Breaking Down Networking Concepts: Lessons from TryHackMe

Intro
As I continue my cybersecurity journey, I recently completed the Networking Concepts module on TryHackMe, and it’s been an eye-opener. This room lays the foundation for understanding how devices communicate over networks — knowledge that’s absolutely critical for ethical hacking, penetration testing, and general cyber defense. Here’s a breakdown of the key topics I learned and why they matter.

🧠 Understanding IP Addressing & Subnetting

One of the first things covered was how IP addresses work — including the differences between IPv4 vs IPv6, public vs private IPs, and how devices identify each other across a network. I also dove into subnetting, which helps segment networks efficiently and securely. Learning how to calculate subnets and CIDR notations was tricky at first, but invaluable for mapping out networks.

🌐 How Data Moves: OSI & TCP/IP Models

Networking makes way more sense now that I understand the OSI model and its 7 layers — from the physical cable (Layer 1) to applications like your browser (Layer 7). TryHackMe does a great job simplifying this and relating it to real-world traffic.
The TCP/IP model also came into play, with practical insights into how packets flow and are routed across the internet.

🔁 Protocols in Action

The room covered essential protocols like:

• TCP vs UDP – reliability vs speed
• DNS – the phonebook of the internet
• HTTP/HTTPS – web traffic fundamentals
• ICMP – used by tools like ping and traceroute

Understanding what each protocol does and how attackers can manipulate or analyze them is huge for anyone in cyber.

🧰 Tools & Troubleshooting

I got hands-on with some basic but powerful networking tools:

• ping – check if a host is alive
• traceroute – see the path packets take
• netstat – view open ports and connections
• nslookup / dig – DNS lookups
• ipconfig / ifconfig – view IP settings

These tools are often the first step in analyzing or exploiting a network — and mastering them builds a strong foundation.

💡 Why This Matters in Cybersecurity

Every hacker or security professional needs to understand how networks operate. Whether you're scanning for open ports, sniffing packets, or pivoting through a compromised network, these core concepts come up again and again. This module sharpened my ability to think like a defender — and an attacker.

Next Up: I'm diving into more advanced networking rooms and will be applying these concepts in future Capture The Flag (CTF) challenges and labs. If you're new to cyber or just brushing up on networking, I highly recommend this TryHackMe room.