A really good way to learn networking?
 

I've always found networking the most confusing aspect of everything related to computers. I often wish I had learned more about it. I've tried, but with very little success if any. Can you recommend anything? A course, a page, a book?

A possible starting point: I have four NICs (three wifi) on my machine. I guess I could fool around with some routing... as soon as I learn how.

Thank you for any constructive ideas.

(Note: if you run into this post many years later and you do have a suggestion and I'm still alive, I'm still interested so please reply.)

I'd recommend the CCNA 200-301 syllabus. Despite it being called "Cisco Certified Networking Associate", there's actually not that much Cisco-specific stuff in it.

You don't have to take the exam, just get one of the beginner-friendly study guides. And by that I mean: Steer clear of the Todd Lammle book. He certainly knows his stuff, and it's a great book if you need to renew an existing CCNA certification, but for everyone else I think the official Cisco study guide by Wendell Odom is a far better choice.

This is an excellent tutorial: http://www.ralphb.net/IPSubnet/index.html

Do not be misled by the HTML v. 3 appearance. When I first discovered it, it was on a *.edu website when HTML v. 4 was just new. My guess is that the professor who wrote it retired and posted it to his personal site.

It is the best introduction to subnetting that I have ever seen.

Oh I love those old school sites. I resent all the cruft that is supposed to be cool nowadays.

A really good way to learn networking?

This is an advice without work experience. I offer it in the blind, without knowing your background.

Reading on its own isn't enough. If you wish to learn networking on your own, you'll want your own private network to play with. I recommend not messing with the network, if any, in wherever you live that is shared with other people, if any.

Get a home router for your own educational use. That way, you can mess with it and not worry about denying yourself or others internet access. You will need internet access to recover from your mistakes. You don't need anything fancy in a router to start with. A basic 5-port dual-band router will get you going. Put openwrt on the router. Visit openwrt.org to find compatible routers.

Get a managed switch if you can. Get an unmanaged switch if you can't. You can learn network basics on a switch first and then buy a router later. 5-port, 8-port, etc. Just get a switch. It is a starting block in creating a network. On an unmanaged switch, you can learn to connect via static ip addresses and later on, start up a dhcp server somewhere else on another PC to serve ip addresses. An unmanaged switch is good to have if you've run out of ports on your router. A managed switch gives you more control over your network. A router is basically a managed switch with dhcp server, wan port, ethernet ports and wifi ports tacked on.

Get another computer to have a target to hit with on your private network. Rasberry Pi or its clones make for excellent target computers. Any old computers will work well as a target, too. Something, anything, so you'll know your network is working. One can copy openwrt to raspberry pi or a pc to turn them into a router but it's best if you already know openwrt first.

Then dive in on these two links.

https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-quick-start/start

https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/start

I recommend Slackware as the platform for this. It comes with a wealth of network software by default. It has stay true to the philosophy of 'do one thing and do it well'. It is clean enough that it get out of the way and not clutter things up in learning all these network topics.

https://docs.slackware.com/howtos:ne...services:start

Get down to it. Experiment. Make mistakes. Fix it. Read read read. Try again. Might take you a few years. It's a learning journey.

Have fun!

Yeah, networking is pretty cool and interesting course, I love installation, configuration and security which is why engaged in CCNA 200-301 course. There ain't free course though, you can learn on YouTube video and some books too.

This is very helpful for me, thanks! Networking is incredibly cool and useful in all areas of life, including business. Believe it or not, the best way for me to meet new people is to visit the gym. I read a lot of literature about my physical activity and my health. You can Browse around this site and read some helpful articles about physical health and physical education. In the hall, I meet new people in an informal atmosphere who may be useful for me in the future.

Compare a few books and tutorials. When you found one which suites you, do as much practicing as you can with the information gained.

But I found it the most rewarding and most rapid way to learn, when I had been given precise tasks that I had not been able to solve at that time. This was taken to extremes by one of my bosses, but it taught me a lot about sockets, protocols and network-controllers in very short time. I admit that I had some advantages and a lot of freedom.

After this, the problem will be to keep the knowledge (then also to keep it up to date)! If you cannot continue to benefit from the experience gained, it will be lost just as quickly. Today I am again an an-alphabet on networking, compared to what I had achieved 20 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/c/PowerCertAnimatedVideos/

This may help.