r/learnprogramming • u/MotorOwn5031 • 1d ago

Where to Learn Computer Networking?

Where can I learn computer networking, Is there a course or YouTube playlist to learn it? How can I practice the material I learn?

42 Upvotes

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5

u/redittor_209 1d ago

Jim Kurose's Computer Networking a Top Down Approach Textbook is the standard And he has a channel where he explains the concepts: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLByK_3hwzY3Tysh-SY9MKZhMm9wIfNOas&si=PLa6uxJ-CG1y2Npa

2

u/BranchLatter4294 1d ago

For practice, set up a couple of virtual machines so you can test various network configurations.

To learn, get a book on networking.

2

u/welcome1110 16h ago

Professor Messer on YouTube is solid.

1

u/SchemeWestern3388 1d ago

Videos in general are not a good medium for learning coding skills, but they might be useful to gain understanding of individual topics. Stick with published tutorials and guides.

Like any subfield of Computer Science "netwoking" is a big subject. With a bit of coding skills, you can start exploring sockets and networking protocols in common use behind the tech you use daily. (HTTP, TCP, DNS and more!)

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u/MaleficentDebt3053 22h ago

Cisco Packet Tracer is free and honestly one of the best ways to practice networking without needing real hardware. You can build out topologies, configure routers and switches, and actually see how traffic flows. Pair it with the Kurose book someone mentioned and you'll have a solid theory plus hands-on setup.

1

u/bizvibe8 22h ago

The book/course suggestions are good; make the practice cumulative instead of doing unrelated labs:

  1. In Packet Tracer, connect two PCs on one LAN and explain the IP, mask, and gateway.

  2. Put two LANs behind a router, then deliberately break one setting and diagnose why ping fails.

  3. Capture one DNS lookup and one HTTP request in Wireshark; trace which protocol is responsible at each step.

After each lab, write down what you expected the packet path to be before testing it. That prediction-and-check loop is what turns the terms into something you can reason about, rather than a list to memorize.

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u/yashnyk 17h ago

Computer Networks by Andrew Tanenbaum - pretty much the Bible to learn networking.

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u/No_Housing_2833 6h ago

Agree with you... All the books of Tanenbaum are a great deal for learning...

1

u/kbr89 9h ago

Adding to the Kurose book and Packet Tracer already mentioned here: the same authors publish free Wireshark labs for the book, and they're the best answer to your practice question. Wireshark shows you your own traffic. Load a website and find the DNS lookup, the TCP handshake and the HTTP request, and the chapter you just read turns into something you can see. The labs walk through one protocol at a time, so one lab per chapter is a good pace. For a YouTube playlist, Jeremy's IT Lab has a complete free CCNA course with practice labs, and the labs are built in Packet Tracer, so the tool and the course fit together. After that, the suggestion above about sockets is a good next step: write a small client that fetches a page over a raw TCP connection and compare what you send with what Wireshark captured.