Checking the LAN's TCP/IP connection.

This is the final step in the TCP/IP LAN setup process. Once you have set up at least two PCs with TCP/IP support it is best to start testing. This is done using the PING tool which comes with Windows 95 itself. From anyone of the workstations which is configured for TCP/IP go the DOS box from within Windows 95 and type PING 192.168.0.1

Now you are testing the workstation's connection with the Gateway machine.

You should get a response something like:

Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=32
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=32
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=32
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=32

If you get a response back, then the TCP/IP connection between the machines is working. If you get a Request timed out message, or a Bad IP Address response, check your physical connection between the machines and redo or check all the previous steps.

Once the Gateway machine replies to pings from each of the Workstations, then the connections are perfect.

Every time you configure a new machine, you should check that you can PING the same machine - so always check that you can PING the first machine you set up. This way, if all machines can PING a single machine, it is very likely that all machines can PING each other as well.