Quaid-e-Awam University

of Engineering, Science & Technology

Larkana Campus, SINDH-PAKISTAN
Department of Electronic Engineering

Computer Communication & Networking (1 s t Term, 4 t h Year)

WORKSHOP NO. 1

Installing Network Interface Controller (NIC) in Windows Environment, and performing auto
and manual IP configurations

Name of Student: __________________________________Roll No: ______________________

Date _________________________________ Signature of Instructor: ____________________

LAB. HANDOUT EXPERIMENTAL SETUP PROCEDURE RESULT ANALYSIS TOTAL POINTS

(10 Points) (50 Points) (20 Points) (10 Points) (10 Points) (100 Points)

Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this lab, the student will be able
• To understand the installation of Network Interface Controller (NIC)
• To understand auto and manual IP configurations

Equipment & Material:

• PC with Windows Operating System
• NIC / LAN Card

Theory:
A network interface controller (NIC, also known as a network interface card, network
adapter, LAN adapter, and by similar terms) is a computer hardware component that connects
a computer to a computer network.

Figure 1.1: Network Interface Controller

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 Networking in Windows NT and later versions allows computers running the Windows
operating system to participate in a domain or peer-to-peer network and share resources with
other computers, running Windows NT, 9x, 2000, XP or some other operating system.
TCP/IP is a protocol suite well suited for larger networks, but it can also be used on
smaller networks. It is the protocol that the Internet uses. As you know TCP/IP is a collection of
many different protocols, with IP being the protocol that runs on the network layer. Among other
things, IP defines addressing requirements for the hosts.
An IP (Internet Protocol) address uniquely identifies a node or host connection to an IP
network. System administrators or network designers assign IP addresses to nodes. IP addresses
are configured by software and are not hardware specific. An IP address is a 32 bit binary
number usually represented as four fields each representing 8 bit numbers in the range 0 to 255
(sometimes called octets) separated by decimal points.
For example: 150.215.17.9
It is sometimes useful to view the values in their binary form.
150.215.17.9
10010110.11010111.00010001.00001001

An IP address consists of two parts, one identifying the network and one identifying the
node. The class of the address determines which part belongs to the network address which part
belongs to the node address.

Nic Installation Steps:

Step 1: In order to Install the NIC on your computer, Right Click the My Computer icon on
your desktop and Choose Properties

Figure 1.2: NIC Installation Step 1

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Step 2: Click Hardware and Press “Device Manager” Tab

Figure 1.3: NIC Installation Step 2

Step 3: Right Click on the Device Manager Panel and Click Scan For Hardware Changes

Figure 1.4: NIC Installation Step 3

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The Wizard will automatically scan for any plug and play devices you may have that are not
installed and will install them automatically provided the Operating System has its drivers in the
List as shown in figure 1.5 below

Figure 1.5: Automatic Installation of NIC

Step 4: Once the NIC Card is installed successfully. Check its Properties to make sure that its
working properly as shown in figure 1.6 below:

Figure 1.6: NIC Installation Step 4

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Step 5: Confirm the Message That Says “The Device Is Working Properly” as shown in figure
1.7 below:

Figure 1.7: NIC Installation Step 5

Step 6: Click the “Advanced” Tab and Choose Media Type and select the Auto Select value
from the drop down box and confirm your selection as shown in figure 1.8 below:

Figure 1.8: NIC Installation Step 6

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IP Address Configuration Steps:
Step 1: Right click on My Network Places and click Properties

Figure 1.9: IP Configuration Step 1

Step 2: Right Click Local Area Connection and choose Properties. When the Local Area
Connection Properties page appear Check the “Show Icon In The Taskbar When
Connected”, in order to show an icon on the taskbar showing connectivity. Now double click the
Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

Figure 1.10: IP Configuration Step 2

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Step 3: By default the IP address is set to get automatically. Therefore, a DHCP (Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol) server is required to assign IP address automatically to the hosts. But a
user can also assign a manual IP address to the computer by clicking the Radio Button “Use the
Following IP Address”
Enter the first three octets (Network segment in case of CLASS C) as follows:
192.168.0.
The fourth octet is the host segment in case of CLASS C IP address (For example: 192.168.0.1).
Pressing the Tab key will insert the Subnet Mask relating to the IP Class automatically.
Pressing OK key will set the IP address of the computer as entered by the user manually.

Figure 1.11: IP Configuration Step 3

In order to confirm the installation of your NIC card go to Start menu and press Run. In
the space type “Ping 127.0.0.1”.
Ping is a computer network administration software utility used to test the reach ability of
a host on an Internet Protocol (IP) network and to measure the round-trip time for messages sent
from the originating host to a destination computer.
The address 127.0.0.1 is reserved as the 'HOME' address for any network card installed in
a computer. This is known as the “Loopback Address” and is used to test if the TCP/IP protocol
is functioning properly on your machine. Basically, when you PING 127.0.0.1, you are having
your network card PING itself. If you cannot ping 127.0.0.1, this means that something is wrong
with NIC card or TCP/IP software.

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 Figure 1.12: Ping 127.0.0.1

Joining The Workgroup:

Step 1: In order to join a particular workgroup right click My Computer icon on your desktop
and choose Properties. Choose Network Identification and choose Properties again.

Figure 1.13: Joining the Workgroup Step 1

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Step 2: Click the radio button Workgroup and type workgroup name (for example: CYBER)
and confirm your selection.

Figure 1.14: Joining the Workgroup Step 2

Step 3: Ok the Welcome Banner and restart your computer.

Figure 1.15: Joining the Workgroup Step

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Review Questions:

1. What is the purpose of NIC card?

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2. What information you can get from the two LEDs on the NIC card?
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3. What is the purpose of Ping command?

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4. When Ping 127.0.0.1 is used and what its results show?

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5. What is the difference between Auto and manual IP setting?

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6. What is the difference between Auto and manual IP setting?

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7. What is DHCP and when it is used?
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