ALL STUDENTS MUST START HERE
This is the Level 2 - Network Science Advanced Certification Network Skills Assessment Tests. You must take these tests prior to taking any of the Level 1 courses.
Understanding advanced Ethernet concepts such as VLANs is critical for broadband technicians because VLANs enable logical segmentation of traffic across shared physical infrastructure, supporting service separation (e.g., Internet, voice, IPTV) and improving security and scalability. A solid grasp of VLAN tagging (802.1Q), trunking, and common misconfigurations allows technicians to diagnose issues such as traffic leakage, improper service delivery, and provisioning errors in multi-service broadband networks. This course focuses on Ethernet VLAN Concepts, VLAN Administration, Spanning Trees, and Trunking.
Understanding Layer 4 protocols—TCP and UDP—is essential for broadband technicians because they control how data is transported between endpoints, directly impacting application performance, reliability, and latency. A solid grasp of TCP mechanisms such as sequencing, acknowledgments, retransmissions, and congestion control, along with UDP’s connectionless behavior, enables technicians to accurately diagnose issues like slow throughput, packet loss, jitter, and application failures. This course focuses on Layer 4 and the two protocols of the TCP/IP suite: TCP and UDP. In TCP we will focus on the TCP Three Way Handshake and gain a critical understanding of TCP Behavior. We will also look at UDP and UDP Behavior.
Understanding IP routing protocols such as OSPF and BGP is essential for broadband technicians because they determine how traffic is dynamically forwarded across internal networks and between service providers, directly impacting reachability, path selection, and overall network stability. A solid grasp of OSPF link-state behavior and BGP path-vector decision processes enables technicians to diagnose routing loops, suboptimal paths, convergence issues, and peering problems that can disrupt broadband services. This course focuses on the functions that Routers perform in an Internet, and the protocols they use, such as OSPF and BGP, in the control plane to make Shortest Path First decisions.
Building on the Wireshark basics in the Level 1 courses, here we elevate the level of Wireshark usage to include using Wireshark as a troubleshooting tool. This is an extremely important skill for Data Networking. This course provides a complete initial skill set on troubleshooting Layer 1 through Layer 4 of the networking model with a focus on Ethernet and TCP/IP.
Understanding multicast in IP networks is important for broadband technicians because it enables efficient one-to-many delivery of data streams—such as IPTV and live events—without duplicating traffic for each subscriber, preserving bandwidth and improving scalability. A solid grasp of multicast protocols such as IGMP and PIM allows technicians to diagnose issues like missing channels, excessive flooding, or improper group joins that can directly impact service quality. Most Data Networks and Provider networks support Multicast technologies for audio and video delivery. This course provides insight on how Multicast works in an Internet with a focus on the Multicast protocols: IGMP and PIM.
Understanding Quality of Service (QoS) is essential for broadband technicians because it enables the prioritization and management of network traffic to ensure that latency-sensitive applications such as voice and video perform reliably under varying load conditions. A solid grasp of QoS mechanisms—including classification, marking (DSCP/CoS), queuing, shaping, and policing—allows technicians to diagnose congestion, packet loss, jitter, and misconfigured policies that directly impact user experience. This course focuses on differentiation of traffic options in a Data Network, and how that differentiation can be used to provide varying levels of performance - or Quality of Service in an Internet. An examination of methods and procedures for classifying, policing, and queuing will be provided.
Understanding network security is essential for broadband technicians because it protects network infrastructure, customer data, and services from threats such as unauthorized access, malware, and denial-of-service attacks that can disrupt availability and performance. A solid grasp of security mechanisms—including authentication, encryption, firewalls, access control lists (ACLs), and intrusion detection—enables technicians to identify vulnerabilities, analyze suspicious traffic, and mitigate attacks while maintaining service integrity.
Understanding advanced Wi-Fi and WLAN troubleshooting is essential for broadband technicians because wireless networks are highly variable environments affected by interference, signal propagation, client behavior, and protocol interactions that directly impact user experience. A solid grasp of RF fundamentals, spectrum analysis, 802.11 frame exchanges, roaming behavior, and tools like Wireshark enables technicians to diagnose issues such as poor coverage, co-channel interference, authentication failures, and performance degradation with precision.