NETWORK MANAGEMENT (BIT3204)

Troubleshooting Network Problems

Dr. Nadia IRADUKUNDA

E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]

Kigali, Rwanda
 TROUBLESHOOTING NETWORK PROBLEMS
❖ Troubleshooting is a process of identifying common network problems.
◼ If a computer is unable to connect to a network or
◼ see other computers on a network for instance, it may be necessary to troubleshoot the
network.
❖ A network may not work because of any of the below reasons:
◼ Bad network hardware/ interconnections.
◼ Network card not connected properly.
◼ Bad network card drivers or software settings.
◼ Firewall preventing computers from seeing each other.
◼ Connection related issues.

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Con’t

❖ Because of the large variety of

◼ network configurations,
◼ operating systems,
◼ setup, etc...
◼ not all of the above information may apply to your network or operating system.
❖ If your computer is connected to a company or large network, or you are not
the administrator of the network, it is recommended that if you are unable
to resolve your issues after following the troubleshooting recommendations
that you contact the network administrator or company representative.

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 Basic Troubleshooting

❖ Verify connections LED: is properly connected to the back of the computer.

◼ In addition, when checking the connection of the network cable, ensure that the LEDs on the
network are properly illuminated.
◼ For example, a network card with a solid green LED or light usually indicates that the card is
either connected or receiving a signal.
◼ Note: generally, when the green light is flashing, this is an indication of data being sent or
received.
◼ If, however, the card does not have any lights or has orange or red lights, it is possible that
either the card is bad, the card is not connected properly, or that the card is not receiving a
signal from the network.

❖ Verify the network cable

◼ If you are on a small or local network and have the capability of checking a hub or switch, verify
that the cables are properly connected and that the hub or switch has power.

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❖ It can be done in 2 ways:
◼ Hardware
◼ Software

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Cable tester

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Time domain reflectometers/ Optical TDR

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Light meter

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Multimeters

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Line testers

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Con’t

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 Software Tools
❖Built-in Tools
◼ tracert/ traceroute

◼ ipconfig / ifconfig / ip

◼ arp, ping, arping, and pathping

◼ hostname

◼ netstat

◼ etc…

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TRACEROUTE command

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Tracert google.com

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Number of hoops

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Number of hoops

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Round time each data packet took to each point and back to your computer

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For the last hop, time is a bit higher

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Comparison between traceroute & ping

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The last column tells us the IP addresses of each router / final destination/ Domaine name if
it’s available

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Sometimes High Round trip times reveals bottlenecks/ connection interruptions or network

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High round trips times

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Problem on the 5th router

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Sometimes high round trip time doesn’t necessary mean a problem

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Con’t

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It may be due to long distance between routers (thousands miles apart)

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Asterix (*) , there could be a problem with the router/ or the router is working fine but not
configured to return traceroute replies.

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One strange higher round trip time, doesn’t necessary indicate a problem, it just means
something strange has happened to that one data packet.

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TTL: Time to live

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TTL: a given value to the data packets on how long they can live before they are discarded.

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Tracert –h 4 google.com = limit hops to a maximum number of 4.

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TTL prevents data packets from travelling endlessly around the internet

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IPCONFIG Command

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IPCONFIG Command

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IPV4, IPV6 Address

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Subnet Mask

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Default Gateway

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Default Gateway

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These days, IPv4, and IPv6 are being provided, since IPv4 has run out.

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Dual stack

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Con’t

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ipconfig/all

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ipconfig/all

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DNS

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DNS

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DNS

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DNS RESOLVER CACHE

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Con’t

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Con’t

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Con’t

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Con’t

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ipconfig/displaydns

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ARP command

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ARP command

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ARP command (IP/MAC Address)

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Checking ARP cache (arp -a)

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Checking ARP

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Checking ARP

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Checking ARP

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Dynamic/static

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Dynamic/static

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Dynamic/static

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Dynamic/static

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PING Command

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PING Command

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ping (IP address)

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ping (IP address)

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Request timed out

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Request timed out

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Packets lost

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Destination unreachable

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For example:

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You ping another site (like yahoo), and it works

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You conclude by saying that you are connected well to the network

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Then, the problem might be internet browser/ firewall

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Ping, can save your time!

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Ping to test DNS

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ping yahoo.com (ping domain name)

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Ping could not find host yahoo.com

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But if you use ping (domain IP like 8.8.8.8 of google.com), and it works.
This shows a problem of DNS resolver

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Ipconfig /flushdns

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To flush your DNS resolver cache

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ping /?

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NETSTAT Command

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NETSTAT Command

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NETSTAT Command

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NETSTAT Command

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Two https

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One ftp

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Two pc

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NETSTAT Command with subcommands

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Netstat –a : types of protocops (tcp/udp)

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Netstat –a : types of protocops (tcp/udp)

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Netstat –b (shows which program is used to make connection)

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Netstat –b (shows domain name in the foreign address)

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Netstat –bf (shows which program is used to make connection, and the domain name)

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Netstat –? (shows all protocol statistics)

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Other third party- software tools

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Other third party- software tools

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Other third party- software tools

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 Discuss the following in Groups
1. What is the purpose of having a TTL in the first place for trace route command.
2. Discuss in details the following protocols: TCP, and UDP, and provide their
differences and examples for each.
3. a. Why should you flush your DNS resolver cache?
b. Explain what is meant by DNS spoofing
4. Discuss the following third-party software tools for troubleshooting, and provide
examples for each.
◼ Packet sniffers
◼ Port scanners
◼ Throughput testers

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Thank you for Your Attention
Dr. Nadia IRADUKUNDA
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]