Network Addressing and Basic Troubleshooting.

Upon completion of the Network Addressing and Basic Troubleshooting topic,

students will be able to perform the following tasks:
 Explain how physical layer protocols, services, and network media
support communications across data networks.
 Explain how media access control in the data link layer supports
communication across physical and logical networks.
 Explain how routers use network layer protocols and services to enable
end-to-end connectivity.
 Calculate an IPv4 subnetting scheme to efficiently segment a network.
 Implement an IPv6 addressing scheme.
 Explain how Neighbor Discovery enables communication on a network.
 Describe Cisco routers and switches.
 Troubleshoot basic network connectivity issues.
Student Resources:
 Lecture Notes
 Cisco Packet Tracer
The Physical Connection
Whether connecting to a local printer in the home or a website in another
country, before any network communications can occur, a physical
connection to a local network must be established. A physical connection can
be a wired connection using a cable or a wireless connection using radio
waves.
The type of physical connection used depends upon the setup of the
network. For example, in many corporate offices, employees have desktop or
laptop computers that are physically connected, via cable, to a shared
switch. This type of setup is a wired network. Data is transmitted through a
physical cable.
In addition to wired connections, many businesses also offer wireless
connections for laptops, tablets, and smartphones. With wireless devices,
data is transmitted using radio waves. Wireless connectivity is common as
individuals and businesses alike discover its advantages. Devices on a
wireless network must be connected to a wireless access point (AP) or
wireless router like the one shown in the figure.

Wireless Router

These are the components of an access point:

1. The wireless antennas (These are embedded inside the router version
shown in the figure above.)
 2. Several Ethernet switchports
3. An internet port.
Network Interface Cards
Network interface cards (NICs) connect a device to the network. Ethernet
NICs are used for a wired connection, whereas wireless local area network
(WLAN) NICs are used for wireless. An end-user device may include one or
both types of NICs. A network printer, for example, may only have an
Ethernet NIC, and therefore, must connect to the network using an Ethernet
cable. Other devices, such as tablets and smartphones, might only contain a
WLAN NIC and must use a wireless connection.

The Physical Layer

The OSI physical layer provides the means to transport the bits that make up
a data link layer frame across the network media. This layer accepts a
complete frame from the data link layer and encodes it as a series of signals
that are transmitted to the local media. The encoded bits that comprise a
frame are received by either an end device or an intermediate device.

Physical Layer Standards

There are many different international and national organizations, regulatory
government organizations, and private companies involved in establishing
and maintaining physical layer standards. For instance, the physical layer
hardware, media, encoding, and signaling standards are defined and
governed by these standards organizations:
 International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
 American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/Telecommunications
Industry Association (TIA)
 International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
 National telecommunications regulatory authorities including the
Federal Communication Commission (FCC) in the USA and the
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
In addition to these, there are often regional cabling standards groups such
as CSA (Canadian Standards Association), CENELEC (European Committee for
Electrotechnical Standardization), and JSA/JIS (Japanese Standards
Association), which develop local specifications.
The OSI Layer Model.
The protocols and operations of the upper OSI layers are performed using
software designed by software engineers and computer scientists. The
services and protocols in the TCP/IP suite are defined by the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF).
The physical layer consists of electronic circuitry, media, and connectors
developed by engineers. Therefore, it is appropriate that the standards
governing this hardware are defined by the relevant electrical and
communications engineering organizations.
 Copper Cabling
Copper cabling is the most common type of cabling used in networks today.
In fact, copper cabling is not just one type of cable. There are three different
types of copper cabling that are each used in specific situations.
Networks use copper media because it is inexpensive, easy to install, and
has low resistance to electrical current. However, copper media is limited by
distance and signal interference.
Data is transmitted on copper cables as electrical pulses. A detector in the
network interface of a destination device must receive a signal that can be
successfully decoded to match the signal sent. However, the farther the
signal travels, the more it deteriorates. This is referred to as signal
attenuation. For this reason, all copper media must follow strict distance
limitations as specified by the guiding standards.
The timing and voltage values of the electrical pulses are also susceptible to
interference from two sources:
 Electromagnetic interference (EMI) or radio frequency
interference (RFI) - EMI and RFI signals can distort and corrupt the
data signals being carried by copper media. Potential sources of EMI
and RFI include radio waves and electromagnetic devices, such as
fluorescent lights or electric motors.
 Crosstalk - Crosstalk is a disturbance caused by the electric or
magnetic fields of a signal on one wire to the signal in an adjacent
wire. In telephone circuits, crosstalk can result in hearing part of
another voice conversation from an adjacent circuit. Specifically, when
an electrical current flows through a wire, it creates a small, circular
magnetic field around the wire, which can be picked up by an adjacent
wire.
The figure shows how data transmission can be affected by interference.
1. A pure digital signal is transmitted.
2. On the medium, there is an interference signal.
3. The digital signal is corrupted by the interference signal.
4. The receiving computer reads a changed signal. Notice that a 0 bit is
now interpreted as a 1 bit
To counter the negative effects of EMI and RFI, some types of copper cables
are wrapped in metallic shielding and require proper grounding connections.
To counter the negative effects of crosstalk, some types of copper cables
have opposing circuit wire pairs twisted together, which effectively cancels
the crosstalk.
The susceptibility of copper cables to electronic noise can also be limited
using these recommendations:
 Selecting the cable type or category most suited to a given networking
environment
 Designing a cable infrastructure to avoid known and potential sources
of interference in the building structure
 Using cabling techniques that include the proper handling and
termination of the cables
Types of Copper Cabling
There are three main types of copper media used in networking.

Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP)

Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cabling is the most common networking
media. UTP cabling, terminated with RJ-45 connectors, is used for
interconnecting network hosts with intermediary networking devices, such as
switches and routers.
In LANs, UTP cable consists of four pairs of color-coded wires that have been
twisted together and then encased in a flexible plastic sheath that protects
the wires from minor physical damage. The twisting of wires helps protect
against signal interference from other wires.
As seen in the figure, the color codes identify the individual pairs and wires
to aid in cable termination.
Shielded Twisted-Pair (STP)
Shielded twisted-pair (STP) provides better noise protection than UTP
cabling. However, compared to UTP cable, STP cable is significantly more
expensive and difficult to install. Like UTP cable, STP uses an RJ-45
connector.
STP cables combine the techniques of shielding to counter EMI and RFI, and
wire twisting to counter crosstalk. To gain the full benefit of the shielding,
STP cables are terminated with special shielded STP data connectors. If the
cable is improperly grounded, the shield may act as an antenna and pick up
unwanted signals.
The STP cable shown uses four pairs of wires, each wrapped in a foil shield,
which are then wrapped in an overall metallic braid or foil.
Coaxial cable
Coaxial cable, or coax for short, gets its name from the fact that there are
two conductors that share the same axis. As shown in the figure, coaxial
cable consists of the following:
 A copper conductor is used to transmit the electronic signals.
 A layer of flexible plastic insulation surrounds a copper conductor.
 The insulating material is surrounded in a woven copper braid, or
metallic foil, that acts as the second wire in the circuit and as a shield
for the inner conductor. This second layer, or shield, also reduces the
amount of outside electromagnetic interference.
 The entire cable is covered with a cable jacket to prevent minor
physical damage.
Although UTP cable has essentially replaced coaxial cable in modern
Ethernet installations, the coaxial cable design is used in the following
situations:
 Wireless installations - Coaxial cables attach antennas to wireless
devices. The coaxial cable carries radio frequency (RF) energy between
the antennas and the radio equipment.
 Cable internet installations - Cable service providers provide
internet connectivity to their customers by replacing portions of the
coaxial cable and supporting amplification elements with fiber-optic
cable. However, the wiring inside the customer's premises is still coax
cable.
Properties of UTP Cabling
In the previous topic, you learned a bit about unshielded twisted-pair (UTP)
copper cabling. Because UTP cabling is the standard for use in LANs, this
topic goes into detail about its advantages and limitations, and what can be
done to avoid problems.
When used as a networking medium, UTP cabling consists of four pairs of
color-coded copper wires that have been twisted together and then encased
in a flexible plastic sheath. Its small size can be advantageous during
installation.
UTP cable does not use shielding to counter the effects of EMI and RFI.
Instead, cable designers have discovered other ways that they can limit the
negative effect of crosstalk:
 Cancellation - Designers now pair wires in a circuit. When two wires
in an electrical circuit are placed close together, their magnetic fields
are the exact opposite of each other. Therefore, the two magnetic
fields cancel each other and also cancel out any outside EMI and RFI
signals.
 Varying the number of twists per wire pair - To further enhance
the cancellation effect of paired circuit wires, designers vary the
number of twists of each wire pair in a cable. UTP cable must follow
precise specifications governing how many twists or braids are
permitted per meter (3.28 feet) of cable. Notice in the figure that the
orange/orange white pair is twisted less than the blue/blue white pair.
Each colored pair is twisted a different number of times.
UTP cable relies solely on the cancellation effect produced by the twisted
wire pairs to limit signal degradation and effectively provide self-shielding for
wire pairs within the network media.
UTP Cabling Standards and Connectors
UTP cabling conforms to the standards established jointly by the ANSI/TIA.
Specifically, ANSI/TIA-568 stipulates the commercial cabling standards for
LAN installations and is the standard most commonly used in LAN cabling
environments. Some of the elements defined are as follows:
 Cable types
 Cable lengths
 Connectors
 Cable termination
 Methods of testing cable
The electrical characteristics of copper cabling are defined by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Cables in higher categories are designed and constructed to support higher
data rates. As new gigabit speed Ethernet technologies are being developed
and adopted, Category 5e is now the minimally acceptable cable type, with
Category 6 being the recommended type for new building installations.
The figure shows three categories of UTP cable:
 Category 3 was originally used for voice communication over voice
lines, but later used for data transmission.
 Category 5 and 5e are used for data transmission. Category 5 supports
100Mbps and Category 5e supports 1000 Mbps.
  Category 6 has an added separator between each wire pair to support
higher speeds. Category 6 supports up to 10 Gbps.
 Category 7 also supports 10 Gbps.
 Category 8 supports 40 Gbps.
UTP cable is usually terminated with an RJ-45 connector. The ANSI/TIA-568
standard describes the wire color codes to pin assignments (pinouts) for
Ethernet cables.
As shown in the figure, the RJ-45 connector is the male component, crimped
at the end of the cable

The socket, shown in the figure, is the female component of a network

device, wall, cubicle partition outlet, or patch panel. When terminated
improperly, each cable is a potential source of physical layer performance
degradation.

Straight-through and Crossover UTP Cables

Different situations may require UTP cables to be wired according to different
wiring conventions. This means that the individual wires in the cable have to
be connected in different orders to different sets of pins in the RJ-45
connectors.
The following are the main cable types that are obtained by using specific
wiring conventions:
 Ethernet Straight-through - The most common type of networking
cable. It is commonly used to interconnect a host to a switch and a
switch to a router.
 Ethernet Crossover - A cable used to interconnect similar devices.
For example, to connect a switch to a switch, a host to a host, or a
router to a router. However, crossover cables are now considered
legacy as NICs use medium-dependent interface crossover (auto-MDIX)
to automatically detect the cable type and make the internal
connection.
Note: Another type of cable is a rollover cable, which is Cisco proprietary. It
is used to connect a workstation to a router or switch console port.
Using a crossover or straight-through cable incorrectly between devices may
not damage the devices, but connectivity and communication between the
devices will not take place. This is a common error and checking that the
device connections are correct should be the first troubleshooting action if
connectivity is not achieved.
The figure identifies the individual wire pairs for the T568A and T568B
standards.