Homework Help: Questions and Answers: You have just installed a new router in your MDF and are now monitoring traffic with a packet analyzer. What do you notice about how a router treats a broadcast packet on your network?
Step-by-Step Answering:
Broadcast Packets: A broadcast packet is a network packet sent from one device to all devices on a local network (within the same subnet). It is addressed to a special broadcast address (255.255.255.255
for IPv4, or a specific subnet broadcast like 192.168.1.255
for subnet 192.168.1.0/24
).
How Routers Work:
A router operates at Layer 3 of the OSI model (the network layer). Its primary function is to forward packets between different subnets or networks. Routers typically separate broadcast domains. In other words, routers do not forward broadcast packets from one network to another.
- When you install a router in your MDF (Main Distribution Frame), it connects different network segments or subnets.
- Now, if you’re monitoring the traffic with a packet analyzer (such as Wireshark), you’ll notice specific behavior when a broadcast packet is sent within a network.
Router Behavior with Broadcast Packets:
- Routers do not forward broadcast packets to other networks or subnets.
- When a broadcast packet is sent within a subnet, it is delivered to all devices within that subnet (if they are in the same VLAN or Layer 2 broadcast domain).
- The router will drop or ignore the broadcast packet if the packet is trying to cross into another subnet.
What You Notice:
- If you’re monitoring with a packet analyzer on the router, you’ll see broadcast packets (like ARP requests or DHCP Discover) being received and processed within the local subnet.
- However, you won’t see the router forwarding these broadcast packets to other connected subnets.
- If a broadcast packet is destined for the router itself (like an ARP request for the router’s IP), the router will respond. But it won’t forward the packet beyond its current broadcast domain.
Conclusion:
The router confines broadcast traffic to the local subnet and does not forward it to other subnets. You would observe that the router processes broadcast packets within the same subnet but drops or ignores any that attempt to traverse subnets.
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