Staff who look after an office network and beginners who want networking concepts in plain words.
Networking basics: IP, DNS and connection checks
Learn to find the problem step by step when the internet or office network stops working.
Read the lessonsThe lessons are built on real office scenarios; you can safely try the commands on your own computer.
What will you be able to do?
- Understand the roles of IP address, gateway and DNS
- Check the state with ipconfig, ping and nslookup
- Break a connection problem into stages and solve it
Module preview
- 01IP addresses and DHCP
- 02How DNS works
- 03Checking connection problems
Lessons
IP addresses and DHCP
Every device on a network has an IP address, for example 192.168.1.25. On home and office networks the router usually assigns it automatically with DHCP. Open Command Prompt and type ipconfig: IPv4 Address is the computer's address and Default Gateway is the router's. If the address starts with 169.254, the computer could not get one from DHCP; check the cable or Wi-Fi, then run ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew.
How DNS works
DNS turns a site name (such as asanexcel.com) into an IP address, like a phone book. The command nslookup asanexcel.com shows which address comes back. If sites open by IP but not by name, the problem is usually DNS. ipconfig /flushdns clears the computer's old DNS cache; if needed, set a reliable DNS server such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 in the adapter settings.
Checking connection problems
Test from near to far. First ping the router (the Default Gateway address), then ping 8.8.8.8 to test internet access, then ping asanexcel.com to test DNS. The step where replies stop shows where the problem is: no reply from the router means the local network, none from 8.8.8.8 means the provider, and only names failing means DNS. tracert shows where packets slow down along the way.
Next step
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