Need some advice on learning networking

[blackcat4866]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

I need to make a small correction. I said that broadcast traffic is bad. It would be more accurate to say that broadcast traffic is a "necessary evil." Without using a broadcast signal, IP networking doesn't fly. But it creates problems.


Also, just to clear up any confusion about multicast signals....

Don't let it confuse you. A multicast is simply a communication between different hosts that have signed up for the same application. In this case it's RIP version 2 that is the application. Netflix and YouTube also use multicast signals.

Is any of this related to the PostScript error pages collecting on the tray of my endusers Canon? Most of the commands are ecrypted (hearts, smileys, and flowers) But occasionally a line of plain text comes through, vaguely resembling a web address. I figure if it was a wrong print driver of wrong print language, it would be 1000 pages not one or two. And it wouldn't arrive overnight when nobody is in the office. I speculated that maybe some kind of network maintenance is scheduled after hours, like PC updates, or camera downloads. Maybe broadcast traffic?

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Is any of this related to the PostScript error pages collecting on the tray of my endusers Canon? Most of the commands are ecrypted (hearts, smileys, and flowers) But occasionally a line of plain text comes through, vaguely resembling a web address. I figure if it was a wrong print driver of wrong print language, it would be 1000 pages not one or two. And it wouldn't arrive overnight when nobody is in the office. I speculated that maybe some kind of network maintenance is scheduled after hours, like PC updates, or camera downloads. Maybe broadcast traffic?

I think I remember you talking about this problem before?

I've done quite a bit of reading on the problems created by too much broadcast traffic.


Because broadcast traffic is sent out to every device on the network, each one has to look at the packet to determine if it was intended for them or not. That's not a big deal if there's only a few broadcast requests every couple of seconds, but that number can get much higher and create problems for devices on the network. Generally the symptoms will be slow response times and missing packets. I can't really say with any certainty whether or not broadcast traffic could cause a printer to print out a bunch of garbage. I can't really wrap my mind around that but that doesn't mean it's not possible.

[rthonpm]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Is any of this related to the PostScript error pages collecting on the tray of my endusers Canon? Most of the commands are ecrypted (hearts, smileys, and flowers) But occasionally a line of plain text comes through, vaguely resembling a web address. I figure if it was a wrong print driver of wrong print language, it would be 1000 pages not one or two. And it wouldn't arrive overnight when nobody is in the office. I speculated that maybe some kind of network maintenance is scheduled after hours, like PC updates, or camera downloads. Maybe broadcast traffic?

It sounds like the customer has some kind of security scans running at night. Depending on what features are enabled on the Canons, if the scan hits one of the open ports on the machine, the controller sometimes interprets what it's getting as a print job. I had a customer that ran Nessus security scans at night which would cause some of their printers to spit out all kinds of gibberish pages. The quick solution was to disable access to the web interface over port 80 (HTTP) to prove it was the cause, the long-term fix was to have them adjust their scans to bypass the static IP range for their printers.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

There's this restaurant that I go to quite often and the other day the owner has one of the her employees ask me to come to the back office to see her. So, I go back and she show's me her security camera system. Only one of the 8 cameras was working. It was POE system. Standard camera system. I told her that's really not what I do. She kept on until she talked me into giving it a look. Turns out that the system was old and that there was no power going to any of the camera except that one. I told her that she's probably be better off buying a new system considering the age of the current one. I figured that would be that. She then asks me to give her a quote on a system that includes installation. This is a huge restaurant and it's quite the job. I tried to get out of it but she insisted that I do it. lol.

So, I told her I'd get her a quote the next day. I really didn't want to do this job so I gave her an obscenely high quote in order to persuade her to look elsewhere. She accepted the quote. Damn!!

Anyway, there's nothing complicated about installing the system. Or so I thought.

Turns out that setting up a cell phone to view the camera remotely was more complicated than I thought. I've been fucking with my camera system all day. I had to learn about DDNS and port forwarding. Who knew that that shit was so complicated? Or it was to me. I finally got it, though.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

PS - If anyone has any experience installing camera systems, I'd love to hear about it and get some tips. Thanks.

[rthonpm]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Port forwarding can be a nightmare, especially if the restaurant is using consumer equipment or has a consumer ISP contract instead of a business account, which would give them a static IP. I've played around with this a little bit, but the easiest solution was talking the customer into paying the extra money for business service from their ISP.

Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Port forwarding can be a nightmare, especially if the restaurant is using consumer equipment or has a consumer ISP contract instead of a business account, which would give them a static IP. I've played around with this a little bit, but the easiest solution was talking the customer into paying the extra money for business service from their ISP.

Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

After I agreed to do the job, the lady asks if I could set up remote viewing from her phone so that she could view the cameras from home. I knew it could be done but had never set it up. I didn't know what I was getting into when I told her that I'd get it done for her.

Yesterday, I started researching the subject. I had heard of port forwarding but didn't know anything about it. I also didn't know that most consumer ISP's hand out a Dynamic IP address. So, even if I forward the ports to the IP address, the cameras would stop working when the Dynamic IP address changed from the ISP.

The solution was to use a Managed DNS Provider What they do is update the IP address every 10-minutes and resolve it to the new DNS name that I created on their free service. I used a company called: NO-IP. See link: https://www.noip.com/


I practiced on my own ip cameras until I figured it out. It was a bitch but I think I could do it again without all the mistakes. At least now I can look at my cameras no matter where I am. It's pretty damn cool.

[rthonpm]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

I've used NoIP before and their service is really good in terms of DDNS, and the cost is very reasonable. The main issue I've found is at the ISP level where some don't allow home customers to do port forwarding.

Keep in mind the security aspect as well: unless there's a good authentication mechanism, you are potentially putting their cameras on the public internet for anyone to see, or at least be able to query as an open port through Shodan or some more nefarious service which could open them up to any kind of attack since most of the cameras I've seen out there rarely get any kind of security updates, or have some kind of hardcoded credentials in them.

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[Tricky]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

The solution was to use a Managed DNS Provider What they do is update the IP address every 10-minutes and resolve it to the new DNS name that I created on their free service. I used a company called: NO-IP. See link: https://www.noip.com/

I use no-ip as I run a sftp server from an android tv box with an app called "dynamic dns update" to make corrections if my ip changes. Their free service is excellent despite having to confirm the hostname every month.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Every couple of weeks I have to take a break from the CCNA course. It really takes a level of dedication to learn all the topics and it will get to you after a while and you'll be forced to take a break to maintain your sanity.

I've completed 35% of the class on theory and lectures. I've completed 15% of the course on configuring the switches and routers. I have spent so many hours learning and I'm gonna need to spend a lot more before its done. It really does take extreme dedication. There are times where I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. But I have to trust the process. It's brought this far.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Route Summarization continues to give me headaches. Oh, I have the mathematical formula down. That's not the problem. The problem is being able to look at a diagram of a network and understanding where to apply route summarization and knowing what interface on the router to advertise it on.


Further complicating matters is that Packet Tracer doesn't support the "ip summary-address" command for rip. It only supports the command for EIGRP.


Yesterday, I talked about "port forwarding" on a router. For those of you who are familar with this, you know it can be difficult if you've never done it. Multiply that x 100 and that's how difficult route summarization is for me. Hey, I'm close to getting it down. Just a couple of more hours and I should have it.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

I've been using a free program from Cisco called Packet Tracer. It was easy to set up and you could start configuring routers and switches almost right out of the box. But it has limitations. As I got into the more advanced features on routers & switches, those limitations became more than just an annoyance. It was preventing me from doing my lab exercises.

At the same time I learned about Packet Tracer, I also learned of a simulation program called: GNS3. They said it very difficult to set up so I just went with packet tracer. GNS3 is much different from packet tracer.

GNS3 works by using real Cisco IOS images which are emulated using a program called Dynamips. ... With this GUI, users get an easy to use interface that allows them to build complex labs consisting of a variety of supported Cisco routers.

I spent the better part of yesterday getting it set up. It's fantastic. I love it. The only downside is that I had to pay Cisco $199 to download their IOS images.

[tsbservice]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

I've been using a free program from Cisco called Packet Tracer. It was easy to set up and you could start configuring routers and switches almost right out of the box. But it has limitations. As I got into the more advanced features on routers & switches, those limitations became more than just an annoyance. It was preventing me from doing my lab exercises.

At the same time I learned about Packet Tracer, I also learned of a simulation program called: GNS3. They said it very difficult to set up so I just went with packet tracer. GNS3 is much different from packet tracer.






I spent the better part of yesterday getting it set up. It's fantastic. I love it. The only downside is that I had to pay Cisco $199 to download their IOS images.

Hi Billy a bit offtopic.
I understand we are ageing comunity here...well maybe mostly. What I don't undrestand is why you have to use such a big font
Please consider editing your post ultimately here is not RR&EE forum where shouting is normal practice

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Hi Billy a bit offtopic.
I understand we are ageing comunity here...well maybe mostly. What I don't undrestand is why you have to use such a big font
Please consider editing your post ultimately here is not RR&EE forum where shouting is normal practice

The default font for this site looks too small to me when viewing from a PC. And that's mainly what I'm on when I come to this site. On a phone it's too large. I'll compromise with you and find something in the middle. LOL

[slimslob]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

The default font for this site looks too small to me when viewing from a PC. And that's mainly what I'm on when I come to this site. On a phone it's too large. I'll compromise with you and find something in the middle. LOL

On your PC you can zoom in or out. Ctrl + to zoom in, Ctrl - to zoom and Ctrl 0 to return to 100%.