Tracert

[Viper_Maniac]

Ok I was having some problems earlier but I think I fixed it with a different cable. Thats not what this is about. This is about right now while my conn is working fine, Tracert doesnt. Everytime I run it, it detects my router as the first hit/hop but when it gets to the 2nd it doesnt detect anything. It just shows this: *. Also it pops up a little popup window from my systray saying "A network cable is unplugged" from my Local Area Connection 2.

This isnt really a problem as everything seems to be working fine its just got me wondering why its doing that.

 

[KieranMurphy]

Do you have an unused wireless card/network card or a Firewire connection/port on your computer?

Windows tends to interpret Firewire cards or connections as network connections, even if you don't ever use it or only use it for something like a Camcorder.

I also had a problem in the past with my motherboard drivers and as a result was using a cheap Ethernet card for internet usage, and Windows kept bugging me about a disconnected network connection (i.e. the onboard Ethernet that I couldn't get working).


KM.

 

[amp88]

On the subject of the trace route I only have one thought. If the router has an inbuilt software firewall it may not allow trace route currently. Try allowing it if this is the case.

On the subject of the unplugged network cable, go into Network Connections (Control Panel -> Network Connections) and double click on "Local Area Connection 2". If it's not in use (i.e. the Packets Sent and Received are 0 or very low numbers), click on Disable to stop that connection.

 

[Viper_Maniac]

Do you have an unused wireless card/network card or a Firewire connection/port on your computer?

Windows tends to interpret Firewire cards or connections as network connections, even if you don't ever use it or only use it for something like a Camcorder.

I also had a problem in the past with my motherboard drivers and as a result was using a cheap Ethernet card for internet usage, and Windows kept bugging me about a disconnected network connection (i.e. the onboard Ethernet that I couldn't get working).

KM.

No wireless card, only one network card(onboard), no firewire ports.

On the subject of the trace route I only have one thought. If the router has an inbuilt software firewall it may not allow trace route currently. Try allowing it if this is the case.

On the subject of the unplugged network cable, go into Network Connections (Control Panel -> Network Connections) and double click on "Local Area Connection 2". If it's not in use (i.e. the Packets Sent and Received are 0 or very low numbers), click on Disable to stop that connection.

I think thats the connection XP is using for the network to my router. Theres 2 other ones. 1394 Connection and 1394 Connection 2.

 

[amp88]

The 1394 connections are Firewire, so those aren't your connections to the router. If you're being told by Windows that your Local Area Connection 2 is unplugged then it shouldn't be in use. What's shown under the Activity? How many packets sent/received?

 

[Viper_Maniac]

Should I remove the 1394 connections?

It only tells me its unplugged when I try to use tracert.

Right now it shows: 619,169(out), 599,580(in).

 

[GilesGuthrie]

No, ignore the 1394 connection. Firewire installs network interfaces, don't worry about it.

Your router has a firewall that is blocking ICMP traffic.

Oh, and on Windows 2000 and newer systems, you should specify "-d" in your tracert command. This disables DNS lookup on each hop, and makes the whole thing much faster.

 

[Viper_Maniac]

But are they necessary? Just wondering.

Should I bother with trying to unblock ICMP traffic?

Thanks Giles. Its actually completes the tracert now with the -d. Hops 2-4 arent complete on the info but its ok after that. Hop 2 just shows (*) and request timed out. Hops 3 & 4 show (*) for the middle column but are fine for the rest.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

But are they necessary? Just wondering.

They're not necessary, but the interface will reinstall them the next time you reboot after removing them, and they're nt causing any load on the system, so it's really a non-issue.

Should I bother with trying to unblock ICMP traffic?

No. ICMP (Ping) is the basic start point for any attack. If you block ping, then attackers won't find you. If you unblock it, they'll realise that there is an attack vector.

Thanks Giles. Its actually completes the tracert now with the -d. Hops 2-4 arent complete on the info but its ok after that. Hop 2 just shows (*) and request timed out. Hops 3 & 4 show (*) for the middle column but are fine for the rest.

Ah, slow network then. I think that you can tweak the delay time on tracert as you can with ping, so you could measure the actual delay.