Click the Use the following IP address radio button. This enables the other fields so

Understanding Local Area Networking | 13 5. Click OK. Then, in the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box, click OK. This will complete and bind the configuration to the network adapter.

6. Test your configuration. We will do this in two ways, first with the ipconfig command,

and second with the ping command. a. Open a command prompt. Do this by pressing the Windows + R keys and typing cmd in the open fi eld. Now, type ipconfi g. The results should look something like Figure 1-13. Notice the IPv4 Address fi eld in the results and the IP address that is listed. This should be the IP address you confi gured previously. If not, go back and check your Internet Protocol Properties dialog box. Figure 1-13 ipconfig results b. Ping a computer on the same 192.168.1 network. If there are no other computers, ping your own IP address. For example, type the following command: ping 192.168.1.1 This command sends requests out to the other IP address. If the other computer is running and confi gured properly, it should reply back. A positive ping would look similar to Figure 1-14, in which four replies are received by the pinging computer. If for some reason you do not get a reply or you get another message like “request timed out,” you should check the IP configuration again to make sure that the other computer you are trying to ping is configured properly. Also make sure that all involved computers are wired to the network. You can also ping your own computer using the loopback address, also known as the local loopback. Every Windows computer automatically gets this address; it is 127.0.0.1. This address exists is in addition to the logical address that you assigned earlier. Try the command ping loopback and check your results. You can also try ping localhost and ping 127.0.0.1. Regardless, you should get results from 127.0.0.1. When pinging this address, no network Figure 1-14 Ping results Always test your network configurations TAKE NOTE 14 | Lesson 1 traffic is incurred; because the network adapter is really just looping the ping back to the OS, it never places any packets on to the network. Therefore, this is a solid way to test whether TCPIP is installed correctly to a network adapter, even if you aren’t physically connected to a network. When you are finished, return your computer back to its regular IP settings. We will explain more about IPs in Lesson 5, “Understanding Internet Protocol.” CERTIFICATION READY How do you identify the various types of LANs? 1.2 Identifying Types of LANs There are several types of local area networks that a computer can connect to. An organization must choose whether to use wired connections, wireless connections, or a mix of the two. It is also possible to have virtual LANs. The first and most common type of LAN is the wired LAN. Here, computers and other devices are wired together using copper-based twisted-pair cables. These cables have RJ45 plugs on each end, which make the actual connection to the RJ45 ports that reside on the computer’s network adapter and on hubs, switches, or routers. Of course, there will probably be some other cabling equipment between each of these, but we will cover that equipment in more depth in Lesson 3, “Understanding Wired and Wireless Networks.” Figure 1-15 gives yet another diagram, but this time it depicts three LANs connected together by a router. A few new devices we haven’t seen until now are shown in this figure—namely, a firewall, which protects the LAN or LANs from the Internet, and a super computer, which occupies its own little LAN. Figure 1-15 Wired LAN documentation Super Computer Firewall ` `