Networking › Module 6 › Lesson 4
Lab — Explore Your Local Network
Inventory links, addresses, neighbors, listeners, and routes on your own machine
Opening
See your LAN the way an analyst does
Theory about MACs, ARP, and DHCP clicks when you read live output. This lab stays on your machine and your home/lab network only—no scanning strangers, no attacking neighbors. Linux ip/ss commands below; Windows notes call out equivalents where helpful.
1. Step 1 — Interfaces and Link State
Show network interfaces and link statusip link show
ip link show
Look for state UP/DOWN and the link/ether MAC (e.g. link/ether aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff). Windows: ipconfig /all or Get-NetAdapter in PowerShell.
2. Step 2 — IP Addresses
Show IPv4/IPv6 addresses on interfacesip addr show
ip addr show
Find your inet (IPv4) address and /prefix. A 192.168.x.x or 10.x address usually means private LAN via DHCP or static config. Windows: ipconfig.
3. Step 3 — Neighbors (ARP Cache)
Show neighbor / ARP tableip neigh show arp -a
ip neigh show arp -a
You should see the gateway and other local devices with MAC mappings (REACHABLE, STALE, or similar). Empty or incomplete entries can mean quiet LAN or filtering. Windows: arp -a.
4. Step 4 — Listening Ports
List listening TCP/UDP socketsss -tuln
ss -tuln
Note unexpected listeners—same skill as the ports lab. Windows: netstat -ano or Get-NetTCPConnection.
5. Step 5 — Default Route
Show the routing tableip route show
ip route show
Find default via <gateway-ip> dev <iface>. That gateway IP should appear in your ARP/neighbor table. Windows: route print or Get-NetRoute.
Complete Local Network Lab
Run all six commands on your own machine only (Linux shown; Windows equivalents are fine). Save output to ~/cyberlium-lab/lan-essentials.txt (or Documents\\cyberlium-lab on Windows) including: (1) your interface MAC and IP, (2) at least one neighbor MAC/IP pair, (3) your default gateway from the route table, (4) two listening ports from ss/netstat. Do not scan or probe other people's networks.