Page 2 - network help

switching is layer 2 it does not know what IP is. when the switch recieves a packet from the router on the same LAN segment it is using its MAC address to deliver the packet not the IP address and it has to know what port to send it out, they are not hubs that broadcast it out all ports. if the switch is connected to a hub with multiple PCs on it, it will have all mac to ip addresses in the table pointing to the same port.

does using a firewall help to hide my MAC address

some can spoof your MAC ( send out a fake mac address) but the switch will still know what port your on.

so what do i do in order to hide my MAC address and i doubt if my lan operator knows about the port identification, and also will my lan operator know if i change my default gateway

you will know if you change your default gateway cause you wont be able to get out hehe! listen in order for you to recieve a packet from any machine or internet whatever the switch has to know where to send it to thats it! you cant hide it from the switch. you can hide it from monitoring tools and proxy servers but not devices that actualy send it to your machine cause if the switch or router has a mac or arp entry to the wrong port your machine isnt gonna get the packet. does this make sense?

ok fine , but is there no way i can get around my LAN without being noticed

from my experience most admins dont know how to check up on people unless they authenticate to proxy servers or a AAA server of some sort that logs. if you are not putting in a username or password you are good to go for the most part. as long as there is no way to prove it was you on the PC at that time. the best thing for you to do is to go by the policy given to you as you are not at a level where it is difficult to track you.

i use a user name and a password to log into and also if i use my user name from a different IP address , there comes a message as this is not from the right machine(IP address) but since i changed my gateway (or i think it relates), i am able to access the net without using any user name and password

the message comes only as that i am trying to log on from a different IP, but if i try to log on using my own IP address, then there is no message relating to IPaddresses but to access times. so i think the authentication is pertained to only IP address and does not go into a different layer of security.

the user name and IP addresses are connected somehow , i tried using the same user name and IP on a different machine but still there is no problem relating to the WRONG MACHINE , the error message is only related to access times. So i think my LAN operator does'nt have a authorization system involving MAC addresses (only my thoughts ). But really what u said about the ports was very convincing and definitely is true . only i wish that my LAN is that organized.

Im not really sure what you are getting at. every switch will have a MAC address table and a ARP table this is how they move traffic ( switching 101 if you will ). basicly a NIC does not understand IP and is a layer2 device also when a packet comes in from the internet to your router on your lan segment it will send the data via MAC and not IP to your PC.

so what do u think is my problem. i change my IP's and GATEWAY manually and am
able to access net ,what do u think the authenctication is connected with ?

and remember what i told u about changing user names and IP addresses and the messages i got (changing machines did'nt affect the authentication process). and traffic as i now understand has nothing to do with IP's , thanks for that

this is only speculation by what you are saying about changing your default gateway.. but it sounds like you authenticate to a proxy server or some kind of proxy authentication service whith the given IP address and when you change your default gateway you are going through the router directly. this is a configuration issue with your LAN as whoever runs it is trying to use authentication for tracking but failed to block internet access at the router from everything except the proxy server you are authenticating to.
your just going atound it.

it basically and probably is a proxy authentication but i did'nt really understand the part

failed to block internet access at the router from everything except the proxy server you are authenticating to.
your just going around it.

and also how does changing the gateway affect the traffic flow?

thank you