Lab – Using Wireshark to Examine Ethernet Frames
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Step 4: Examine the Ethernet II header contents of an ARP request.
The following table takes the first frame in the Wireshark capture and displays the data in the Ethernet II
header fields.
Field Value Description
Preamble Not shown in capture
This field contains synchronizing bits, processed by the NIC
hardware.
Destination Address
Broadcast
(ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff)
Layer 2 addresses for the frame. Each address is 48 bits
long, or 6 octets, expressed as 12 hexadecimal digits, 0-
9,A-F.
A common format is 12:34:56:78:9A:BC.
The first six hex numbers indicate the manufacturer of the
network interface card (NIC), the last six hex numbers are
the serial number of the NIC.
The destination address may be a broadcast, which contains
all ones, or a unicast. The source address is always unicast.
Source Address
BelkinIn_9f:6b:8c
(14:91:82:9f:6b:8c)
Frame Type 0x0806
For Ethernet II frames, this field contains a hexadecimal
value that is used to indicate the type of upper-layer protocol
in the data field. There are numerous upper-layer protocols
supported by Ethernet II. Two common frame types are
these:
Value Description
0x0800 IPv4 Protocol
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)
Data ARP
Contains the encapsulated upper-level protocol. The data
field is between 46 – 1,500 bytes.
FCS Not shown in capture
Frame Check Sequence, used by the NIC to identify errors
during transmission. The value is computed by the sending
machine, encompassing frame addresses, type, and data
field. It is verified by the receiver.
What is significant about the contents of the destination address field?
Why does the PC send out a broadcast ARP prior to sending the first ping request?
What is the MAC address of the source in the first frame?
What is the Vendor ID (OUI) of the Source NIC?
What portion of the MAC address is the OUI?
What is the NIC serial number of the source?