If You see ARP frame in Wireshark, you will notice "Hardware type" a two byte field , value given as 0x0001 ( Ethernet ). What are other hardware types defined for ARP ? Did you had any time to think about it ?
We have few more hardware types defined for ARP , and here Ethernet refers to10 Mb Ethernet. If you go through RFC 826 the ARP RFC , they are always talking about 10 Mb Ethernet , so for Ethernet protocol the hardware type is fixed as 1 ( Ethernet 10 Mb).
Why we did not change the hardware type when Fast Ethernet or Gig Ethernet came ? Not sure . Let me know if you know the answer.
What about "Hardware type" for Wireless ARP packets between 802.11 a/b/g/n AP or station?
Well the hardware type is 1 ( Wrong or is it a Bug !) Dont have enough expertise to comment on this , so no comments on this too....Let me know if you know any reason for it . Check in Wireshark/Omniipeek for wireless packets , if you dont trust me.
Anyway you should never trust anyone if you a tester , but test it, verify it and then give your comments !!!
Back to main topic what are different hardware types defined for ARP? Here is the list , and it is defined in RFC 1060.
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1060
========================
Hardware Type (hrd)
Type Description
---- -----------
1 Ethernet (10Mb)
2 Experimental Ethernet (3Mb)
3 Amateur Radio AX.25
4 Proteon ProNET Token Ring
5 Chaos
6 IEEE 802 Networks
7 ARCNET
8 Hyperchannel
9 Lanstar
10 Autonet Short Address
11 LocalTalk
12 LocalNet (IBM PCNet or SYTEK LocalNET)
=========================
We have few more hardware types defined for ARP , and here Ethernet refers to10 Mb Ethernet. If you go through RFC 826 the ARP RFC , they are always talking about 10 Mb Ethernet , so for Ethernet protocol the hardware type is fixed as 1 ( Ethernet 10 Mb).
Why we did not change the hardware type when Fast Ethernet or Gig Ethernet came ? Not sure . Let me know if you know the answer.
What about "Hardware type" for Wireless ARP packets between 802.11 a/b/g/n AP or station?
Well the hardware type is 1 ( Wrong or is it a Bug !) Dont have enough expertise to comment on this , so no comments on this too....Let me know if you know any reason for it . Check in Wireshark/Omniipeek for wireless packets , if you dont trust me.
Anyway you should never trust anyone if you a tester , but test it, verify it and then give your comments !!!
Back to main topic what are different hardware types defined for ARP? Here is the list , and it is defined in RFC 1060.
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1060
========================
Hardware Type (hrd)
Type Description
---- -----------
1 Ethernet (10Mb)
2 Experimental Ethernet (3Mb)
3 Amateur Radio AX.25
4 Proteon ProNET Token Ring
5 Chaos
6 IEEE 802 Networks
7 ARCNET
8 Hyperchannel
9 Lanstar
10 Autonet Short Address
11 LocalTalk
12 LocalNet (IBM PCNet or SYTEK LocalNET)
=========================