When using the internet, you will be assigned either a Public IPv4 address, such as 233.218.73.76
, or an IPv6 address, for example, 2000:dca:b853:f2a3:f6b3:4169:7cb5:6731
. This information can be verified on https://test-ipv6.com/. However, attempting to convey these addresses or MAC addresses, such as 35:1f:4a:fa:93:c4
, can be prone to errors and can quickly become complicated for those not technologically inclined. Moreover, this method does not provide any historical data, particularly when issues arose in the past.
To access a web page like https://greenholt.io, the first step is to access a DNS server in order to translate the host portion (greenholt) combined with the Top Level Domain (io) of the URL to an IP address, such as 243.17.121.54
. Additionally, your computer and browser includes its type with all web requests, for example, Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_9_3) AppleWebKit/537.75.14 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0.3 Safari/7046A194A
.
By default, your gateway is typically an automatically configured address via DHCP. This gateway is usually assigned an address like 192.0.0.197
(although they generally end in .1 or .254 depending on the scope size) and is where your computer sends all its traffic to be routed onwards. For IPv6
, a comprehensive guide is available on how-to-fix-ipv6-connectivity/, but you can also verify this on Mac or Linux using:
### IPv4 Routes and the Host IPv4 Route Table (inc. VPN)
```netstat -rn -f inet | egrep -i "default|0/1|128.0/1"```
<pre>
0/1 172.18.12.193 UGScg utun3
default 192.0.0.197 UGScg en0
128.0/1 172.18.12.193 UGSc utun3</pre>
**Note:** We are not just looking for the default but also for any VPN that overrides the public v4 address space.
### IPv6 Routes and the Host IPv6 Route Table (inc. VPN)
```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.
<pre>
default fe80:1b02:b6de:4b8a:8a58%en0 UGcg en0
default fe80::%utun0 UGcIg utun0
default fe80::%utun1 UGcIg utun1
default fe80::%utun2 UGcIg utun2
2000::/3 utun3 USc utun3</pre>
**Note:** We are not just looking for the default but also for any VPN that overrides the public v6 address space.
<br>
## Debugging DHCP for both IPv4 and IPv6
To get a look at the low level DHCP configuration (Mac/Linux):
```ipconfig getpacket en0```
<pre>
...
domain_name_server (ip_mult): {100.40.58.222, 158.32.96.193}
end (none):
...</pre>
So, in the above we are not getting IPv6 DNS servers from the DHCPv4 reply but...
```ipconfig getv6packet en0```
<pre>
DHCPv6 REPLY (7) Transaction ID 0x80940b Length 76
Options[4] = {
CLIENTID (1) Length 14: DUID LLT HW 1 Time 668691856 Addr 35:1f:4a:fa:93:c4
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 f5:1a:68:ba:4a:47
}</pre>
## Resolve Issues with Wired and Wireless Connections
Whether you are connected via a wired or wireless (Wi-Fi) medium at the physical and data layer, troubleshooting connection issues with your router is essential.
### Step-by-Step Guide for Apple macOS / OSX Users
No matter if you are running version ```10.15.2```, ```11.6.7```, or ```12.2.4``` of OSX/macOS, there are various tools available for resolving connectivity problems. However, these manual actions and scripts do not provide a set of interconnected values over time. This is where automated remote troubleshooting becomes valuable, especially for teams that prioritize remote work and Work From Anywhere (WFA).
#### Utilize Pre-Installed Scripts for Assistance
An effective tool on OSX/macOS is the ```sudo wdutil info``` command, which displays current wireless settings in the CLI and can also create specific logs for troubleshooting. Another comprehensive tool is the ```sysdiagnose``` tool, which generates a wide range of logs (although much of it is relevant to wireless settings only, similar to wdutil).
To run ```sysdiagnose``` in the background and generate logs in ```/var/tmp/<blah>.tar.gz```, use the command ```sudo nohup /usr/bin/sysdiagnose -u &```. If you prefer to run it interactively, use the command ```sudo /usr/bin/sysdiagnose```, but beware of the large file sizes of about 300MB.
<br><br>
## Possibly Helpful Videos
<link href="/plugins/lity/css/lity.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script src="/plugins/lity/js/lity.min.js"></script>
<div class="table1-start"></div>
|Video | Title | Channel |
| :---: | :---: | :---: |
|<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWzWd_DiaJ0" data-lity><img src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TWzWd_DiaJ0/default.jpg" class="img-fluid"></a>|<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWzWd_DiaJ0" data-lity>Mac Activity Monitor - How to Troubleshoot Your Mac</a>|<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg43DP8MdHVcl4rFK_delBg" >Hands-On Mac</a>|
|<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEbK-Tignuc" data-lity><img src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HEbK-Tignuc/default.jpg" class="img-fluid"></a>|<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEbK-Tignuc" data-lity>On the Road to Big Sur 2 - Compatibility</a>|<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg43DP8MdHVcl4rFK_delBg" >Hands-On Mac</a>|
|<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMKi6o9kaZI" data-lity><img src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JMKi6o9kaZI/default.jpg" class="img-fluid"></a>|<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMKi6o9kaZI" data-lity>macOS Big Sur - What's New in Apple macOS 11</a>|<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg43DP8MdHVcl4rFK_delBg" >Hands-On Mac</a>|
|<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KdhJimuhNw" data-lity><img src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7KdhJimuhNw/default.jpg" class="img-fluid"></a>|<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KdhJimuhNw" data-lity>Securing macOS Big Sur</a>|<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg43DP8MdHVcl4rFK_delBg" >Hands-On Mac</a>|
|<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwNYWAxHCgM" data-lity><img src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VwNYWAxHCgM/default.jpg" class="img-fluid"></a>|<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwNYWAxHCgM" data-lity>Secret Mac Boot Commands - Mac Boot Key Combinations</a>|<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg43DP8MdHVcl4rFK_delBg" >Hands-On Mac</a>|
<center><small>Table 1.0 - Video Help</small></center>
<br>
<div class="table1-end"></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
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$('div.table1-start').nextUntil('div.table1-end', 'table').addClass('table thead-dark table-striped table-responsive rounded').attr('id', 't1');
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