UNDERSTANDING NETWORKING COMMANDS
IPCONFIG
Ipconfig is a MS-DOS utility which can be used from MS-DOS and a MS-DOS shell to display the network settings currently assigned and given by a network. This command can be utilized to verify a network connection as well as to verify your network settings.

PING
Ping is one of the most commonly used and known commands. Ping allows a user to ping another network IP address. This can help determine if the network is able to communicate with the network.

NETSTAT
The netstat command is used to display the TCP/IP network protocol statistics and information.

NSLOOKUP
The nslookup MS-DOS utility that enables a user to look up an IP address of a domain or host on a network.

ROUTE
The route MS-DOS utility enables computers to view and modify the computer's route table.

TRACERT / TRACEROUTE
The tracert command in MS-DOS / Windows or the traceroute command in Unix / Linux and variants is another commonly used network command to help determine network related issues or slowdowns. Using this command you can view a listing of how a network packet travels through the network and were it may fail or slow down. Using this information you can determine the computer, router, switch or other network device possibly causing your network issues.

WHOIS
The whois command available in Unix / Linux variants helps allow a user to identify a domain name. This command provides information about a domain name much like the WHOIS on network solutions. In some cases the domain information will be provided from Network Solutions.