trace packets through hubs/switches

[COMPUTERTECH33]

Does anyone know how I can trace packets through hubs/switches?

I need to know the path that my data is taking on the LAN/WAN..even to know which ip address of which switch/hub the packet is taking.


Thanks

 

[chipk]

Well, pretty much, the short answer is, you can't.

 

[vipergg]

You can trace it down to the last layer 3 hop then you would have to trace to the final destination useing the mac address of the destination ip which you can get from the router in the arp table.

 

[chipk]

That's true, but it's not 100% reliable (changing IPs, could be loops in the network, etc.), and it's a very manual process.

The best bet is probably to use your suggestion in combination with "show cdp neighbors" and "show ip route" to get a good map of the network and how everything is connected so he can troubleshoot from there.