Exploring Your Home LAN Network

Objective¶

Discover and analyze the Local Area Network, known as LAN, structure in your home by identifying network devices, topology, and addressing schemes. This hands-on exercise will help you understand how real-world networks are organized.

Learning Outcomes¶

By completing this exercise, you will be able to:

• Identify network devices and their roles in your home network

• Determine the network topology being used

• Find and interpret physical MAC addresses and logical IP addresses

• Understand how devices communicate within a LAN

• Create a network diagram based on real infrastructure

Materials Needed¶

• Your home computer or laptop, running Windows, Mac or Linux

• Access to your home router or modem

• A smartphone or a tablet if available

Part 1: Physical Device Discovery¶

Tasks:

1. Locate your networking hardware:

   • Find your modem, which connects to the ISP, and your router, which may be combined with the modem in one device

   • Note the model and manufacturer

   • Take a photo of or sketch the device, showing the ports and connections

2. Count connected devices:

   • List all devices connected to your network, such as computers, phones, smart TVs, IoT devices and printers

   • Identify how each device connects, either wired through an Ethernet cable or wireless through Wi-Fi

3. Examine physical connections:

   • Look at the back of your router, count the Ethernet ports

   • If possible, trace where the Ethernet cables lead

   • Observe any additional networking equipment, such as switches, access points and repeaters

Part 2: Network Configuration Analysis¶

1. Open Command Prompt by searching for cmd

2. Type ipconfig /all and press Enter

3. Take a screenshot or write the values down, and explain what each of these is and what its format looks like:

   • Your computer’s IP address

   • The subnet mask

   • The default gateway, which is the IP address of your router

   • The physical address, which is the MAC address

Part 3: Network Topology Identification¶

Tasks:

1. Based on your observations, identify the topology:

   • How are devices connected to the router?

   • Is there a central device that all others connect through?

   • Are devices connected in a line, or do they each have independent connections?

2. Determine if you have:

   • Bus topology

   • Pure star topology

   • Extended star, meaning a star with additional switches

   • Hybrid topology, a combination of topology types

Part 4: Create a Network Diagram¶

Tasks: draw a complete network diagram that includes:

• Your external ISP connection

• The modem and router, labeled with the model and the IP address

• All connected devices with:

  • Device name and type

  • Connection type, wired or wireless

  • IP address

  • MAC address, for at least 2 to 3 devices

• Any additional networking equipment, such as switches and access points

• Appropriate symbols or shapes to differentiate device types

Diagram tips:

• Place the router or switch at the center

• Draw lines showing connections, with solid lines for wired links and dashed lines for wireless links

• Label everything clearly

• Use colors or different line styles to make the diagram more readable

Part 5: Analysis Questions¶

Answer the following questions based on your exploration:

1. Topology: which network topology does your home network use? Justify your answer.

2. Addressing:

   • What is the IP address range used in your network?

   • Are the IP addresses private or public? How can you tell?

   • How do you think devices receive their IP addresses?

3. Central device:

   • What is the role of your router in the network?

   • What would happen if the router stopped working?

4. Scalability:

   • How many devices can your network support?

   • What would you need to add if you wanted to connect more devices than the available ports can handle?

5. Comparison:

   • How does your home topology compare to a bus topology?

   • What are the advantages of your current setup?

Deliverables¶

Submit the document including the following:

1. A network diagram with all required labels

2. A list of all devices with their IP and MAC addresses, at least for your own device

3. Screenshots of your ipconfig or ifconfig output

4. Photos of your router and networking equipment if available

5. Written answers to all analysis questions, 1 to 2 paragraphs each

Your submission should be written in Microsoft Word in docx format and named with <StudentID>.docx where <StudentID> is your Student ID, for example 25123456.docx.