Network Troubleshooting Guide



Network Troubleshooting Guide

The purpose of this guide is to present some basic steps that can be taken to troubleshoot various networking problems.

• Check to make sure that the network card is properly configured by going into device manager and checking the properties of the network card. Under the general tab it should state that the device is working properly and that there are no conflicts and it is properly identified.

• Check to make sure that the proper networking software components are installed by checking the network properties from control panel. The installed software components will vary depending on the installed operating system. The following components are usually installed: Client for Microsoft Networks, File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks, Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and the installed network card.

• Check to make sure that the link lights on the back of the card and where YOUR cable plugs into the hub are lit (this may be difficult to check depending on your network configuration, here at WIT the hubs are located in a locked central wiring closet).

The following steps will only work if you are using the TCP/IP protocol.

1. Run the WINIPCFG command from the run line for Win9X. In Windows NT and Windows 2000 click on Start/Run and type CMD to open a Command Prompt then type IPCONFIG, which will show your current TCP/IP configuration.

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2. You can also use IPCONFIG /ALL to show additional IP network statistics such as the physical address (MAC) of the network card, IP addresses of the DNS, WINS and DHCP servers on the network. This will also tell you if your IP address has been automatically assigned.

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3. To make sure that the IP address that has been assigned is current you should run the command IPCONFIG.EXE /RELEASE. This will release the current IP address. You cannot release an IP address that has been statically assigned.

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4. Now run the command IPCONFIG /RENEW. This command forces the system to request a new IP address from the DHCP server.

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5. The new IP address that it receives is generally the same one that the system had before which shows that it was current. If the IP address comes back blank or with zeros, this indicates that your system was unable to detect or find the DHCP server. If the new address is 169.254.0.1 to 169.254.255.254 and with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 this indicates that the system used Automatic Private IP addressing to assign an IP address because no DHCP server could be found.

6. Ping the IP address of the local loopback adapter. The loopback adapter uses the address 127.0.0.1 and is in a range of IP address that has been reserved for troubleshooting. The command you use from a command prompt is Ping 127.0.0.1. If the replies are successful, it indicates that TCP/IP is installed correctly. If you receive a request timed out message, this indicates that TCP/IP is not installed correctly and you will need to uninstall and reinstall the software networking components. This is not testing hardware.

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7. Now using the Ping command ping the IP address of your computer that was found using either steps 1 or 2. If the reply is successful proceed to the next step. If you receive request timed out this indicates that TCP/IP is not bound to your network adapter and at this point it is a configuration issue.

8. Next ping the IP address of the default Gateway. If this ping is successful, your network hardware and software is working properly. If you receive request timed out make sure you typed the address correctly and try again. If it still fails ping the IP address of a computer near you. If you again receive the error request timed out this indicates that you have a hardware issue. If the request was successful this indicates that your system hardware is working fine and that there is a problem with your default gateway.

9. The last step is issued when the system passes all other tests and this is used to determine the scope of the problem. Now you need to ping the IP address of a computer on a different subnet. This could mean ping an Internet IP or domain address to verify connectivity beyond your local network.

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