Personal Study Methods and How-To Guide for Network Technology

Tadashi Shigeoka ·  Thu, October 12, 2017

A colleague asked me “Please teach me about network technology,” so I’ve compiled information about the process and how-to of how I’ve learned about network technology.

Prerequisites ~ Not Aiming to Become a Network Engineer

This article is not intended to help you become a hardcore network engineer.

The content is aimed at application engineers (backend engineers) with about 2 years of practical experience, helping them somehow become able to configure wireless LAN routers and somehow know how to research what to do when the internet doesn’t connect.

Writing such vague things like “somehow” might bring the network police after me…

Recommended Network Books

First, I think you need network knowledge to get anywhere, so let’s read books.

Network technology doesn’t require staying up-to-date with the latest trends like web development does. So reading books from a few years ago is still very beneficial.

『パッ!とわかるネットワークの教科書』(Quick Understanding Network Textbook)

This is the book I read during new employee training.

The fact that it’s only 133 pages is also attractive.

If you read and understand this one book, you should quickly understand networks. Even if you don’t completely understand it, you’ll feel like you do.

『ネットワーク超入門講座』(Network Super Beginner Course)

This is a book our CTO bought for engineer training.

If you’re the type who likes to start with theory, I thought it was well-organized systematically. Compared to “Quick Understanding,” the content is much more solid and the difficulty level jumps considerably.

『ネットワークはなぜつながるのか - 知っておきたいTCP/IP、LAN、光ファイバの基礎知識』(Why Networks Connect)

I often hear this is a good network book.

How to Acquire Network Knowledge

To put it roughly, I acquired knowledge through practice.

As a starting point, I began by understanding all the configuration options of home wireless LAN routers. I think many people, even non-engineers, can configure these.

Also, since I’ve been at a startup since its early days, I used to look at the configuration options of the Apple AirMac Extreme we used in the office, and whenever I encountered unfamiliar terms, I’d research and understand them.

How to Search ~ Not Much Information Available Online

Compared to the information that comes up in search results for web development, there’s less information about network technology online.

So if you can’t understand something after a bit of research, it’s faster to contact the manufacturer directly for router-specific specifications than to research on your own. If you don’t understand something, they’ll provide proper support, so asking immediately saves you from wasting time.

Troubleshooting When the Internet Doesn't Connect

For troubleshooting when the internet doesn’t connect, I roughly follow these steps:

Confirmation Steps

  1. Connect to WiFi and check if you can connect to the internet
    1. Is the SSID correct?
    2. Haven't you reached the maximum number of simultaneous connections?
    3. Are IP addresses exhausted?
  2. Connect your PC directly to the Wi-Fi access point or router with a LAN cable and check if you can connect to the internet
  3. Connect the main LAN cable directly to your PC and check if you can connect to the internet
  4. Try replacing the LAN cable and check if you can connect to the internet

Equipment to Buy and Keep on Hand Right Now

As someone who governs networks, the equipment you want to have ready includes:

  • LAN cables
  • Ethernet adapter

I always keep them in my backpack.

LAN Cables

When something happens, it’s often faster to connect directly with a wired LAN to check, so LAN cables are must-buy items.

LAN Cable Types and Categories

LAN cables come in various standards, and you can’t just buy cheap, long LAN cables, so choose and purchase the appropriate category.

LAN Cable Length

For LAN cable length, if it’s too long it gets in the way, and if it’s too short it can make work difficult, so purchasing around 1.5 ~ 2.0 m length is easy to carry and recommended.

Ethernet Adapter

Mac users can’t plug LAN cables directly into their PCs, so let’s purchase an Ethernet adapter.

Network Speed Measurement Tools

If you want to roughly measure just download speed (downstream), I recommend accessing fast.com because you can see it quickly.

Google Fiber’s site can measure both upload speed (upstream) and download speed (downstream).

I recommend using this when you want to check upload speed as well.

I’ve written this roughly, but that’s all from the half-baked network Gemba.