting new device to network - same IP on 2 devices
on the same network, another computer configured with static IP that was used by DHCP
• A device has network access but no Internet - gateway IP incorrect, incorrect router
configuration, DNS not operational
• Slow transfer speeds, weak signal, intermittent connectivity on wireless network - no wireless
security (unauthorized access), too many users connected, user too far away from AP,
interference
• User cannot access FTP - blocked by router firewall/Windows firewall, max number of users
reached
• FTP client software cannot find FTP server - FTP client has incorrect server/domain/port
setting, FTP server not operational/offline, DNS not operational
• Device cannot access specific HTTPS site - the site is not on the browser’s list of trusted sites
• Device on one network can’t ping device on another network - broken link between 2
networks, ICMP blocked at router/Windows firewall
• Computer cannot Telnet into a remote computer - remote computer not configured to receive
Telnet/Telnet services not started
• nslookup reports “Can’t find server name for address {ip address}: timed out” - DNS not
responding/incorrect
• ipconfig/release or ipconfig/renew results in ”No operation on the adapter while the media is
disconnected” - gateway IP incorrect, network cable unplugged, computer has static IP
• ipconfig/release or ipconfig/renew results in ”The operation failed as no adapter is in the state
permissible for this operation” - computer has static IP

Abbreviations

• MAC - media access control

• IETF - Internet Engineering Task Force
• DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
• APIPA - Automatic Private IP Addressing
• ICMP - Internet Control Message Protocol
• SSID - Service Set Identified
• WPA2 - Wi-Fi Protected Access 2
• AES - Advanced Encryption Standard
• NAT - Network Address Translation
• UPnP - Universal Plug and Play
• DMZ - demilitarized zone
• IoT - Internet of Things