Why my laptop sends ARP request to itself ?
- by user58859
I have just started to learn about protocols. While studying the packets in wireshark, I came across a ARP request sent by my machine to my own IP. Here is the details of the packet :
No. Time Source Destination Protocol Info
15 1.463563 IntelCor_aa:aa:aa Broadcast ARP Who has 192.168.1.34? Tell 0.0.0.0
Frame 15: 42 bytes on wire (336 bits), 42 bytes captured (336 bits)
Arrival Time: Jan 7, 2011 18:51:43.886089000 India Standard Time
Epoch Time: 1294406503.886089000 seconds
[Time delta from previous captured frame: 0.123389000 seconds]
[Time delta from previous displayed frame: 0.123389000 seconds]
[Time since reference or first frame: 1.463563000 seconds]
Frame Number: 15
Frame Length: 42 bytes (336 bits)
Capture Length: 42 bytes (336 bits)
[Frame is marked: False]
[Frame is ignored: False]
[Protocols in frame: eth:arp]
[Coloring Rule Name: ARP]
[Coloring Rule String: arp]
Ethernet II, Src: IntelCor_aa:aa:aa (aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff)
Destination: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff)
Address: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff)
.... ...1 .... .... .... .... = IG bit: Group address (multicast/broadcast)
.... ..1. .... .... .... .... = LG bit: Locally administered address (this is NOT the factory default)
Source: IntelCor_aa:aa:aa (aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa)
Address: IntelCor_aa:aa:aa (aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa)
.... ...0 .... .... .... .... = IG bit: Individual address (unicast)
.... ..0. .... .... .... .... = LG bit: Globally unique address (factory default)
Type: ARP (0x0806)
Address Resolution Protocol (request)
Hardware type: Ethernet (0x0001)
Protocol type: IP (0x0800)
Hardware size: 6
Protocol size: 4
Opcode: request (0x0001)
[Is gratuitous: False]
Sender MAC address: IntelCor_aa:aa:aa (aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa)
Sender IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Target MAC address: 00:00:00_00:00:00 (00:00:00:00:00:00)
Target IP address: 192.168.1.34 (192.168.1.34)
Here the sender's mac address is mine(Here I have hiden my mac address). target IP is mine. Why my machine is sending ARP request to itself? I found 3 packets of this type. There was no ARP reply for these packets. Can anybody explain me why it is?
(My operating system is windows-7. I am directly connected to a wifi modem. I got these packets as soon as I started my connection.)
I want one suggestion also. many places I read that RFC's are enough for study about protocols. I studied the RFC 826 on ARP. I personally feel that is not enough at all. Any suggestion regarding this? Is there more then 1 RFC for a protocol? I want to study about the protocols in very detail. Can anybody guide me for this? Thanks in advance.