When using the Internet, individuals may be assigned a Public IPv4 address, such as 164.3.16.208
, or an IPv6 address like 2000:1b8:bf56:779a:2912:b7f2:297d:c96a
. This information can be verified at https://test-ipv6.com/. However, for those who are not technologically inclined, conveying these addresses, or even referencing MAC addresses like c2:f4:a1:ba:cf:c5
, can lead to errors and complications. Furthermore, this method does not provide any historical data, especially when addressing past issues.
In order to reach a website such as https://macgyver-nikolaus.net, the initial step is to access a DNS server to convert the host portion (macgyver-nikolaus) along with the Top Level Domain (net) of the URL into an IP address, such as 131.86.41.156
. The computer and browser transmit their specific type with every web request, for example:
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; AOL 9.7; AOLBuild 4343.19; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0; FunWebProducts)
Conventional default gateways are typically automatically allocated addresses via DHCP. A typical default gateway might be something like 192.168.4.67
, although they generally end in .1 or .254 based on the scope size. This is the location where the computer directs all of its traffic to be further routed. For an in-depth resource on IPv6
, refer to how-to-fix-ipv6-connectivity/. Additionally, Mac or Linux users can perform a check with the following command:
ifconfig | grep "inet6 addr"
netstat -rn -f inet | egrep -i "default|0/1|128.0/1"
0/1 172.18.12.193 UGScg utun3 default 192.168.4.67 UGScg en0 128.0/1 172.18.12.193 UGSc utun3
Note: We are not just looking for the default but also for any VPN that overrides the public v4 address space.
netstat -rn -f inet6 | egrep -i "default|2000::/3"
If you have IPv6 active the above should return at least one route (as per below) via a known interface such as “en0 " on a Mac.
default fe80:4c15:9e12:ce1f:6a97%en0 UGcg en0 default fe80::%utun0 UGcIg utun0 default fe80::%utun1 UGcIg utun1 default fe80::%utun2 UGcIg utun2 2000::/3 utun3 USc utun3
Note: We are not just looking for the default but also for any VPN that overrides the public v6 address space.
To get a look at the low level DHCP configuration (Mac/Linux):
ipconfig getpacket en0
... domain_name_server (ip_mult): {119.222.207.129, 197.91.206.206} end (none): ...
So, in the above we are not getting IPv6 DNS servers from the DHCPv4 reply but…
ipconfig getv6packet en0
DHCPv6 REPLY (7) Transaction ID 0x80940b Length 76 Options[4] = { CLIENTID (1) Length 14: DUID LLT HW 1 Time 668691856 Addr c2:f4:a1:ba:cf:c5 DNS_SERVERS (23) Length 32: 2606:4700:4700::1111, 2001:4860:4860::8844 DOMAIN_LIST (24) Length 0: Invalid SERVERID (2) Length 10: DUID LL HW 1 Addr 03:18:a0:f8:13:7a }
In the realm of physical and data connectivity, you may find yourself utilizing either a wired or wireless (Wi-Fi) medium to transmit data to your router.
Regardless of the specific version of OSX or macOS that you are operating on, whether it’s 10.11.4
, 11.6.5
, or 12.3.8
, there exist an array of tools designed for diagnosing and resolving network issues. However, the manual procedures and scripts available do not provide a comprehensive set of correlated values over a period of time. This is where automated remote troubleshooting becomes particularly valuable, especially for teams that have adopted remote work and Work From Anywhere (WFA).
A highly beneficial tool available on OSX/macOS is sudo wdutil info
which offers a comprehensive display of current wireless settings via the CLI, with the option to generate specific logs for troubleshooting purposes. Moreover, for a more extensive approach, the sysdiagnose
tool can be employed to generate a wide range of logs (although many are only applicable to the present moment in terms of wireless issues, similar to wdutil).
By running sudo nohup /usr/bin/sysdiagnose -u &
, the tool will operate in the background and produce logs in /var/tmp/<blah>.tar.gz
. If you prefer to execute it interactively (despite minimal interaction), you can runsudo /usr/bin/sysdiagnose
and it will prompt a privacy warning. When not executed in the background, it should open Finder in the appropriate location, or you can navigate to /var/tmp
using Finder with Cmd+Shift+G to pinpoint the exact path. However, be cautious of the file sizes, which typically hover around 300MB.
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