Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet

Point To Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE)

The working standard for the PPPoE protocol was published by the IETF in 1999. The IETF specification for PPPoE is RFC 2516. PPPoE expands the original capability of PPP by allowing a virtual point to point connection over a multipoint Ethernet network architecture. PPPoE is a protocol that is widely used by ISPs to provision digital subscriber line (DSL) high speed Internet services, of which the most popular service is ADSL. The similarity between PPPoE and PPP has led to the widespread adoption of PPPoE as the preferred protocol for implementing high speed Internet access. Service providers can use the same authentication server for both PPP and PPPoE sessions, resulting in a cost savings. PPPoE uses standard methods of encryption, authentication, and compression specified by PPP.

PPPoE is configured as a point to point connection between two Ethernet ports. As a tunneling protocol, PPPoE is used as an effective foundation for the transport of IP packets at the network layer. IP is overlaid over a PPP connection and uses PPP as a virtual dial up connection between points on the network. From the user's perspective, a PPPoE session is initiated by using connection software on the client machine or router. PPPoE session initiation involves the identification of the Media Access Control (MAC) address of the remote device. This process, also known as PPPoE discovery, involves the following steps:

Initiation - The client software sends a PPPoE Active Discovery Initiation (PADI) packet to the server to intitiate the session.

1. Offer - The server responds with a PPPoE Active Discovery Offer (PADO) packet.
2. Request - Upon receipt of the PADO packet, the client responds by sending a PPPoE Active Discovery Request (PADR) packet to the server.
3. Confirmation - Upon receipt of the PADR packet, the server responds by generating a unique ID for the PPP session and sends it in a PPPoE Active Discovery Session (PADS) confirmation packet to the client.

When a PPPoE session is initiated, the destination IP address is only used when the session is active. The IP address is released after the session is closed, allowing for efficient re-use of IP addresses.

USB DSL/ cable modem

Some usb dsl/cable modems may get disconnected after a little while. A possible reason that could cause this problem is that in windows xp there is an option that allows the computer to turn off a usb device to save power. To disable this option:

1) click start, highlight my computer, right click and select properties and a window will pop up with the system properties
2) click on the hardware tab and press the device manager button
3) expand the universal serial bus controllers
4) Double click on the USB Root Hub.
5)Select the Power Management tab and UNTICK the "allow the computer to turn off the device to save power"

If you have more than one USB Root Hub, then you should apply the steps to each one of them
That's it, you won't need to restart the computer!

How to stop modem noise

The noise that some dial up 33/56k modems make is awful, and the volume slider in modem properties never seems to stop it. Make sure you're modem is NOT connected to the internet at the time.

Go to Control Panel>Phone and Modem Options and click on the Modem tab, click on the modem listed and click on properties. In the new dialogue box that comes up click on Advanced. In the text box under the words Extra Initialization Commands type ATM0 (number 0 not letter O). Click on OK, then OK again, etc.

Try this to another modem.

LynkSys Router Tweaks

Lynksys Routers

Here's how to stealth your port 113.

Open your Internet Explorer home page and in the address bar type in http://(then your ip address given to you by your router. If you dont know it follow this thread: Start/All Programs Accessories/Command Prompt. In Command Prompt type in ipconfig(spacebar)/all - now dont type in the spacebar but hit your spacebar then forward slash/all. your ip address will
come up. If we have the same router it should be 192.168.1.1. So it should be http://192.168.1.1 - when you click go an NR041 window should pop up. Now in the Password box type in the password given to you by Lynksys or if we have the same it should be admin <--- (in lowercase). You wont need to type in a Username

When the Cable/Router Basic Setup window opens it may open to the Basic Settings so if this is the case click on the Advanced Settings tab. When the Advanced Settings window opens click on the Forwarding tab. - The Advanced Settings may automatically open at first so the better.

Now when the Forwarding window opens, on the left hand of that window go down to Customized Applications. In the box below Customized Applications type in a title called Port 113 Stealth.

Now in the following boxes to the right you should type this:

Ext. Port - 113

Protocal TCP - put a check in this box by clicking on it.

Protocol UDP - leave blank.

Int Port - 113

IP Address - 192.168.1.250

Enable - put a check in this box by clicking on it.

Now click on the Apply button below.

Now go to grc.com and do a port scan and walla your port 113 will now be in stealth mode.

KaZaA

KaZaA, one of the most famous P2P programs tends to hog the processor, this results in the termination of the program after few seconds. This tweak can be used on systems that have the above mentioned problem. Here it is...

1. Download and install KaZaA.
2. Right-click on the shortcut of the program and click on "Run as...", this will prompt you to select a user to run the progam as..do not forget to select the "Protect my computer and data from unauthorized program activity".
3. Click OK and everything is back to normal..happy downloading!!

Here is a final note on what I just discovered..you cannot change the options while running in the protected mode..so just run it in the normal mode, I mean the mode that hogs your CPU...change the necessary options and close down before KaZaA terminates...this should do the trick!

Cheers!

Easy IP check

This tweak is a batch file that allows you to check your IP,Subnet,Gateway,MAC,DNS server, Etc. As well as check connectivity with your NIC. From the Run Command line.

Copy this code into notepad and save it in the windows directory folder as ip.bat.

@echo.
@echo IP INFORMATION
@echo By:David Kohanbash

@ipconfig/all | find "IP Address"
@ipconfig/all | find "Subnet Mask"
@ipconfig/all | find "Default Gateway"
@ipconfig/all | find "Host Name"
@ipconfig/all | find "DNS Suffix Search List"
@ipconfig/all | find "Physical Address"
@ipconfig/all | find "DHCP Enabled"
@ipconfig/all | find "DHCP Server"
@ping 127.0.0.1
@echo.
@pause

To run Goto Start>Run and type ip

PHONE DIALER

If your phone dialer is missing from the communications section.

go to "run"

type dialer

INTERNET PROTOCOL VERSION 6 IPv6

This protocol is distined to replace the Internet Protocal Version 4 used by Internet Explorer it uses hexadecimal ip addresses instead of decimal example ( decimal ip 62.98.231.67) (hexadecimal IP 2001:6b8:0:400::70c)

To install the IPv6 Protocol for Windows XP:

Log on to the computer running Windows XP with a user account that has local administrator privileges.
Open a command prompt. From the Windows XP desktop, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
At the command prompt, type:

Ipv6 install

For more information on IPv6, visit the site below:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/techinfo/administration/ipv6/default.asp

Basic Network Problem

Sometimes we encounter failure connection in our local area network. There are some possible reasons that we can count. Maybe the driver version of your Network Card Interface, virus, or some in the hardware part (maybe the network card is not inserted properly, the cable is broken).
First thing to troubleshoot is looking first at the software side (network driver). Try to look at your Device Manager (Control Panel>System>Hardware). When clicking the device manager button, new windows will pop-up showing your system properties, get rid on Network Adapter, double-click it and a drop-down list of your network driver will appear showing their running status. To determine its running status, just right click the driver you want and select properties, there, it will tell you if the driver is running properly. Restart your PC and try to check the connection.
If still the same problem, it’s time for the hardware side, try to check everything at the back. Check first the Ethernet cable, the LED indicator beside the Ethernet port, followed with the network card, PCI slots and your network device (Hub, switch and router).
This article will guide you to determine some system error. This is only a basic tutorial and there is more reason why you encounter this and there are lots of advance solutions on this. Try to seek all over the internet. I hope it will help a little bit. Just leave a comment. Thanks

POINT TO POINT PROTOCOL

Point To Point Protocol (PPP)

PPP was first proposed as a standard by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in 1989 and became a working standard in 1994. The IETF specification for PPP is RFC 1661. PPP is a protocol most widely used by Internet service providers (ISPs) to enable dial up connections to the Internet. PPP facilitates the transmission of data packets between point to point links. Originally designed to work with serial connections, PPP was adopted by ISPs to provide dial up Internet access. PPP can be encapsulated in a number of data link layer protocols, including Ethernet (PPPoE) and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (PPPoA).

PPP uses Link Control Protocol (LCP) to establish a session between a user's computer and an ISP. LCP is responsible for determining if the link is acceptable for data transmission. LCP packets are exchanged between multiple network points to determine link characteristics including device identity, packet size, and configuration errors.

PPP supports three types of user authentication protocols that provide varying levels of security. Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) is an access control protocol used to authenticate a user's password on the network access server. The network access server requests a password from the client machine and sends the retrieved password to an authentication server for verification. As an authentication protocol, PAP is considered the least secure because the password is not encrypted in transmission.

Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) is similar to PAP with several unique characteristics. Instead of requesting a password, the network access server sends a challenge message to the client machine. The challenge message is a random value. The client machine encrypts the challenge message with a user's password and sends the combination back to the access server. The access server forwards the challenge/password combination to the authentication server.
The authentication server encrypts the challenge with the user's password stored in the authentication database. If the user's response is a match, the password is considered authentic. CHAP uses the model of a shared secret (the user password) to authenticate the user. The use of CHAP is considered a moderately secure method of authentication.

Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) is considered an authentication framework used by a number of secure authentication protocols. EAP is most commonly used for authentication on wireless networks.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

What is DHCP?, dynamic host configuration protocol overview, network tutorials, troubleshooting tips, subnetting, IP addressing. DHCP or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a network protocol, which is configured in such a way that is provides the IP addresses to the network computers automatically. There is no need to assign the IP address to the client computers individually. DHCP assigns the IP addresses from the given range of the numbers also called DHCP scope.
On the other end, client computers are configured in such a way that they get the IP addresses automatically from the DHCP server during the boot up process. Additionally, DNS and WINS servers can also be configured with the DHCP server.
When a computer starts up it gets the IP addresses from the DHCP server from the defined pool of addresses. The assigning of the IP address by the DHCP server can be categorized as follows

HOW DOES IT WORKS?

1. A user turns on the computer with the DHCP client enabled on it.
2. The client PC sends broadcast request (known as DHCP DISCOVER) and then look for the DHCP server to answer.
3. The DHCP server receives the DISCOVER packet and based on the availability and defined settings, the server choose any available IP address and then give to the client. Then DHCP server sends back to the client with DHCP OFFER with that available address information.
4. Again client sends a request to DHCP server known as DHCP REQUEST, in which it lets the server know that it is using the address offered by the DHCP.
5. The DHCP server then again send a acknowledgement to the client known as DHCP ACK, in which it confirm the client that the specific IP address has been assigned to it for a given period of time.

This process of assigning the IP addresses by the DHCP server also known as DORA (Discover, Offer, Request, and Acknowledgement).

When a computer uses a static IP address there can be the chances of error and conflict when two computers use the same IP address. By using the DHCP server there are no chances of such kind of conflicts and errors.

Along with the IP addresses, the DHCP server also enables the client computers to extract all the settings and configurations from the DHCP server on an IP network. These settings include the Firewall, Router, DNS, NAT, WINS, Gateway and Subnet masks settings.

The overall purpose of the DHCP server is to reduce the workload and error margins, which can occur in assigning the IP addresses manually.

The IP address assigned by the DHCP server is for the limited or leased period of time and if a client needs an to extend that leased period for the IP address then client must send a extension request to the DHCP server before this period expires. If the client do not send an extension request, then this IP address becomes free on expiration and is assigned to another client. If a user wants to change the IP address given by the DHCP server then he/she do it by giving these commands on the command prompt.

IPconfig/release then IPconfig/renew

This command will remove the current IP address and assign a new IP address to the client.
There can also be some reserved addresses based on the MAC address or hostname of the client. These reserved addresses are fixed addresses and can only be assigned to the fixed clients.

MAC Address

MEDIA ACCESS CONTROL

A MAC address is an address which exists on Layer 2 of the OSI Model.

Layer 2 of the OSI model is the Data Link Layer. The Data Link Layer consists of two sublayers, the Media Access Control (MAC) layer and the Logical Link Control (LLC) layer. The MAC sublayer controls how a network node gains access to the data and permission to transmit it.

MAC addresses are globally unique addressed that are written into hardware at the time of manufacture. For this reason, MAC addresses are sometimes called Burned In Addresses (BIA).

After manufacture, it is possible in many cases to change the MAC address of a device in software.

MAC addresses are used by many different Layer 2 technologies, including Ethernet, Token Ring, 802.11, Bluetooth, FDDI, ATM, SCSI, and Fibre Channel.

Because MAC addresses originated in the Ethernet specification, the MAC address is sometimes referred to as the Ethernet Address.

A MAC address is 48 bits long. This means that there are 281,474,976,710,656 possible MAC addresses.

A sample MAC address looks like this:

00-0C-F1-56-98-AD

The first three bytes of this address (00-0C-F1) identify the manufacture of this network device, in this case Intel.

These first three bytes are assigned by the IEEE and the database is available online at IEEE OUI and Company_id Assignments.

The last three bytes of this address were assigned by Intel when they device was manufactured.

ETHERNET HUB

How to set-up Ethernet hub to expand or create a new network?. Ethernet Hub is a a simple device that connects multiple computers together and to the rest of the network, allowing communication to occur between all connected devices.

To set-up the Ethernet Hub device:

• Locate the WAN or uplink port of the Ethernet hub. Typically, it is located on the rear of the unit, and it is often separate from the LAN ports.

• Connect an Ethernet cable from the WAN port of the hub to either the Ethernet port of the internet modem or, if expanding a network, to an empty LAN port on the existing network’s router, switch or hub.

• Plug an Ethernet cable into one of the LAN ports on the Ethernet hub and connect the other end of cable to the computer or device that will be added to the network. Repeat for any other devices that will need to be on the network.

• Power up the Ethernet hub and the computers or other devices attached to it. On the front of the hub will be a series of LEDs that correspond to each LAN and WAN port on the hub. Every port that has a cable plugged into it should have one or more of the LEDs lit that represent that port. If not, check the connections and swap out the Ethernet cable if necessary.

To set-up the Software of the devices connected to the network

• Configure the network settings on each connected computer. If you are expanding a network and the network uses DCHP, or dynamic IP addressing, no configuration will be necessary. Configure the network settings on each connected computer. If you are expanding a network and the network uses DCHP, or dynamic IP addressing, no configuration will be necessary.

• On networks using static IP addressing or on a new network setup using the Ethernet hub, each computer or device must be assigned a unique IP address. Local IP addresses must use the allowed “private” address pools that will not interfere with internet addresses.

• Acceptable addresses include 192.168.x.x, 172.16.x.x to 172.31.x.x, or 10.x.x.x. The “x” represents a number that is chosen by the user, from 0 to 254. All computers on the network should share the first three numbers in the address, with the final number representing the individual computer.
• In a network with three computers, for example, the first could be 192.168.1.1, the second could be 192.168.1.2 and the third could be 192.168.1.3, though the final number does not need to be sequential.

1. Click the “Start” button in Windows, select “Control Panel" and double-click the icon labeled “Network Connections.”
2. Right-click the icon for the Ethernet adapter and select “Properties.” Click on the check box marked “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” and press the “Properties” button.
3. Select the radio button labeled “Use the following IP address.” Enter a unique IP address for the computer and the applicable subnet mask. If a router is used on the network, enter the router’s IP address as the default gateway. Press the “OK” button and reboot if necessary.
4. Enable file and printer sharing from the “Properties” dialog for the Ethernet card if files will be transferred between the networked computers.
5. Click the “Start” button, select “Control Panel” and double-click on the “System” icon. Select the “Computer Name” tab and click on the button labeled “Change” to set the computer’s network name. In the “Computer Name” box, enter a unique name for the computer. In the “Member of” section, choose the radio button marked “Workgroup” and enter the workgroup of the network. If setting up a new network, this name can be change but all computers on the network must share the same workgroup name.
6. Verify that all computers can access the network and the Internet if connected.

ETHERNET NETWORKING SYSTEM

First of all, we have to be familiar with the word "Ethernet" .. WHAT IS ETHERNET?

Ethernet is a type of network cabling and signaling specifications developed by Xerox in the late 1970. While Internet is a global network, Ethernet is a local area network (LAN). No computer should be an island. With Ethernet, file sharing and printer sharing among machines became possible. The term "ether" was coined by Greek philosopher Aristotle to describe the "divine element" in the heaven. In the 17^th century, French philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes theorized that the universe has no void; all space, including the heaven and the earth, is filled with ether, which is composed of very fine particles. In short, "ether" is said to be a kind of substance that exists everywhere. Although this is a misconception, network developers still adopted the term "ether" and therefore "Ethernet" means "a network of everywhere".

Standard of Ethernet.

There are several standards of Ethernet. The most popular is 10baseT. "10" stands for signaling speed: 10 mega bits per second. "Base" stands for Baseband which uses a single frequency so that all devices connected to a network can hear the transmissions. "T" stands for twisted pair cable, 10baseT can support up to 100 meters (328 feet) of twisted pair segmet with only one tranceiver per segment.

Twisted cable for Ethernet network system

• CROSSOVER cable - this type of cabling system is intended only for two PC (connect it directly to each Ethernet port). Note: when connecting more than 2 PC, use straight-thru cable.
  
• STRAIGHT-THRU cable - this type of cabling system is most recommended when you design more than two PC connected all together. The first end of the cable will be connected to the PC's NIC (network interface card) and the other end is at the network device (hub or switch).
  

When designing a Network, it is better to become more familiar with the things needed. This guide will help you to make your own Ethernet cable.

Advantages of Ethernet

• Upgradability -- there are several network protocol such as FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) which is 10x faster than 10baseT but it's 14x greater expensive than Ethernet.
  
• Simplicity of Installation -- it is easy to install
  
• Wide availability -- this is most widely use, even a MAC have already its built-in Ethernet ports and today more and more PC offer this features.
  
• Connectivity to the backbone -- Ethernet is a local area network protocol for different sub-network. It has an ability to connect wherever in the local area network in which all sub-networks are connected.