PC ARP process vs. Cisco ARP process?

Chris 811 posts since Jul 25, 2008

PC ARP process vs. Cisco ARP process? Jul 22, 2009 10:35 PM
Hello All,

Topology:PC--------------Default Gateway

PC: 192.168.0.254/27
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1/27

Question:
ping 192.168.0.1

Why does the PC ARP process not simply drop the ARP request at the local NIC? It should be able to
determine that the Default Gateway is not on the same subnet and hence realize that it's invalid to ARP for
hosts not on your subnet even if they are configured as your Default Gateway?

The Default Gateway promptly drops the ARP request, as it knows this is an illegal procedure. So why isn't the
PC able to determine this as well?

TIA,

Chris
Tags: arp, default, gateway, ping

NtwrkAnkS 193 posts since Jun 18, 2009

Re: PC ARP process vs. Cisco ARP process? Jul 22, 2009 11:19 PM
i tried it on gns 3 using msloopback and i got this output

C:\Users\Ankur>ping 172.16.1.1

Pinging 172.16.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 172.16.1.50: Destination host unreachable.

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Generated on 2015-05-24-07:00
This document is Cisco Public Information.
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PC ARP process vs. Cisco ARP process?

Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 172.16.1.1:

Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 1, Lost = 3 (75% loss),

so i think it tried once then droped it rest of the time.... what do you think??

Chris 811 posts since Jul 25, 2008

Re: PC ARP process vs. Cisco ARP process? Jul 22, 2009 11:39 PM
in response to NtwrkAnkS
That may be the case. However, the last 3 pings could have just been dropped by the Default Gateway, and
therefore the Ping requests would time-out waiting for an echo-reply. Still wondering why the PC would even
source the original ARP request for the MAC of the Default Gateway though?

Maybe Microsoft's code is configured to blindly send an ARP request to a Default Gateway in case the
Gateway has an interface connected to the same subnet the PC resides on. With that scenario the Default
Gateway might use Proxy ARP on by default to satisfy the request...hmmm?

Thanks, and hopefully we'll come to a conclusion.

NtwrkAnkS 193 posts since Jun 18, 2009

Re: PC ARP process vs. Cisco ARP process? Jul 22, 2009 11:57 PM
in response to Chris
well maybe Microsoft's code is configured to blindly send an ARP request.....

hey i have posted a problem in ccnp dicussions mind checking it out and see if you can help????

Ankur

Paul Stewart - CCIE Security 7,582 posts since Jul 18, 2008
Re: PC ARP process vs. Cisco ARP process? Jul 23, 2009 2:38 AM
Since you pinged the GW directly, it may force the arp. I am in full agreement with your logic. However, we
can see that the gw is invalid based on the ip address and mask. So with a gateway that is invalid, it is entirely
possible that Windows issues an arp that is inline with the proxy-arp behavior. I actually bet that if you ping
any address, it will issue an arp request. If the route exists in the router, and you haven't invoked "no ip proxy-
arp", the router will respond. The reason that you cannot ping the router is it doesn't think it has a route to you.
However, the arp table may well have the IP address. This is due to the nature of arp. An arp request will
actually trigger an update on the device that receives the request.

2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Generated on 2015-05-24-07:00
This document is Cisco Public Information.
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PC ARP process vs. Cisco ARP process?

2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Generated on 2015-05-24-07:00
This document is Cisco Public Information.
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