OBTAIN AN IP ADDRESS BY USING DHCPBEFORE YOU BEGIN THIS EXERCISE, YOU...

15-3Lesson 1 Configuring Local Area Network (LAN) Connections

Lesson 1: Configuring Local Area Network (LAN)

Connections

Windows XP Professional makes configuring LAN connections easy. When you install

a network adapter, Windows creates a LAN connection automatically; it is just up to

you to configure it. This lesson shows you how to view the LAN connections on a com-

puter and how to configure those connections.

After this lesson, you will be able to■ View LAN connections on a computer running Windows XP Professional.■ Configure a LAN connection.■ Troubleshoot a LAN connection.■ Use the New Connection Wizard to configure a connection.Estimated lesson time: 60 minutes

Viewing LAN Connections

Windows XP Professional provides a central location for viewing and configuring net-

work connections: the Network Connections window, shown in Figure 15-1. You can

open the Network Connections window in several ways, including the following:

■

In Control Panel, click Network And Internet Connections, and then click Network

Connections.

■

In the Start menu or the desktop (if it is displayed), right-click My Network Places,

and then select Properties.

■

Directly from the Start menu if you first configure the Start menu to display the

Network Connections folder.

The icons that are used for each connection provide visual clues for the type and status

of the connection. These visual clues include the following:

■

Dial-up connections (such as the Contoso.com connection in Figure 15-1) have a

small picture of a phone and modem.

■

LAN or high-speed Internet connections (such as the Local Area Connection in

Figure 15-1) have a small picture meant to represent a network cable connection.

■

Disabled or disconnected connections (such as the Contoso.com connection in

Figure 15-1) are dimmed to show that they are disabled or disconnected.

■

Connections that are protected with Windows Firewall have a small picture of a

lock (such as the Contoso.com connection in Figure 15-1). You will learn more

about Windows Firewall in Lesson 5, “Configuring Windows Firewall.”

F15us01.bmp

Figure 15-1 The Network Connections window shows LAN and dial-up connections.

Configuring a LAN Connection

Much of the configuration of a LAN connection happens in the Network Connections

window. Right-clicking a particular connection provides a shortcut menu with com-

mands for working with the connection.

How to View the Status of a Connection

To view the current status of a connection, right-click the connection, and then click

Status. This action opens the Local Area Connection Status dialog box. The General tab

of this dialog box (see Figure 15-2) shows the connection status and the activity on the

connection since it was last enabled (the number of data packets sent and received

over the connection).

The Support tab of the Local Area Connection Status dialog box (see Figure 15-3)

shows you the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) configuration

information (Internet Protocol [IP] address, subnet mask, and so on) for the connec-

tion. Click Details to view extended TCP/IP information, including the physical address

of the network adapter, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server and lease

information, and Domain Name System (DNS) server addresses.

Tip As you learned in Chapter 13, “Supporting TCP/IP,” you can also view the TCP/IP informa-tion for connections using the ipconfig command-line utility. The advantage of using ipconfig is that by typing ipconfig /all at the command prompt, you can view information for all connections on the computer at once. See Chapter 13 for more information on using this command.