Center for Advance Studies in Engineering,

Islamabad
Data Communication Networks LAB

EXPERIMENT # 02: Creating a Local Area Network

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Date of Experiment: ………………………………………………….

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 EXPERIMENT # 02
Creating a and testing Network
This lab consists of
 IP address and MAC address
 PC Network TCP/IP Configuration and network commands

IP Addresses
What is an IP address? Every computer on the Internet has a unique numerical address,
called an Internet Protocol (IP) address, used to route packets to it across the Internet.
Just as your postal address enables the postal system to send mail to your house from
anywhere around the world, your computer's IP address gives the Internet routing
protocols the unique information they need to route packets of information to your
desktop from anywhere across the Internet. If a machine needs to contact another by a
domain name, it first looks up the corresponding IP address with the domain name
service. The IP address is the geographical descriptor of the virtual world, and the
addresses of both source and destination systems are stored in the header of every packet
that flows across the Internet.

What is a MAC Address?

A MAC address, or Media Access Control address, is a 48 address associated with a
network adapter. While IP addresses are associated with software, MAC addresses are
linked to the hardware of network adapters. For this reason, the MAC address is
sometimes called the hardware address, the burned-in address (BIA), or the physical
address. MAC addresses are expressed in hexadecimal notation in the following format:
01-23-45-67-89-AB.

PC Network TCP/IP Configuration

Objectives
Identify tools used for discovering a computer’s network configuration with various
operating systems. Gather information, including the connection, host name, MAC
(Layer2) address, and TCP/IP Network (Layer 3). Compare the network information to
that of other PC’s on the network.

Background
This section assumes that you are using Windows NT/2000/XP/7. This is nondestructive
Lab that you can perform on any host without changing the system configuration.

Step 1: Connect to the Internet.

Establish and verify connectivity to the Internet. This step ensures the computer has an IP
Address
Step 2: Gather TCP/IP configuration information.
a. Use the Start menu to open the command-prompt (Start>Programs>Accessories>
Command Prompt or Start>Programs>Command Prompt).
b. Type ipconfig and press Enter key. The spelling of the ipconfig is critical, but the case
is not.

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Check additional TCP/IP configuration information.
a. To see more information, type ipconfig /all and press Enter key. The figure shows the
detailed IP configuration of this computer on the screen.
b. You should see the following information: the host name (computer name), the
Physical address of this machine, IP address, subnet Mask, Default Gateway and
DNS Servers.

Using ping and tracert from a workstation

Objective
Learn to use the TCP/IP packet Internet groper (ping) command from a workstation.
Learn to use the trace route (tracert) command from a workstation.
Test Network Connection with Ping
ping < IP address >
Perform the following steps when using Ping:
1. Ping the loopback address to verify that TCP/IP is installed and configured correctly
on the local computer

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ping 127.0.0.1
If the loopback step fails, the IP stack is not responding. This might be because the TCP
drivers are corrupted, the network adapter might not be working, or another service is
interfering with IP.
2. Ping the IP address of the local computer to verify that it was added to the network
correctly. Note that if the routing table is correct, this simply forwards the packet to the
loopback address of 127.0.0.1.
ping < IP address of local host >
3. Ping the IP address of the default gateway to verify that the default gateway is
functioning and that you can communicate with a local host on the local network.
ping < IP address of default gateway >
4. Ping the IP address of a remote host to verify that you can communicate through a
router.
ping < IP address of remote host >
5. Ping the host name of a remote host to verify that you can resolve a remote host name.
ping < Host name of remote host >
6. Run a PathPing analysis to a remote host to verify that the routers on the way to the
destination are operating correctly.
pathping < IP address of remote host >

Trace Route
Traceroute is a command which can show you the path a packet of information taken
from your computer to one you specify. It will list all the routers it passes through until it
reaches its destination, or fails to and is discarded. In addition to this, it will tell you how
long each 'hop' from router to router takes.
In Windows, select Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt. This will
giveou a window like the one below.
Enter the word tracert, followed by a space, then the domain name.
C:\tracert google.com

Creating LAN
1. Objective

The objective of this lab is to give students hands on experience of creating a

LAN. The student is expected to understand the concept of IP & its classes.

2. Resources Required

 CAT 5 Cable - bulk Category 5, 5e or 6 cable

 RJ45 Ends
 Computers – minimum 2 workstations

3. Introduction

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Install Network cards.

Making cross over cable

Connect two computers using cross cable. Use hub/switch if numbers of workstations are
greater than two. Use straight through cable incase of connection with the hub/switch.

In Windows XP: Go to Network Connections Control Panel, right-click Local Area

Network connection and select Properties. Now select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and
click Properties.

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In Windows Vista: Go to Network and Sharing Center, select Manage Network
Connections, right-click Local Area Network connection and select Properties. Now
select Internet Protocol Version 4(TCP/IPv4) and click Properties.

Now once you are inside the TCP/IP properties of your computer, click Use the following
IP and enter 192.168.0.1 as IP address and 255.255.255.0 as subnet mask. Leave the
other details blank and click OK.

Now go to TCP/IP properties of the second computer and enter the same details except
the IP address, which should be 192.168.0.2 and click OK.

Now the networks are ready, you might need to restart both computers in some cases. If
you are looking to share the Internet Connection between two computers, go to Local
Area Network properties again and click on sharing tab. Here you can select the enable
internet connection sharing.

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To share files and folders between the two computers, go to the properties of that
file/folder and select Sharing tab. Click Share to being sharing it on the network.

Done.

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Anatomy of an IP address
• The IP address is a 32-bit address that consists of two components. One component is
the network portion of the address, consisting of the network bits. The network bits make
up the left portion of the address. They consist of the first bit up to some boundary, to be
discussed later. The second component is the host portion of the address, consisting of the
host bits. The host bits make up the right portion of the address. They consist of the
remaining bits not included with the network bits.

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