Need some advice on learning networking

[BillyCarpenter]

Oh, by the way, I ordered some stuff for the lab that I'm setting up.

Here's what I already have:


4 windows 10 PC's.
1 IMAC
2 48-port switches
2 access points
1 android phone
1 Galaxy Tablet
VMware with different operating systems


And I ordered the following:

1 Logitec router
1 Iphone.
1 wireless NIC for my PC.

[bsm2]

It's not the enterprise environments that I'm worried about. I worry about the small companies that don't have an IT person. Who knows who set up their network. No one there could tell me anything about it. They had two different networks but the computer could communicate with both networks. How is that even possible? Ken explained to me that a computer NIC can have 2 IP addresses making it possible to communicate with both networks.

IMHO, it's kinda important to have an understanding of how the network is configured.

Gateway setup
pretty rare to run into that.
Most new routers have guest setup option

[n25an]

It's not the enterprise environments that I'm worried about. I worry about the small companies that don't have an IT person. Who knows who set up their network. No one there could tell me anything about it. They had two different networks but the computer could communicate with both networks. How is that even possible? Ken explained to me that a computer NIC can have 2 IP addresses making it possible to communicate with both networks.

IMHO, it's kinda important to have an understanding of how the network is configured.

Here is a good example of best practice.... if a copier was there and it was working perfectly.... dont throw it out... collect all its settings and put them on your copier... this way if there is any network weirdness you avoid it... also then the only thing after that is swapping the print drivers... a lot of times... just doing that clears up the install

[keithxxiii]

Oh, by the way, I ordered some stuff for the lab that I'm setting up.

Here's what I already have:


4 windows 10 PC's.
1 IMAC
2 48-port switches
2 access points
1 android phone
1 Galaxy Tablet
VMware with different operating systems


And I ordered the following:

1 Logitec router
1 Iphone.
1 wireless NIC for my PC.

Glad to hear you have those items to practice on. From a copier tech, I just learned my networking skills by experience and simulations.
More than 4 years now that I have not fixed a hardware issue mainly because I was working with the print management softwares now.
You are on the right track! keep it up

[skynet]

4 windows 10 PC's.

This video analyses the Windows 10 telemetry with wireshark where a computer "doing nothing" makes loads of connections to microsoft.
NoTrack vs Spybot Anti-Beacon - Windows 10 Spying - YouTube

[rthonpm]

This video analyses the Windows 10 telemetry with wireshark where a computer "doing nothing" makes loads of connections to microsoft.
NoTrack vs Spybot Anti-Beacon - Windows 10 Spying - YouTube

Kind of FUD here. That telemetry is no different than what any OS collects, and MS has been very transparent about how they use the data.

[BillyCarpenter]

So, over the past few days I've spent a lot of times learning about routers and what they do. I used to think all they did was connect to the internet but it turns out they do WAAAAAYYYY more than that. One thing they can do is make it possible for computers to communicate that are on different local networks. They're also responsible for DHCP and you can even set the length of the lease time. You can set the IP range for DHCP and there are other things but I won't bore yall.

Somehow in my study of routers it led me subnet masking. I never knew what those numbers meant and didn't understand the purpose. But I understand it perfectly now. I spent way too much time on this. I don't know how much I'll ever use this knowledge but at least I can look at the subnet and understand if it's a Class A, B or C network. And I even know which part of the IP address deals with the network part or the number of hosts. My gut feeling is that I probably will never be assigning subnets...I'll just be plugging in the numbers that someone else set but it's comforting to understand how it works.

[BillyCarpenter]

By the way, when I found out that I could set the length of the lease time for DHCP, I thought that was great and I'll just set it for 1-year and now I won't have to worry about the copier being assigned a different IP address. But as I read further that idea was quickly shot down.

There's a trade off. The longer the lease time, the less IP addresses you'll have for DHCP even if the device is no longer on the network. The shorter the lease time, the more data will be going out over the network...for things like extending the lease requests.

[bsm2]

By the way, when I found out that I could set the length of the lease time for DHCP, I thought that was great and I'll just set it for 1-year and now I won't have to worry about the copier being assigned a different IP address. But as I read further that idea was quickly shot down.

There's a trade off. The longer the lease time, the less IP addresses you'll have for DHCP even if the device is no longer on the network. The shorter the lease time, the more data will be going out over the network...for things like extending the lease requests.

Power failure kills that idea unless its a DHCP reservation.
Not something you would need to mess with only the copier.
You will need to learn what to touch and what Not to touch.
Configuring a customer Router is a Dont Touch

[KenB]

So, over the past few days I've spent a lot of times learning about routers and what they do. I used to think all they did was connect to the internet but it turns out they do WAAAAAYYYY more than that. One thing they can do is make it possible for computers to communicate that are on different local networks. They're also responsible for DHCP and you can even set the length of the lease time. You can set the IP range for DHCP and there are other things but I won't bore yall.

Somehow in my study of routers it led me subnet masking. I never knew what those numbers meant and didn't understand the purpose. But I understand it perfectly now. I spent way too much time on this. I don't know how much I'll ever use this knowledge but at least I can look at the subnet and understand if it's a Class A, B or C network. And I even know which part of the IP address deals with the network part or the number of hosts. My gut feeling is that I probably will never be assigning subnets...I'll just be plugging in the numbers that someone else set but it's comforting to understand how it works.

Now you can understand how you can have only one public IP address (assigned to your modem), and set up a production network as well as a guest network, giving them both internet access and not having them be able to see each other.

This is quite common in a lot of businesses; for instance, the dealership I bought my car from has a guest network set up for customers, while still maintaining a business network for the employees. All from one IP address assigned by their ISP.

BTW...you'd be surprised how many IT admins (mostly noobs) don't understand this concept; I've had more than my fair share of 'em.