Chapter One

2.0 Fundamentals of Troubleshooting the Network

Here you will learn network troubleshooting tips, fix tcp/ip errors, tcp/ip settings, internet
connectivity errors, how to fix pc errors, lan connectivity issues, traceroute and ping commands.
Whether your operating system is Windows or Linux network problems are likely to arise. Many
times the network problems arisee due to improperly configured TCP/IP settings. Following is
the basic checklist to identify and troubleshoot the basic networking errors.
1. First of all you should learn what stopped working server or client computer also see if the
outage affecting the other computers or only one.
2. If your server stopped working you should inform the users of the server and you should start
working on fixing the error.
3. If a single client computer stopped working or disconnected from the network, ask the user of
that computer that what recent changes cause the server to stop working such as newly installed
software or games, service packs, internet software, new hardware or any other thing.
4. Check the physical network connectivity. The most network problems arise due to the physical
layers failure.
5. Check all the network cable connections. You can start at the NIC and check if the green light
is blinking then check the hub and see if the computer is getting the link across the cable.
6. Get a cable tester to check the connectivity of the cables.
7. Finally start pinging the network both Windows and Linux have the PING command. You can
use ping command in this way start > Run > cmd > type "ping" then IP address of the other
computer.
How to Troubleshoot Connectivity problems
1. Use the ping command to test the basic connectivity. By using the ping command you can
isolate network hardware problems and incompatible configurations. By using the path ping you
can detect packet loss.
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2. If you want to see the Ping's statistics then you ping -t command and press enter to continue
and if you want to stop then press CTRL+BREAK. To watch Ping statistics, use the ping -t
command. To see statistics and continue, press CTRL+BREAK. To stop, press CTRL+C.
3. If you remote system is across the delay link, such as satellite link responses may take longer.
4. Check the event logs for network card and other hardware and software configurations and
connectivity related entries.
5. Check whether the NIC card is on the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).
6. Check other computers that use the same gateway and are plugged into the same hub or switch
and if these computers do not show any network connectivity problem then the problem is on the
only one computer.
7. Contact the vendor of each NIC and motherboard and update the BIOS.
8. Replace the network adapter of the system with the good configured system and see if the
same error arise again.
SOME BASIC TROUBLESHOOTING
Make sure that you have the same IP address schme, same subnet mask, same default gateway,
same DNS and DHCP settings for all the computers in a network. Also make sure that you can
ping the other computers by their IP address as well as by their name. Make sure that you have
the same workgroup or domain name for all the computers. For troubleshooting and
administrative purposes turn off all the firewalls. Use the same administrative password for
troubleshooting on all the computers. Try pinging the other computers this will test the TCP/IP
connectivity. You can use the ping command in this format ping 10.100.100.1 and if you can get
the reply from the other computer then the connectivity is ok and if get the time out error then
there must me some error in the connectivity or error in configurations.
Issues in Finding websites
If you find any problem in finding the websites then ping the website name rather than the IP
address and this will determine if your DNS entry is corret or working for example ping
www.google.com. If this works then problem must be in your web browser due to
misconfigurations. You should check the proxy server settings of your browsers and clear the
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cache and temporary internet files.

Issues in Pinging a computer
If you can't ping the computer by its name then check the DNS IP address in your network or
dial-up setup.
Issues in connecting to the other device on Local Area Network
If you can ping all the other computers but are not allowed access then make sure that you are
using the same user name and password assigned by the same domain controller. Try connecting
to the computer using start > run > server name where serve name is the name of the server you
want to connect to. Also add the computer name and it's IP address in the LMHOSTS file, which
resides at Windows\System32\Drivers directory for Windows 2000 or XP.
Issues in Network Connectivity.
If a computer is unable to connect to a network or see other computers in a network it may be
necessary to troubleshoot the network. Due to the following reasons you network may not work.
1. Network card not connected properly
2. Bad NIC card drive's settings
3. Firewall preventing computers from seeing each other.
4. Connection related issues.
5. Bad network hardware.
Solution:
Because of the large variety of the network configurations, setup, software, hardware operating
systems etc not all the information may apply to your network or operating system. First of all
verify that the network cable of each computer is properly connected, one end to the NIC card,
which is plugged into the computer and one end to the Hub or switch. Ensure that the green light
is blinking on the NIC, this shows that the NIC is either receiving or sending the data. On the
other hand if the card does not have any lights or has orange or red lights, then is possible that
either the NIC adapter is bad or not connected properly.

Make sure that the cables are properly connected to the hub or swtich. Make sure that the newly
installed NIC adapter is not conflicting with the other NIC cards on the network and a unique IP
address is assigned to each NIC card. If there is some conflict then the device manager may
identify the conflicting card. Furthermore, make sure that the NIC is capable of pinging or seeing
itself by the ping command. If you are on the TCP/IP network, make sure that the correct
protocols are installed. If you are using a firewall, ensure all the ports required are open. While
troubleshooting you can close the firewall program so that they there should not occur any
conflict.
TCP/IP Configurations Checking
The first step in the troubleshooting process is to check the TCP/IP settings. You can check it by
using the IPCONFIG/All command on the command prompt. You will see the configuration
results. If you see a blank configuration for a card this means then the card is not assigned any IP
address. You can assign the IP address manually or via DHCP server. If you are using the DHCP
server for assigning the IP addresses then you can use the following commands to get and release
the IP address.
IPConfig/Release
IPConfig/Renew
IPConfig/All
The basics for troubleshooting are:
Make sure you have the same IP scheme (e.g. 192.168.0.x).
Make sure you have the same Subnet Mask, Gateway, and DNS IP addresses
Make sure you can ping the other computers by IP ADDRESS
Make sure you can ping the other computers by NAME
Make sure you have the same workgroup name (watch for trailing spaces)

For troubleshooting purposes, uninstall any 3rd party firewall software and turn off XP's built in
one. You can always add more complexity after you get it working.
With Windows2000, XP and Vista, make sure you have the same username and password as the
person logging onto the other computers. The default setting for all but the Home Versions is to
require a password for network access.
If the computer is still unable to obtain an IP address, then there are several things that can
causing this problem such as bad network cable or NIC card, DHCP server might have assigned
all the IP addresses from its pool, misconfigured TCP/IP settings, incorrect user name and
password. You can try to add a new well configured machine to the replace the malfunctioning
machine to see if the new machine is working with its settings. Also see if the driver of the NIC
is properly installed or not. In case of driver's problem go to the vendor's website and install a
new exact driver for the NIC.
Another method of determining network issues is to use the tracert command if you are a
Windows user or the traceroute command if you are a Linux or Unix variant user. This command
will give you an overview of each of the devices (routers) a packet travels (hops) over a network
and can give you an idea of where a problem exists in your network or outside of your network.
To use this command you must be at the command line and type one of the below
commands depending on your operating system.
tracert google.com
or
traceroute google.com
If run successfully you should begin to see each hop between the computer and network
devices. When the connection fails, determine what device is causing the issue by
reviewing the traceroute listing.
TCP/IP Administration and Troubleshooting Tools in Windows
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Microsoft Windows provides a set of built-in utilities for administering and troubleshooting
TCP/IP networks. Windows contains many of the standard network troubleshooting tools found
on most other computers as well as some additional, more advanced ones.
Each of these utilities runs from the Windows command prompt. From the Start menu, choose
Run and type 'cmd' to open a command window, then type in the name of the utility to run.
1. Ping
'Ping' is the single most powerful troubleshooting tool for networked computers. The ping tool
can at different times verify that TCP/IP is installed correctly on a computer, that a computer has
joined the network successfully, that a computer can reach the Internet, that a remote Web site or
computer is responding, and that computer name resolution is working.
2. IPconfig
The 'ipconfig' tool shows a computer's TCP/IP configuration. It displays the IP address, the
network (subnet) mask and the Internet/network gateway address (if one is set for that network).
Use this tool to verify that the TCP/IP configuration has been set up correctly.
3. Hostname
The 'hostname' utility in Windows displays the computer's name. This tool is often used on a
computer to verify its name when attempts to map network drives on that computer fail.
4. Tracert
'Tracert" (pronounced "traceroute") sends a test network message from a computer to a
designated remote host and tracks the path taken by that message. Specifically, 'tracert' displays
the name or IP address of each intermediate router or other network gateway device the message
passes through to reach its destination. 'Tracert' is especially useful when diagnosing
connectivity problems on the Internet or within a school or corporate network.
5. Arp
The 'arp' command manages the Address Resolution Protocol cache. The ARP cache maintains a
list of computer names and their corresponding IP addresses. In some situations, primarily on
school or corporate networks, an administrator may need to view or modify the contents of the
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ARP cache. 'Arp' is considered an advanced network administration tool. It used to vew the ARP
(Address Resolution Protocol) cache on the interface of the local computer to detect invalid
entries.
6. Route
Another advanced network administration tool on Windows , 'route' supports manipulation and
viewing of a computer's routing table. 'Route' can be used on school or corporate networks to
diagnose cases where a computer cannot reach another computer on the LAN.
7. Nbtstat
Nbtstat (NetBios over TCP/IP) enables you to check information about NetBios names.
It helps us view the NetBios name cache (nbtstat -c) which shows the NetBios names and the
corresponding IP address that has been resolved (nbtstat -r) by a particular host as well as the
names that have been registered by the local system (nbtstat n).

8. NSLookup
NSLookup provides a command-line utility for diagnosing DNS problems. In
its most basic usage, NSLookup returns the IP address with the matching
host name.
9. Netstat

Display statistics for current TCP/IP connections. Netstat (Network Statistics) displays network
connections (both incoming and outgoing), routing tables, and a number of network interface
statistics. Its a helpful tool in finding problems and determining the amount of traffic on the
network as a performance measurement.

Potential Network Connectivity Problems

LAN terminators are not connected properly.

The LAN interface is not powered up.

The LAN interface has the wrong IP address.

The subnet mask is incorrect.

The same IP address is used by another system.

The routing table is configured incorrectly.

The router is down.

The LAN cable is defective.

The LAN segment is too long.

The /etc/hosts file is configured incorrectly.