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I thought this course was great. Like others, I want to give props to the narrators, whose friendly and upbeat manner definitely helped to make things more palatable!

Even the very best products can be improved upon, so in that spirit, my recommendations would be:

*More hands-on practice - (agree with earlier reviewer on this) - I would add that it would be nice to have that not necessarily in the form of a quiz right off the bat - but in the form of exercises. I did actually try a few of the commands on my computer, but not the same as having the course verify that I had done things correctly. Sort of like learning to drive - the hands-on simulations are useful.

*Maybe a little section every now and then on - "let's take a look at how this works specifically with what you have learned so far" - since several commenters noted that they didn't see the connections. I felt that the course helped me begin to see them, but am not yet at the point where I could design the whole system myself using the concepts - so clearly there is more I need to learn.

*Maybe some occasional reference to key concepts and details to learn for the TIA-Comp or other critical exams. My fear is that they make it so cushy and comfortable that one could neglect to learn important things for the exam. For instance, do people need to memorize each different header and stack level item with correct field order and size etc.? Or is it enough to be able to look that up and to know which one to look up? Would be reassuring to know.

* Not sure whether the transcript was auto-generated, but there is room for improvement in the grammar and even in misquoting what the narrator actually said at times. I made some corrections for myself, but did not fix everything. I would be willing to share that with Google or Coursera if they wanted a partially corrected starting point. Would also be willing to share with other students, if Coursera/Google were to give permission. Either way, for those who are transcript-oriented, there is room for improvement on that feature.

*There is probably something I am forgetting to add here, but I am sure other reviewers will cover it.

Overall - I I think they have done a fantastic job of introducing this topic, which broad enough to be the subject of university degrees, in just a couple short easy classes. It seems very natural that there would still be gaps in our abilities at this stage - we are not even halfway through, and the entire class of 5 courses is still only described as an introductory level certificate.

This comment is weirdly centering rather than left formatting as I write. Hope it comes out looking normal.

Anyway, thanks so much, and looking forward to the rest!

This was definitely much more in-depth than the first course of the Google IT Support cert series, and had a lot of great information and I definitely came out of it more knowledgeable of certain terms and concepts that are important to networking and to building a strong foundation.

If improvements to the course were to be implemented, I would suggest adding more visuals to better understand some of the concepts like subnetting, datagram encapsulation steps/routing in relation to the 5-layer model (at which layer X happens etc) .

In particular, I had a very difficult time understanding binary - converting decimal to binary and vice versa, which I think is important to understanding CIDR notation and applying it to then understand how to do well on one of the assessments. After rewatching the videos, I ended up having to use some outside resources to get it, which I understand is part of the learning process in general in this field, but I also think those outside resources could be included as they were more clear and concise.

I also struggled with the Wireless Channel activity - while I understood the importance of trying to configure channels with as little interference as possible, it wasn't explained how to do so in as fast and efficient manner as possible. I also think this course could benefit from adding in more practical applications/real-life scenarios, like explaining and providing examples of when to use ping vs traceroute vs nslookup, examples of common problems or things to look for in the output to help resolve the problem.

Lastly, I felt that the Mock Interview video was extremely helpful and useful so kudos for including that!

Overall a great course, and thank you for providing this resource to people like me with no traditional background or academic foundation for this type of field.

I was surprised to see so many negative reviews of this class, so that's why I'm writing this positive one. In my opinion, the course is excellent, and so are the instructors. Even their jokes are ok. I did watch each video at least twice, and I took lots of notes and reviewed them. The text of the instructor's talk was below each video, so it was easy to cut and paste pertinent talking points, or to shorten them. I think it would be difficult to learn the material only by watching the videos. I also read the Supplemental Materials, and sometimes watched YouTube videos on the topic (especially for Subnetting and masking). I am pretty much of a beginner, except that 14-15 years ago I took some Networking classes at a local community college, so I had some prior knowledge of the topic (but no actual hands on experience).

I agree with the criticisms of the Subnetting quiz. I misinterpreted the instructions (even though I read others' comments about them before I took the test). I finally figured it out. The test was hard even once I understood the instructions, but that's b/c I had a very hard time understanding subnetting & masking.

It would be helpful to have more hands-on quizzes, but I'm not sure how that can be accomplished in a class in this format: online and at-your-own-pace. I think the next course includes command line instructions and practice, and this may help us all to get hands-on practice on our own computers, using some of the tools we've learned.

I appreciated Victor Escobedo's enthusiasm and wit. He covered A LOT of material in this course and made it interesting which in turn kept me motivated.

I enjoyed learning about the fundamentals and details of the TCP/IP 5 layer model. We delved into Networking Services and how DNS is used to control and maintain web addresses and the specific protocol used to keep the internet secure. We learned about Domain Name registration. I have a better understanding of the essentials of DHCP and using NAT and Port Forwarding as a solution to the lack of IPv4 addresses. The importance of Virtual Private Networks as a means of keeping networks secure. The history of broadband and the establishment of DSL and the basics of WAN protocol. I have a grasp on the use of Wireless Technology and networking, including the implementation and use of Ad-hoc, Wireless LANS, and mesh networks and how to troubleshoot connectivity issues with options like Ping, Traceroute, Netcat and nslookup. I have a deeper understanding of how cloud services work and the various types of services available. Lastly, the future of IP addressing and workarounds of using current IPv4 servers until the global system is ready to launch IPv6. Lastly, I’m impressed with the mind-blowing 18+ Quintillion addresses that IPv6 has to offer. The technology behind our internet infrastructure is fascinating! I would love to meet and someday work with the brilliant engineers at the heart of this technology.

1 Overview

I absolutely enjoyed this course! Some of the networking puns made me smile. :) The instructor explained the key concepts using simple English and simple ideas. I found this very helpful as it gave me a big picture overview of the networking device or technology and made me understand its purpose in the grand scheme of things. The graphics were great too and helps tremedously for visual learners!

2 Depth

While I cannot troubleshoot network issues after taking this course, I definitely can see these concepts coming alive in daily live with a clearer understanding about the phones, computers, cars, routers, etc. around me. It was the just the right level of depth for someone like me who only has a basic understanding of how computers work. I dont think I would be able to cover as much breadth in networking concepts in the same period of time if I were to self-explore on wiki, watch youtube, or read man pages. This is certainly well-curated content and has given me a direction on what topics I could further read about. This is definitely a beginner's course and the focus is on exposure rather than mastery. Would love to see an intermediate course under this same instructor!

3 Area for improvement

Include hands on assignment like in Course 1

Great course and a great instructor! One of the tests didn't want to load on Firefox, but loaded properly on Chrome. There have been a few technical difficulties in this and the first course with some loading of material, but if you're having trouble there is a solution to be found on the message boards. I haven't found the issues to be too troubling when I refer to the boards to work them out.

The course instructor is very engaging and the delivery of material is excellent. Some have mentioned the material moves quickly. A tip I would offer is to not just watch the videos straight through and expect to get it. Transcripts are available to read through, or I've found pausing and replaying to take notes while I watch to be considerably helpful. The tests are finicky in that minor spelling errors will give you a wrong answer. Since testing yourself is one of the best ways to solidify material, I didn't find taking retakes for this reason too frustrating, it was just an opportunity to get the material better ingrained.

Wow this course was a lot more difficult than the first. I am glad I took lots of notes and did a spreadsheet with the different layers of datagrams to help me understand how they all fit together. There were one or two small sections that I had a bunch of trouble understanding. I was able to go to additional sources and fill in the gaps though. I feel I will need to go over all of this information several more times to really feel comfortable with it. I am really hoping that with the future courses and more practice it will become second nature. I also wonder just how much of the terms and tables I need to memorize. I have a strong understanding how it all fits together but memorizing all the little details will take some time. The next course looks tough too. I'm excited to be challenged and look forward to my new direction in IT. Thank You Coursera for giving me the opportunity.

This course like the first one I took is very well done. The way the Google has presented the course is amazing. The videos do a really good job of laying things out in a way that makes the learning fun. At no time do I feel that I cannot do something because they are always rooting for you to succeed in the videos. To be honest it is almost like a good book that I do not want to put down. I just want to keep going in the course to learn more. It is actually kind of sad it is over in a way. Getting started on my next course has me pretty excited after going through this one. Completing my Google IT support certificate will be something I am looking forward to with eager anticipation. Thank you for putting together such a wonderful course.

The teacher really cares about the content they're teaching (and it shows). The background teachers also did a great job.

My favorite part of this section is that the quizzes have fill-in-the-blank (for almost the entirety). I've done pretty much every class/module and this is the only teacher that did that. While sometimes I disagreed with memorizing certain question/answer pairs (proprietary or trivia questions) and lamented the lack of multiple answers (LAN vs local area network + link-local unicast vs link-local unicasts), I still felt that I learned far more from it. I'm sure some students had tons of trouble from this section's tests but I still feel that some number (maybe not 100%) of open-ended questions should be included.

At least from my perspective, this course is really well structured and covers a lot uf subjects that can lead you to the point 0 to have a good general understanding about how computer networks and internet works. It wouldn't make you an expert on the subject, but I do think it's a very good starting point in order to becoming one if that's your goal. Props to Victor (the teacher), who has the ability of make the concepts really understable and digestible.

If you are going to take this course, I would recommend you to take notes, go step by step and rewatch the videos if you concider it necessary. Plus, some side research would really help (there's also some interesting supplemental reading provided for you in this course).

Now I understand that there is too much information about networks and protocols and definitions to learn and become an expert. It was good to understand the network layer and TCI / IP definitions. I also like learning about IPv6, the cloud, and virtualization. I accept that it took me time to understand the information and I try to spend every spare moment reading something about the topics of the course on the Internet to add more knowledge. The really difficult thing was studying among so many inconveniences caused by the pandemic and the Coronavirus that affected me personally and the members of my family, but the important thing is to continue preparing ourselves academically and educating ourselves more.

I have 15+ years experience in IT. Back when I started my career, I did not have access to online courses. I discovered this course and immediately enrolled. Although, I had a good understanding of most of the topics covered in the course prior to enrolment, the course served as a good refresher. The quality of video lectures, well thought out quizzes and assignments delivered a good learning experience. I recommend this course for anyone starting their career in IT support. Even if you have some experience in IT, don't hesitate to enrol to learn the things you might have missed earlier in your career and prepare to take your career to the next level! This is an exemplar course. Thanks to Google and Coursera!

I have to first give thanks to the pioneers of this great platform, so many new skills i have acquired because of this opportunity. Special thanks to the Instructor of this course, he has excellent delivery skills and has so many simple terms for explaining complex ideas. however It took me longer time to complete this module because I had to review some past modules which is what makes this platform even more interesting because one could always refer back to the previous lectures. It is an amazing opportunity indeed and a great deal of experience for me to be able to partake in this leaning process all the way from NIgeria. Thank you Coursera for removing the distance barrier and for this great oppurunity

This is the second course that I have completed, and I feel very strongly that I have Learnt and Retained an awesome amount of information. I was able to take tons of notes and learn at my own pace. I don't recall feeling this way about college classroom learning. Having the opportunity to go back and listen to an instructor on every topic is powerful.

I challenge myself by taking every Quiz or Test without looking at any notes and usually I scored in the high 80% though there were some I was in the 60%. Being able to retake those exams to get higher scores really led to an opportunity to understand what I didn't know that well and go back and study that area more.

I feel this is an excellent course for people who are serious about obtaining critical fundamentals for later work. You can't know a thing until you understand where it comes from. I never felt like the information influx was too much. I did however feel challenged and I had to focus and study and read and reflect. I had to practice and consider the larger questions. The pacing was good and the groundwork laid. I know they could have hit us with more content. There is always more content. But this was a solid beginning that lets me ask smarter questions and gives me critical vocabulary words to begin a search when I want to dig deeper. Thanks guys, good job.

Many thanks to the teachers, who explained key principles in a clear and accessible way. I appreciated their knowledge, experience, enthusiasm, and encouragement. Thanks to Coursera for providing this user-friendly learning platform. Via regular assessments, I could apply principles I had learned and consolidate my understanding. Help Center staff responded to queries promptly and were friendly and supportive. The knowledge I gained from these courses has boosted my confidence and will serve as a foundation for further reading and practice. I would not hesitate to recommend this certificate programme to anyone wanting to develop their IT and IT support knowledge.

The course was too good and in conjunction with what you would expect of a practical course offered by google.

Unlike academic course on Computer Networks offered by universities this course focused on the creating a deep understanding on the working of Internet so as to enable people to explain every aspect of its working. Rather than focusing on the implementation based protocols it focused on what is the foundations of the modern networking infrastructure and how it has evolved and is continuously evolving over time.

Loved it!!

And would recommend this course to anyone who want to acquire a strong foundation in

"The bits and bytes of Computer Networking"

Big thanks to all the teachers who endlessly help me achieve such a great thing. I can now say without any doubt that I'm not novice in computer troubleshooting areas . I'm now getting deeper and deeper in my objectives which is to master all technical terms in computer technical support and be able to resolve all problems for end users and kindly transmit what I've learnt with these unqualifiable teachers who slowly explains everything as if we were physically together in classroom.

Big up to you guys!

I'll for sure continue with the rest of six courses without any problem and can't wait to gain more skills with you.

Although I passed the last quiz, I was frustrated with the first question activity. I knew the two "rules" for shortening IPv6 addresses, but I could not revise any of the IP addresses on my computer. It just wouldn't work! I couldn't make it move. Maybe I misunderstood the directions, but I thought I could just revise or delete or highlight and delete numbers, then check my work. I tried everything: highlighting the correct zeros, making it bigger and smaller--nothing. Even though I was in Chrome. I feel I should've received a 100 percent since I got the answer about the rule correct on question 13.

Awesome learning and recapping on past knowledge ! The presenter with his with punchlines made the dense material bearable ! Kudos to this awesome presenter and his patience and diligence in delivering the material. Some hands on labs on certain areas where tools are used for better reinforce what is being learned. Just the lectures and quizzes may not suffice other then that awesome job to everyone involved in developing , preparing and presenting these information. On a small note some of the diagrams present could be provided as PDFs so as to serve as visual reminder of key concepts and takeaways.

This course is awesome. It increased & strengthen my base knowledge of Networking, how things works. Exams and Quiz are designed such a beautiful way that while looking for answers you do go through study material once again (The best way to make sure that trainer revises important topics once again before moving ahead to next topic of course). Assignment of 3rd week gave a tough struggle, I had to go through both previous 2 weeks material to submit that assignment but during submission of this assignment only, I realized the beautiful innovative concept of course design as mentioned earlier.

I've always felt like networking was my weakest skill set. I understood the basics and could diagnose basic problems but I honestly lacked the fundamental knowledge needed to diagnose systemic problems that major companies or business users may face. This lack of fundamentals also hindered me in other fields like cyber security. I think this is a fantastic course and out of all of the Google Professional IT Certification courses I believe this one was the most valuable to me and will make a significant difference in my ability to troubleshoot and effectively resolve common issues.

The coolest thing in the course is a simple and intuitive visualization of complex technologies. I believe that Google did a great job on all the main topics, I learned something new for myself and consolidated the already existing knowledge. Lack of strict control, but at the same time a strong motivational program developed by Google allows you to really remember and apply the material covered! The only thing I would like to add: more interactive tasks in a playful form, I am sure that many would like the simplified analogue of the Cisco Package Tracer, GNS3 or EVE-NG.

I liked the course at it basic, all the small bits to the large ones, but there is place for improvement, how are we supposed to learn all the acronyms and remember every single one of them, I know we are supposed to, but sometimes it's confusing. The questions, there were a lot of confusing ones that didnt make sense to me, even at this last part I got two identical questions with the same result using the same answers but different words, need a fix for that. All and all I enjoyed listening to the Elections and getting most of it from the lector itself. Will recommend!