Configuring and verifying network connections: Windows settings, ping, traceroute, Telnet and SSH

Setting up a network adapter in Windows

Windows normally detects a network adapter and installs its driver automatically, creating a connection with sensible defaults. Sometimes you need to change the settings yourself.

Open the adapter list

• Quickest way (any version): press Win + R, type ncpa.cpl and press Enter.
• Windows 11: Settings → Network & internet → Advanced network settings → More network adapter options.
• Windows 10: Settings → Network & Internet → Ethernet (or Status) → Change adapter options.

Right-click the adapter and choose Properties. Clicking Configure opens the hardware settings, with tabs such as General, Advanced (speed, duplex and other device settings), Driver (update, roll back or uninstall), Details, Events and Power Management.

Items in the connection properties

• Client for Microsoft Networks: needed to access Windows file shares.
• File and Printer Sharing: lets others use this PC's files or printers. Disable it on PCs that don't share anything.
• Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and Version 6 (TCP/IPv6): usually both enabled.

Security tip: remove or disable clients, protocols and services you don't need. Every unused feature is one more thing that could be attacked.

IPv4 settings

Check the result with ipconfig /all.

Verifying connectivity

ping

ping sends ICMP echo requests to a destination and shows each reply and its round-trip time. Windows sends four by default; Linux and network devices vary. It is the quickest test of reachability:

ping 192.168.1.1        # can I reach my gateway?
ping 8.8.8.8            # can I reach the internet by IP?
ping example.com        # does DNS work too?
ping -n 10 -l 1400 10.0.0.5   # Windows: 10 packets of 1400 bytes

On routers and switches, extended ping lets you choose the source interface, count, size, timeout and other options.

traceroute / tracert

Traceroute shows every router between you and a destination. It works by using the Time to Live (TTL) field in the IP header: each router lowers the TTL by one and drops the packet when it reaches zero, sending back an ICMP time exceeded message. Sending packets with TTL 1, then 2, then 3, reveals each hop in turn. Use tracert on Windows and traceroute on Linux, macOS and network devices. It shows where along the path a problem starts.

Telnet and SSH for remote management

• Telnet gives a remote text session but sends everything, passwords included, unencrypted. Only use it in isolated labs, or to test whether a TCP port is open (telnet server 443).
• SSH provides the same remote command line with encryption and strong authentication. It is the standard for managing routers, switches, firewalls and Linux servers: ssh [email protected].

For a full troubleshooting order, follow the "Users can't reach the internet" playbook and the list of essential network commands.

Real-world example: a new printer in an accountants' office

An accountants' office bought a network printer and the office manager connected it, but nobody could print. The IT support technician gave the printer a fixed address in the adapter settings on its control panel (192.168.1.50, mask 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.1.1), outside the router's DHCP range to avoid conflicts. From her laptop she ran ping 192.168.1.50 and got replies, proving the printer was reachable. A colleague's PC still could not print, so she ran ping from that PC too, and it failed.

That PC had been given a manual address on a different subnet years ago. Switching its adapter back to automatic (DHCP) settings solved it. Finally she disabled Telnet on the printer's management interface and used its HTTPS page instead, applying the same rule as with routers: manage devices only over encrypted protocols.