Course Descriptions
The CTNS Certification Package includes eight courses plus the TCO CTNS Certification Exam, Certificate and Personalized Letter of Reference. These courses will give you the core knowledge needed in telecom today, plus a certificate to prove it! Unlimited repeats of exams and courses. 30-day no-questions-asked 100% money-back guarantee.
2241 Introduction to Broadband Converged IP Telecom
2206 Wireless Telecommunications
2221 Fundamentals of Voice over IP
2201 The PSTN
2212 OSI Layers and Protocol Stacks
2211 LANs, VLANs, Wireless and Optical Ethernet
2213 IP Addresses, Packets and Routers
2214 MPLS and Carrier Networks
Download the printable PDF brochure
Purchase this set of eight courses in the CTNS Certification Package, or individual courses as best meets your needs.
Upgrade your training with the CTNS Study Guide: detailed notes and diagrams, available in eBook, softcover and hardcover. 406 pages, 7x9" color. Published 2021.
The Certified Telecommunications Subject Matter Expert CTSME Certification Package includes all of these courses at a substantial discount... plus 5 TCO certifications, all with unlimited repeats.
Free Lesson 1: Course Introduction
Another free lesson: The Last Mile
Included in Certification Packages:
Course 2241
Introduction to Broadband Converged IP Telecom
Convergence • Broadband • Network Core and Edge • Protocols • Last Mile Copper, Fiber and Wireless • Residential, Business and Wholesale Services • Network Equipment • Carrier Connections
Specifically designed for non-engineers, Introduction to Broadband Converged IP Telecom is a high-level wide-ranging introduction to the world of modern IP telecommunications.
This course is based on the first chapter of Teracom’s famous instructor-led BOOT CAMP, getting a full week of training started with an introduction to all of the different aspects of the modern converged IP telecom network.
For non-engineers, it's a first pass through the topics, starting at the beginning, explaining the fundamental ideas, jargon, equipment and technologies, the services that are sold, the players, where the money is, and how it all fits together.
In subsequent courses, we’ll take another pass and drill deeper into key areas like Wireless, VoIP, PSTN, Ethernet, IP and MPLS.
Course Lessons
1. Course Introduction (watch free)
2. Convergence
3. Broadband
4. Model of Today's Converged Telecom Network
5. The Network Core
6. Network Protocols: Ethernet, IP and MPLS
7. Network Access: Last Mile Copper, Fiber and Wireless (watch free)
8. Anatomy of a Service
9. Services: Residential, Business and Wholesale
10. Network Equipment
11. Carrier Network Interconnect
Based on Teracom's famous Course 101, tuned and refined over the course of more than 20 years of instructor-led training, we'll cut through the jargon to demystify modern IP telecommunications, explaining the jargon and buzzwords, the underlying ideas, and how it all works together... in plain English.
Detailed Course Description
Introduction to Broadband Converged IP Telecom is the first course in the CTNS Certification Package, providing a comprehensive introduction to modern IP telecommunications.
Specifically designed for non-engineering professionals, this course is a first pass through all of the major topics, explaining the fundamental ideas, jargon, equipment and technologies, the services that are sold, the players, where the money is, and how it all fits together.
On completion of this telecommunications course online, you will be able to (with open-book reference to the course or study guide):
- Define convergence, and two ways that it might be achieved
- Define bandwidth, explain what broadband means and how much "broad" might be
- Identify all of the main aspects of the modern broadband converged IP network, including the parts of the physical network, the three types of services, the equipment and players
- Describe the network core, its purpose, performance requirements and how they are implemented
- Identify the three primary network protocols: Ethernet, IP and MPLS, and what each does
- Explain how MAC Frames and IP Packets go together
- Identify the essential purpose of an IP address
- Explain the essential advantage of MPLS over IP for routing
- Define the three main technology areas for network access
- List the most popular technologies in each
- Describe the three components of a network service
- Define the three main groupings of telecom services based on customer type
- Describe at least four different meanings of the term VPN
- Differentiate between streaming video vs. video from your ISP, and the essential difference between them
- Explain in general what an MPLS VPN is and who uses it
- Identify the key difference between MPLS VPN services and SD-WAN services
- Explain what SIP trunking is and what legacy service it replaces
- List at least four types of wholesale telecommunications services
- Explain what a Data Center is
- Explain the essential function of a router
- Describe what a Layer 2 switch is used for, and how Layer 2 switches relate to routers
- Define multiplexing
- Identify three technologies that use Frequency-Division Multiplexing
- Identify the name for FDM in the fiber optic world
- Differentiate between FDM and Time-Division Multiplexing
- Describe what a gateway is and the two functions it performs
This is quite a range of knowledge, and can appear daunting, especially if you are new to telecom. Keep in mind that this course is the introduction, the first pass through all of these topics.
No-one is expecting anyone to be an instant expert. If you are just starting in telecom, you would need to refer to the course or study guide open-book to do the above.
In subsequent courses, we take a second and sometimes third pass through the topics and drill deeper to more fully understand the concepts and technologies.
With this course, we're getting started identifying and understanding all of the aspects of modern broadband converged IP telecommunications.
Detailed Course Outline
1. Introduction
Course introduction and overview
2. Convergence
One network carrying all services: telephone, video and Internet. Channels vs. packets.
3. Broadband
Bandwidth, and how much "broad" might be
4. Introduction to Broadband Converged IP Telecom Model
Graphical model identifying all the main aspects of telecommunications and how they relate
5. The Network Core
High-capacity, high-availability connections between aggregation centers. Fiber rings.
6. Network Protocols: Ethernet, IP and MPLS
Ethernet moves packets point-to-point. IP address is the final destination. MPLS manages flows.
7. Network Access: The Last Mile:
Twisted pair, hybrid fiber-coax, Passive Optical Network, Optical Ethernet, cellular, satellite
8. Anatomy of a Service
Network access technology, network connection type and billing agreement
9. Services: Residential, Business and Wholesale
Comprehensive review of the main dollar-value services in each sector
10. Network Equipment
Layer 2 switches, IP routers, MPLS routers, FDM and TDM multiplexers, wavelength cross connects
11. Carrier Network Interconnect
Tariffed switched-access for calls involving a PSTN phone number; Internet Exchange transit and peering
Download the Course Brochure PDF for the full detailed description
Buying Choices
Individual Course
with unlimited repeats, Teracom Course Completion Certificate
Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) Certification Package
Eight courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTNS Certification and Letter of Reference
CTSME: Certified Telecommunications Subject Matter Expert certification package includes this course.
Shop with confidence! All choices come with a 100% Money-Back Guarantee: full refund within 30 days. details
Free Lesson 1: Course Introduction
Another free lesson: Wi-Fi - 802.11 Wireless LANs
Included in Certification Packages:
Course 2206 Wireless Telecommunications
Mobile Network Fundamentals • Cellular Principles • Digitized Voice over Radio • Mobile Internet • FDMA, TDMA, CDMA and OFDM • 4G LTE and OFDMA • 5G: New Spectrum, Ultra-Broadband and IoT • Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax • Communication Satellites
Wireless Telecommunications is a comprehensive up-to-date course on cellular plus Wi-Fi and satellites. Taking this course, you will develop a solid understanding of the fundamental principles of radio, mobility and cellular; network components and operation, digital radio, mobile phone calls and mobile Internet access; and spectrum-sharing technology OFDM, and how it's used in LTE and 5G. In addition, you will get up to speed on the components, operation and latest standards for Wi-Fi, and the essentials of satellite communications.
Course Lessons
1. Introduction (watch free)
2. Mobile Network Components, Jargon and Operation
3. Cellular Principles
4. PSTN Phone Calls using the Phone App: Voice Minutes
5. Mobile Internet: Data Plan
6. Spectrum-Sharing: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, OFDM
7. 4G LTE: Mobile Broadband
8. 5G New Radio: Enhanced Mobile Broadband, IoT Communications
9. Wi-Fi: 802.11 Wireless LANs (watch free)
10. Communication Satellites
We'll cut through the jargon to demystify wireless, explaining the fundamentals of cellular and mobility, the buzzwords, the network, technologies and generations, the underlying ideas, and how it all works together... in plain English.
Detailed Course Description
You'll gain a solid understanding of the key principles of wireless and mobile networks:
- Radio fundamentals
- Mobile network components and operation
- Coverage, capacity and mobility
- Why cellular radio systems are used
- Registration and handoffs
- Digitized voice over radio for PSTN phone calls
- Mobile Internet: "Data Plan"
- Cellular technologies: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, OFDM
- 4G LTE and OFDMA
- 5G: new spectrum, more b/s, ultra-broadband and IoT
- Wi-Fi: 802.11 wireless LANs, Wi-Fi 6 / 802.11ax, Wi-Fi security
- GEO and LEO satellite communications
We begin with basic concepts and terminology involved in mobile networks, including base stations and transceivers, mobile switches and backhaul, handoffs, cellular radio concepts and digital radio concepts.
You'll understand how a phone call connects from a cell phone to a landline, and the different methods of allowing other devices to use a smartphone's mobile Internet connection.
Without bogging down on details, we'll review spectrum-sharing technologies: FDMA for first generation; 2G GSM/TDMA, 3G CDMA and 4G and 5G OFDM.
We'll take some time to understand how modems represent bits on subcarriers, and how OFDMA is used in 4G and 5G to dynamically assign subcarrier(s) to users.
This is followed with Wi-Fi, or more precisely, 802.11 wireless LANs: the system components, frequency bands, bitrates and coverage for all of the versions up to Wi-Fi 6 which is 802.11ax, the first Wi-Fi to implement full-duplex communications with multiple simultaneous devices using OFDMA and a theoretical 9.6 Gb/s. We'll also cover WPA-2 and WPA-3 security.
The course is completed with communications satellites, in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit and Low Earth Orbit, including Iridium Next and Starlink.
Detailed Course Outline
1. Introduction Course introduction and overview. Basic radio principles, analog and digital over radio.
2. Mobile Network Components, Jargon and Operation Handset, base station, airlink, handoffs, backhaul and connection to wireline systems
3. Cellular Principles The requirements of coverage, capacity and mobility. Cellular for coverage, spectrum sharing for capacity, and handoffs for mobility.
4. PSTN Calls Using the Native Phone App: "Voice Minutes" Components and operation involved in a phone call: microphone, codec, RF modem, antenna, backhaul and connection to other carriers at the Toll Center building.
5. Mobile Internet: "Data Plan" Mobile Internet via a smartphone; using the RF modem and antenna as a tethered modem, mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.
6. Spectrum-Sharing: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, OFDM Sorting out the generations and standards.
7. 4G LTE: Mobile Broadband Subcarriers, how LTE implements modems on subcarriers, and OFDMA for dynamic capacity sharing.
8. 5G NR: Enhanced Mobile Broadband, IoT Communications New spectrum and use cases: more b/s at conventional frequencies, ultra-broadband in millimeter-wave bands, and low bit rates for IoT devices.
9. Wi-Fi: 802.11 Wireless LANs Wi-Fi components and principles of operation, 802.11 standards, frequency bands and coverage, including Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax, implementing OFDMA with massive performance increase. Completed with WPA-2 and WPA-3 Wi-Fi security.
10. Communication Satellites Geosynchronous Earth Orbit and Low Earth Orbit, Iridium Next and Starlink.
Download the Course Brochure PDF for the full detailed description
Buying Choices
Individual Course
with unlimited repeats, Teracom Course Completion Certificate
Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) Certification Package
Eight courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTNS Certification and Letter of Reference
Certified Telecommunications Analyst (CTA) Certification Package
Sixteen courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTA Certification and Letter of Reference
CTSME: Certified Telecommunications Subject Matter Expert certification package includes this course.
Shop with confidence!
All choices come with a 100% Money-Back Guarantee: full refund within 30 days.
Another free lesson: Voice in IP Packets
Included in Certification Packages:
Course 2221 Fundamentals of Voice over IP
Jargon & Buzzwords • VoIP Phone System Components and Operation • Voice Packetization • LANs and WANs • VoIP Phones: MAC Address, DHCP, IP, UDP, RTP, QoS • SIP, Softswitches & SIP Trunking • Cloud • The Future
Fundamentals of Voice over IP is a complete introduction to everything Voice over IP. You'll learn the fundamental ideas and principles of a VoIP telephone system, VoIP, SIP & all the other jargon - what it actually means and how it all works together.
At each step, we'll also cover supporting and related technologies like Ethernet MAC frames and codecs and video over IP.
Course Lessons
1. The Big Picture (watch free)
2. Terminals
3. Voice in Packets (watch free)
4. SIP and Soft Switches / SIP Servers / Call Managers
5. Media Servers: Video Servers
6. Gateways
7. LANs and WANs
8. Key VoIP Standards
9. Where All of This is Headed: IP Dial Tone
This course can be taken by anyone who needs to get up to speed on all things VoIP. You will gain career-enhancing knowledge of the components and operation of Voice over IP systems, and learn what all of the jargon and buzzwords mean.
It also serves as a first pass through topics that are covered in greater detail in subsequent lessons.
Detailed Course Description
The objective of this course is to put in place a solid, structured base of knowledge in the technology and implementation of communicating thoughts from one person's brain to another via a telephone conversation carried in IP packets.
In particular, on completion of this course, you will be able to explain:
- How a VoIP phone is more of a computer than a phone, and its computer functions
- How a VoIP phone digitizes the speech coming into a microphone
- The idea of adding a time stamp to a 20 ms segment of digitized speech
- How UDP adds a port number and error check
- IP adds the called party's telephone's IP address and creates an IP packet
- This is carried in a MAC frame over a physical circuit to the next router
- Reconstructing the speech at the far end
- What happens when packets with voice get delayed or lost
- That SIP is the protocol for exchanging little text messages to start a phone call
- That each end has a SIP server, either running locally, at a remote site or in the cloud
- The calling party asks their SIP server to ask the called party's SIP server if the called party wants to take a call
- If the called party says "yes", the two phones thereafter exchange Voice in IP Packets directly, and the SIP servers drop out of the story.
- That video over IP is where the real money is
- What a video server is made of, where it is located, and what it does
- What a gateway is and why it is needed
- What technologies used in old telephone systems have to be converted
- Wiring VoIP phones to Layer 2 aggregation and PoE switches in wiring closets
- Connecting Layer 2 switches to a router to connect to a carrier with Optical Ethernet
- VoIP carrier services, including SIP trunking, MPLS VPN, Internet SD-WAN
- What a Service Level Agreement is
- The key standards related to VoIP from RTP and G.711 to Optical Ethernet
- How basic telecom service will be Broadband IP Dial Tone in the future, as the Internet and the telephone network become the same thing.
- How telephone service becomes a helper application called SIP everyone uses
- How the web is already a helper application called DNS everyone uses
- A voice call is just another kind of traffic on the IP-PSTN
Detailed Course Outline
1. The Big Picture
Course introduction and overview.
2. VoIP Phones and Terminals
Components of a VoIP phone, speech packetization, codecs, SIP, voice prioritization, LTE and 5G
3. Voice in IP Packets
Speech from lips to ear through digitization, RTP, UDP, IP, MAC and copper, fiber or wireless
4. SIP and Softswitches - SIP Servers / Call Managers
Video visit to a CO to explain "softswitch", SIP running on softswitch, PBX, Hosted PBX, cloud
5. Media Servers
Video and in the future, VR is where the money is. Video over IP, servers, Netflix appliance, DRM
6. Gateways
Protocol converters: old channelized DS0 systems ↔ Voice over IP, media and signaling conversion
7. Connecting: LAN and WAN
Layer 2 switches and PoE on Cat 6 in-building, Optical Ethernet to carrier services: VPN, SIP Trunking
8. Key VoIP Standards
A roundup of standard protocols: SIP and SDP, RTP, UDP vs. TCP, IP, 802, G.711, Cat 6, OE
9. Where All of This is Headed: IP Dial Tone
A peek at the Future, when the Internet and the telephone network are the same thing.
Download the Course Brochure PDF for the full detailed description
Buying Choices
Individual Course
with unlimited repeats, Teracom Course Completion Certificate
Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) Certification Package
Eight courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTNS Certification and Letter of Reference
Certified VoIP Analyst (CVA) Certification Package
Six courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CVA Certification and Letter of Reference
CTNS + CVA Combo Discount Special
Get CTNS and CVA Certification Packages together at a discount
CTSME: Certified Telecommunications Subject Matter Expert certification package includes this course.
Shop with confidence!
All choices come with a money-back guarantee: full refund within 30 days.
Free Lesson 1: Course Introduction
Another free lesson: The Voiceband
Included in Certification Packages:
Course 2201 The PSTN
Loops and Trunks • POTS • Circuit-Switching • LECs, CLECs and IXCs • Analog • Voiceband • DTMF • SS7
One cornerstone of a full, rounded base of knowledge of telecommunications is the structure and operation of the Public Switched Telephone Network, built over the past 135 years, still in operation in every country on earth – knowledge necessary for connecting the PSTN to, and steadily replacing the PSTN with IP telecom technologies.
In this course, you'll build a solid understanding of the fundamentals of the telephone system: Customer Premise and Central Office, loops, trunks, remotes, circuit switching and how a telephone call is connected end-to-end. We'll cover LECs, CLECs and IXCs, sound, analog and the voiceband, twisted pair, DTMF and SS7. Updated for the 2020s.
Course Lessons
1. Introduction (watch free)
2. History of Telecommunications (USA and Canada)
3. The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
4. Analog Circuits and Sound
5. The Voiceband (watch free)
6. Plain Ordinary Telephone Service (POTS)
7. Signaling: Pulse Dialing and Dual Tone Multiple Frequency (DTMF)
8. Signaling System 7 (SS7)
Based on Teracom's famous Course 101, tuned and refined over the course of more than 20 years of instructor-led training, we'll cut through the jargon to demystify telephony and the telephone system, explaining the jargon and buzzwords, the underlying ideas, and how it all works together… in plain English.
Featuring many photos of actual equipment both inside a Central Office and in the outside plant, this multimedia course is an excellent way to get up to speed on traditional telephony.
Detailed Course Description
In this online telecommunications course, we begin with a history lesson, understanding how and why telephone networks and the companies that provide them are organized into local access and inter-city transmission, or as we will see, Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) and Inter-Exchange Carriers (IXCs).
Then we will establish a basic model for the PSTN and understand its main components: Customer Premise, Central Office, loop, trunk, outside plant, circuit switching, attenuation, loop length, remotes, and why knowledge of the characteristics of the loop remains essential knowledge even though we are moving to Voice over IP.
Next, we'll cover aspects of telephony and Plain Ordinary Telephone Service, including analog, the voiceband, twisted pair, supervision and signaling including DTMF. The course is completed with an overview of SS7, the control system for the telephone network in the US and Canada.
On completion of this telecommunications course online, you will be able to draw a model of the Public Switched Telephone Network, explain its core-and-edge architecture, identify components and technologies, along with the big picture, including:
- Why telecom networks are divided into local access wiring and long-distance transmission
- The founding, breakup and re-emergence of AT&T in the US; TELUS and Bell in Canada
- A basic model for the PSTN and its main components
- Loops, why they are called loops and why there is a maximum loop length
- The outside plant
- Circuit-switching
- Central Office and Customer Premise
- How and why remotes are used; fiber to the neighborhood
- Plain Ordinary Telephone Service
- What analog is, and how it relates to copper wires, electricity, circuits and sound
- How microphones and speakers work
- The human hearing range
- Whether trees falling in the forest if no-one is there to hear them cause a sound
- The voiceband
- Why and how the telephone system can limit frequencies to the voiceband
- Why two wires are used
- Why they are twisted together (twisted pair)
- Tip and ring, -48 volts
- Supervision, dial tone, ringing, lightning protection
- Dial-up
- Touch-tone and DTMF
- Basics of SS7
- Call routing between carriers using SS7
Detailed Course Outline
1. Introduction Course introduction and overview
2. History of Telecommunications Local phone companies, long distance; US: Bell System, breakup, LECs and IXCs; Canada
3. The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) Loops and trunks, CO, customer premise, circuit-switching, outside plant, loop length, remotes
4. Analog Circuits and Sound What analog means, microphones and speakers, copper wires and electricity, trees falling in the forest
5. The Voiceband Reproducing thoughts vs. reproducing sound, frequency range, filters, limitations
6. Plain Ordinary Telephone Service (POTS) Twisted pair, analogs on two wires, dial tone, ringing, supervision, lightning protection
7. Signaling: Pulse Dialing and DTMFDial-up, make-or-break signaling, touch-tone, DTMF, in-band signaling
8. Signaling System 7 (SS7) Control system for the PSTN, SCPs and SSPs, call routing between carriers
Download the Course Brochure PDF for the full detailed description
Buying Choices
Individual Course
with unlimited repeats, Teracom Course Completion Certificate
Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) Certification Package
Eight courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTNS Certification and Letter of Reference
Certified Telecommunications Analyst (CTA) Certification Package
Sixteen courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTA Certification and Letter of Reference
CTSME: Certified Telecommunications Subject Matter Expert certification package includes this course.
Shop with confidence! All choices come with a 100% Money-Back Guarantee: full refund within 30 days. details
Free Lesson 1: Course Introduction
Another free lesson: Protocols and Standards
Included in Certification Packages:
Course 2212 The OSI Layers and Protocol Stacks
Protocols & Standards • OSI Model • Layers • Protocol Stacks • FedEx Analogy
This course begins the "networking courses" in the Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) certification package.
The OSI 7-Layer Reference Model is used to sort out the many functions that need to be performed, to be able to discuss separate issues separately. The functions are organized into groups called layers, which are stacked one on top of the other. This allows us to relate different pieces of the puzzle in subsequent lessons.
The course starts with the big picture, then one lesson for each layer, then protocol stacks.
Course Lessons
1. Introduction (watch free)
2. Open Systems
3. Protocols and Standards (watch free)
4. ISO OSI 7-Layer Reference Model
5. The Physical Layer
6. Data Link Layer
7. Network Layer
8. Transport Layer
9. Session Layer
10. Presentation Layer
11. Application Layer
12. Protocol Stacks
13. Protocol Headers
14. Standards Organizations
Based on Teracom's famous Course 101, tuned and refined over the course of more than 25 years of instructor-led training. You'll learn what a layer is, what the layers are, what each one does and examples of where things like TCP fit into the model ...and how it all works together… in plain English.
Detailed Course Description
This course establishes a framework for all of the discussions in subsequent lessons and courses: the OSI 7-Layer Reference Model, which identifies and divides the functions to be performed into groups called layers.
You'll learn what a layer is, the purpose of each layer, see examples of protocols used to implement each layer, and learn how a protocol stack really works with the famous "FedEx Analogy" presented as an embedded video by our top instructor, Eric Coll.
On completion of this course, you will be able to explain:
- The concept of an open system and its advantages
- What a protocol is, and what a standard is
- The OSI Model and its purpose
- What a Layer is
- The seven layers of the OSI model
- The name of each layer
- The functions each layer is responsible for
- Examples of actual protocols for each layer
- What a protocol stack is and how it operates
- Examples of standards organizations that publish protocols
Detailed Course Outline
1. Introduction Course introduction and overview
2. Open Systems Open systems vs. proprietary systems.
3. Protocols and Standards Illustrated overview of all the functions required for communications, and protocols vs. standards
4. ISO OSI 7-Layer Reference Model Top-level overview and introduction to Layers
5. The Physical Layer Fiber, Twisted Pair, Cable and Wireless
6. Data Link Layer LANs and MAC Addresses
7. Network Layer IP, MPLS, Packets and Routers
8. Transport Layer Reliability, Connections, Ports and Sockets
9. Session Layer SIP, POP and HTTP
10. Presentation Layer ASCII, MIME, Compression, Encryption, Codecs
11. Application Layer SMTP, HTML and English
12. Protocol Stacks How a protocol stack and peer protocols actually work. Tracing the flow through the stack with the FedEx Analogy
13. Protocol Headers Babushka Dolls
14. Standards Organizations ISO, IETF, ITU
Download the Course Brochure PDF for the full detailed description
Build structured, broad knowledge of networks - understanding that lasts a lifetime. Stand out from the crowd!
Buying Choices
Individual Course
with unlimited repeats, Teracom Course Completion Certificate
Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) Certification Package
Eight courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTNS Certification and Letter of Reference
Certified Telecommunications Analyst (CTA) Certification Package
Sixteen courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTA Certification and Letter of Reference
CTSME: Certified Telecommunications Subject Matter Expert certification package includes this course.
Certified IP Telecom Network Specialist (CIPTS) Certification Package
Four courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CIPTS Certification and Letter of Reference
Shop with confidence!
All choices come with a 100% Money-Back Guarantee: full refund within 30 days.
Free Lesson 1: Course Introduction
Another free lesson: Twisted-Pair LAN Cables, Categories, Wiring Plan and Switch Hierarchy
Included in Certification Packages:
Course 2211 LANs, VLANs, Wireless and Optical Ethernet
MAC Addresses • MAC Frames • Layer 2 Switches • VLANs • Ethernet on Copper • 1000BASE-T • Power over Ethernet • Cable Categories • Office Wiring Plan • Wireless Ethernet (Wi-Fi) • Optical Ethernet • Ethernet in the Core, MANs and PONs • Fiber Types • SFP Transceivers • Field Installation
This course is all about Ethernet: the fundamentals, equipment and implementations, including twisted-pair copper cables, wireless and optical, in‑building, in the network core, in MANs and PONs.
Course Lessons
1. Introduction (watch free)
2. Broadcast Domains, MAC Addresses and MAC Frames
3. LAN Switches a.k.a. Layer 2 Switches
4. VLANs
5. 802 Physical Standards: 802.3 Twisted Pair and 802.11 Wi-Fi
6. Twisted-Pair LAN Cables, Categories, Wiring Plan and Switch Hierarchy (watch free)
7. 
Optical Ethernet and Fiber Links
Based on Teracom's famous Course 101, tuned and refined over the course of more than 25 years and counting of instructor-led training.
We'll cut through the jargon to demystify Ethernet, MAC addresses, LANs and VLANs, Ethernet on copper wires, Ethernet over the Ether (Wi-Fi) and Ethernet on fiber: Optical Ethernet.
You'll understand the jargon and buzzwords, the underlying ideas, and how it all works together to form the physical links of the modern broadband converged IP telecommunications network.
… in plain English.
Detailed Course Description
This course is all about Ethernet: the fundamentals, equipment and implementations including twisted-pair copper cables, wireless and fiber, in-building, in the network core, MANs and PONs.
Ethernet implements the equivalent of pipe physically connecting two devices. IP and MPLS are used to move packets from one pipe to another. They are covered in other courses.
Ethernet and its MAC frames has fulfilled one of the Holy Grails of telecom, packaging everything the same way on all kind of links: copper wire, fiber and wireless - in the core of the network, in the access network, and in the customer premise. Standardizing on MAC frames across the board makes interworking simpler, more reliable and cheaper to implement. One can only stand back in awe and admire.
We'll begin with the fundamental idea of a broadcast domain, first implemented with a bus cable.
We'll understand LAN interfaces, and how each interface has a hard-coded MAC addresses, and how the address field in a MAC frame is used to indicate for whom a frame is intended, since all stations in a broadcast domain receive it.
We'll then understand how the bus is now inside a box called an Ethernet switch, LAN switch or Layer 2 switch, how the switch learns the MAC address of each station, and how the LAN switch forwards MAC frames to one or more stations.
Then we'll go over the important idea of VLANs, which are broadcast domains defined in software, and how VLANs can be used to segregate traffic by device type and by work area at the enterprise level, and segregate traffic by customer at the carrier level.
You'll learn about the many standards for implementing Ethernet, 802.3 from the original 10BASE-5 to 1000BASE-T on Categories of twisted-pair cables, 802.11 wireless LANs and Wi-Fi certification.
We'll finish with a compressive lesson on Optical Ethernet: Ethernet on fiber, which is the basis of today's telecom network.
You'll learn how bits are represented on fiber, how fiber cables are installed underground, and how fiber splicing is used to connect bulk fiber to equipment.
We'll review Optical Ethernet standards from 1 Gb/s to 100 Gb/s.
On completion of this course, you will be able to explain:
- The idea of a broadcast domain.
- The idea of a MAC addresses to identify a LAN interface on a station in a broadcast domain.
- What MAC frames are, and what purpose they serve.
- What a LAN switch is, and what it does.
- How VLANs can be used to segregate devices into different broadcast domains.
- The IEEE 802 series of standards: The 802.3 standard and communicating MAC frames at 10 Mb/s on coaxial cables to Gigabit Ethernet on copper and fiber.
- What the code 1000BASE-T means.
- MAC frames over the Ether, a.k.a. Wi-Fi, the 2.4 and 5 GHz unlicensed bands, and the fundamentals of how the bits in MAC frames are communicated using radio carrier frequencies.
- Wiring Ethernet to the work area with Cat 5, Cat 5e and Cat 6 twisted-pair copper-wire cables. Wiring closets and Layer 2 aggregation switches.
- What Optical Ethernet is, and how it is the building block of telecom networks, including Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), carrier MPLS networks, and Passive Optical Networks (PONs) for fiber to the home.
- The fundamentals of how the bits in MAC frames are communicated using light guided in glass tubes.
- How fiber cables are deployed and connected to equipment at each end.
- What designations like 100GBASE-ER4 mean.
Detailed Course Outline
1. Course Introduction
2. Broadcast Domains, MAC Addresses and MAC Frames
The fundamental idea of devices connected together in a broadcast domain, and how stations communicate using MAC addresses
3. LAN Switches a.k.a. Layer 2 Switches
How LAN switches are at the center of practical implementation of connecting stations, and how they forward frames between stations in a broadcast domain.
4. VLANs
Defining broadcast domains in software to segregate traffic. Used to separate customer traffic on carrier MANs, and used in-building as a basic network security measure.
5. 802 Physical Standards: 802.3 Twisted Pair and 802.11 Wi-Fi
Ethernet on copper wires, and standards like 1000BASE-T. Ethernet over the Ether, usually called Wi-Fi, and how MAC frames are communicated using radio carrier frequencies.
6. Twisted-Pair LAN Cables, Categories, Wiring Plan and Switch HierarchyWiring
Ethernet to the work area with Cat 5, Cat 5e and Cat 6 twisted-pair copper-wire cables, wiring closets and Layer 2 aggregation switches.
7. Optical Ethernet and Fiber Links
The fundamental idea of representing the 1s and 0s that make up a MAC frame using light carried in a glass tube, how fibers are actually installed and commissioned, and review the Optical Ethernet implementations in the 802.3 standard.
Download the Course Brochure PDF for the full detailed description
Buying Choices
Individual Course
with unlimited repeats, Teracom Course Completion Certificate
Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) Certification Package
Eight courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTNS Certification and Letter of Reference
Certified Telecommunications Analyst (CTA) Certification Package
Sixteen courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTA Certification and Letter of Reference
CTSME: Certified Telecommunications Subject Matter Expert certification package includes this course.
Certified IP Telecom Network Specialist (CIPTS) Certification Package
Four courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CIPTS Certification and Letter of Reference
Shop with confidence!
All choices come with a 100% Money-Back Guarantee: full refund within 30 days.
Free Lesson 1: Course Introduction
Another free lesson: Network Address Translation (NAT)
Included in Certification Packages:
Course 2213 IP Networks, Routers and Addresses
IP Addresses • Packets • Networks • Routers • Static and Dynamic Addresses • DHCP • Public and Private Addresses • NAT • IPv6
IP Networks, Routers and Addresses is a comprehensive course on IP networking fundamentals: IP packets, IP addressing and IP routers.
We'll see how routers implement the network with packet-switching, that is, relaying packets from one circuit to another, and how routers are a point of control for network security. We'll introduce the term Customer Edge (CE), and understand the basic structure and content of a routing table.
Then we'll cover the many aspects of IP addressing: IPv4 address classes, dotted decimal, static vs. dynamic addresses, DHCP, public vs. private addresses, Network Address Translation, and finish with an overview of IPv6.
Course Lessons
1. Introduction (watch free)
2. Review: Channelized Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)
3. Statistical Time-Division Multiplexing: Bandwidth-on-Demand
4. Network: Bandwidth on Demand + Routing
5. Routers
6. IPv4 Addresses
7. DHCP
8. Public and Private IPv4 Addresses
9. Network Address Translation (watch free)
10. IPv6 Overview
11. IPv6 Address Allocations and Assignment
Based on Teracom's famous Course 101, tuned and refined over the course of 20 years of instructor-led training, we'll cut through the jargon to clearly explain IP and routers, packets and addresses, the underlying ideas, and how it all works together… in plain English.
Detailed Course Description
This course could also be called "Layer 3", as it is all about Layer 3 of the OSI model: the network layer, and in particular, IP packet networks.
Packet networks embody two main ideas: bandwidth on demand and packet switching.
First, we'll recap channelized TDM and its limitations, then understand statistical TDM or bandwidth on demand.
Next, we'll understand how routers implement the network with packet switching, that is, relaying packets from one circuit to another, and how routers are a point of control for network security. We'll introduce the term Customer Edge (CE), and understand the basic structure and content of a routing table.
Then we'll cover the many aspects of IP addressing – needed to be able to do the packet switching: IPv4 address classes, dotted decimal notation, static vs. dynamic addresses, DHCP, public vs. private addresses, Network Address Translation, and finish with an overview of IPv6 and IPv6 address allocation and assignment.
On completion of this course, you will be able to explain:
- What a packet is
- What a router is
- Overbooking and bandwidth on demand
- Why and how it can be implemented
- What a network is, what a private network is
- How routers implement a network by connecting links
- How routers move packets between broadcast domains
- Basic network design and security: packet filtering
- The basic structure and contents of a routing table
- The Customer Edge
- IPv4 address blocks: Class A, Class B and Class C
- Dotted-decimal notation
- Static addresses and dynamic addresses
- DHCP and how and why it is used to assign both
- Public addresses and private addresses
- How, why and where each is used
- NAT: Network Address Translation
- IPv6
- How IPv6 addresses are allocated to ISPs
- How each residence gets 18 billion billion IPv6 addresses
Detailed Course Outline
1. Introduction Course introduction and overview
2. Review: Channelized Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) Traditional TDM – and why it is inefficient
3. Statistical Time-Division Multiplexing: Bandwidth-on-Demand Overbooking and opportunistic capacity
4. Private Network: Bandwidth on Demand + Routing The simplest framework for understanding routers and bandwidth on demand
5. Routers Routers and routing tables. Packet forwarding and packet filtering. Customer Edge.
6. IPv4 Addresses Address classes and dotted-decimal notation.
7. DHCP Dynamic addresses and static addresses – and how both are assigned using DHCP
8. Public and Private IPv4 Addresses How to obtain public addresses, and why private addresses are used in many cases
9. Network Address Translation How a NAT glues private IPv4 addressing used in-building to public addressing used on the Internet
10. IPv6 Overview Introduction to IPv6, what's new, the improvements on IPv4 and the IPv6 packet format
11. IPv6 Address Allocations and Assignment Types of IPv6 addresses, registries and allocations to ISPs. How subnets are assigned to end-users
Download the Course Brochure PDF for the full detailed description
Understand the whole IP story, including routers, packets, addresses, DHCP, NAT and IPv6. What's not to like?
Buying Choices
Individual Course
with unlimited repeats, Teracom Course Completion Certificate
Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) Certification Package
Eight courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTNS Certification and Letter of Reference
Certified Telecommunications Analyst (CTA) Certification Package
Sixteen courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTA Certification and Letter of Reference
CTSME: Certified Telecommunications Subject Matter Expert certification package includes this course.
Certified IP Telecom Network Specialist (CIPTS) Certification Package
Four courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CIPTS Certification and Letter of Reference
Shop with confidence!
All choices come with a 100% Money-Back Guarantee: full refund within 30 days.
Free Lesson 1: Course Introduction
Another free lesson: TCP/IP over MPLS
Included in Certification Packages:
Course 2214 MPLS and Carrier Networks
Carrier Packet Networks • Technologies • MPLS • MPLS VPNs • SLAs • CoS • Integration & Aggregation
MPLS and Carrier Networks is a comprehensive training course designed to build a solid understanding of carrier packet networks and services, the terminology, technologies, configuration, operation and most importantly, the underlying ideas… in plain English.
We'll cut through the buzzwords and marketing to demystify carrier packet networks and services, explaining Service Level Agreements, traffic profiles, virtual circuits, QoS, Class of Service, Differentiated Services, integration, convergence and aggregation, MPLS and other network technologies, and how they relate to TCP/IP, without bogging down on details.
Course Lessons
1. Introduction (watch free)
2. Carrier Packet Network Basics
3. Service Level Agreements
4. Virtual Circuits
5. QoS Requirement for Voice over IP
6. MPLS
7. TCP/IP over MPLS (watch free)
8. Differentiated Classes of Service using MPLS
9. Integration and Convergence using MPLS
10. Managing Aggregates of Traffic with MPLS Label Stacking
11. MPLS Services vs. Internet Service
Based on Teracom's famous Course 101, tuned and refined over the course of over 25 years of instructor-led training, you will gain career- and productivity-enhancing knowledge of the structure, components and operation of carrier packet networks and services, how they are implemented, packaged and marketed by carriers and how they are used by government, business… and other carriers.
Detailed Course Description
MPLS and Carrier Networks is a comprehensive, up-to-date course on the networks companies like AT&T build and operate, how they are implemented, the services they offer, and how customers connect to the network.
This course can be taken by those who need just an introduction to carrier networks and MPLS, as well as by those who need to build a solid base on which to build project- or environment-specific knowledge.
In the previous course, we used a private network, i.e. dedicated point-to-point circuits connected with routers, as the simplest framework for understanding packets, bandwidth on demand, routers, and network addresses.
In this course, we will take the same idea and apply it again at the carrier network level: replacing the dedicated lines with bandwidth on demand service from a carrier between the customer locations.
We'll spend much of this course understanding a powerful traffic management tool called virtual circuits, how they are implemented with MPLS, and how MPLS can be used to provide differentiated services, aggregate traffic and implement convergence.
Without bogging down on details, we'll cut through buzzwords and marketing to demystify:
- Carrier packet networks and services
- Customer Edge (CE) and Provider Edge (PE)
- Service Level Agreements
- Traffic profiles
- Virtual circuits
- QoS, Class of Service and Differentiated Services
- Integration, convergence and aggregation
- MPLS and other network technologies
- How this relates to TCP/IP
- How MPLS is used for business customer VPNs
- How MPLS is used for integrated access:
- How all services are carried together on one circuit
- How MPLS is used to prioritize and manage IP packets
- "MPLS services" vs. the Internet
Detailed Course Outline
1. Introduction
Course introduction and overview
2. Carrier Packet Network Basics
Customer Edge, Provider Edge, Access and Network Core
3. Service Level Agreements
Contractual specification: Traffic Profile and Class of Service
4. Virtual Circuits
Traffic Classes and pre-determined routes
5. QoS Requirement for Voice over IP
How packetized voice works and what is needed
6. MPLS
MPLS components, LER, LSP, LSR jargon, basic operation
7. TCP/IP over MPLS
Tracing a file transfer through the equipment and protocols
Implementing Virtual Private LAN Service with MPLS
8. Differentiated Classes of Service using MPLS
Different transmission characteristics for different traffic
9. Integration and Convergence using MPLS
Saving money with Integrated Access: all traffic on one network technology
10. Managing Aggregates of Traffic with MPLS Label Stacking
Aggregating similar traffic to be managed as a single entity
11. MPLS Service vs. Internet SD-WAN Service
Understanding the key difference: guarantees or not. The Future.
Download the Course Brochure PDF for the full detailed description
Buying Choices
Individual Course
with unlimited repeats, Teracom Course Completion Certificate
Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) Certification Package
Eight courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTNS Certification and Letter of Reference
Certified Telecommunications Analyst (CTA) Certification Package
Sixteen courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CTA Certification and Letter of Reference
CTSME: Certified Telecommunications Subject Matter Expert certification package includes this course.
Certified IP Telecom Network Specialist (CIPTS) Certification Package
Four courses including this one with unlimited repeats, TCO CIPTS Certification and Letter of Reference
Shop with confidence!
All choices come with a 100% Money-Back Guarantee: full refund within 30 days.
What You Get With The CTNS Certification Package
1. High-quality, up-to-date, comprehensive training
You will get a solid foundation of structured knowledge, delivered in our trademark "telecom for non‑engineers" style. Cut through jargon to understand the fundamentals, technologies and buzzwords… and how it all fits together, in plain English. There are no time limits, so you can revisit and repeat courses in the future as needed.
2. The certification exam
Each course in the certification package has an associated exam, typically ten multiple-choice questions. You get unlimited repeats of the exam - which means guaranteed to pass if you're willing to do the work. Plus, on achieving a passing grade:
3. Your certificate, suitable for framing
A full-color TCO Certificate suitable for framing is automatically awarded by the Learning Management System on completion of the required exams. It can be immediately printed on plain or textured paper on any color printer and framed by student as desired, with no shipping charges. It can also be attached to the electronic version of the student's CV. A hard copy of your Certificate, signed and sealed, can be sent to you by mail for an additional fee.
4. A personalized Letter of Reference / Letter of Introduction
You also receive a personalized Letter of Reference / Letter of Introduction explaining the courses you took and the knowledge you have, and inviting anyone you give it to to contact us as a reference... excellent addition to your CV.
5. Right to display the TCO logo
You'll have the right to display a high-resolution copy of the TCO logo on your résumé, business card, LinkedIn profile, web page, blog, or email signature.
6. TCO Certification Designation
Passing the Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist, you will be able to state that you:
- "are a Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist",
- "hold a Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist certification from the Telecommunications Certification Organization",
- are "certified as a Telecommunications Network Specialist by the Telecommunications Certification Organization",
- are a "Telecommunications Certification Organization (TCO) Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist",
- are "TCO-Certified",
and may sign your name - "Richard Smith, CTNS," or "Jane Smith, Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist"
7. A 30-day no-questions-asked 100% money-back guarantee.
If for any reason you change your mind, for 30 days after purchase you can get your money back. You have nothing to lose! – and a marketable skill to gain!
Benefits of Certification For Individuals
One benefit of TCO certification is differentiating yourself from the rest of the crowd when applying for a job or angling for a promotion.
The knowledge you gain taking Teracom's Online Courses, confirmed with TCO Certification, is foundational knowledge in telecommunications, IP, networking and wireless: fundamental concepts, mainstream technologies, jargon, buzzwords, and the underlying ideas - and how it all fits together.
This type of knowledge and preparation makes you an ideal candidate to hire or promote to a task, as you will be able to build on your knowledge base to quickly get up to speed and work on a particular project - then have the versatility to work on subsequent projects.
TCO Certification will help demonstrate you have this skill... a desirable thought to have in your potential manager's mind.
Benefits of Certification For Employers
Teracom certification packages are an extremely cost-effective way of implementing consistent, comprehensive telecommunications and network technology fundamentals training, ensuring that both existing resources and new hires are up to the same speed, with a common vocabulary, framework and knowledge base.
The course exams provide concrete measurements of competency in key knowledge areas.
Management can view reports on the progress and results of team members, and export results to Excel with the click of a button. These reports identify skills strengths and deficiencies, and are a demonstration of meeting managerial objectives of team building and return on investment.
Get this training for your whole team. The scalable myTeracom Learning Management System can register and manage all of your people through courses, exams and certificates.
For larger organizations, the courses and exams can also be licensed and deployed on your LMS.
Technical Level and Intended Audience
Our training has been taught to wide acclaim across North America since 1992 and is designed for the non-engineering professional needing an overview and update, and for those new to the business needing to get up to speed quickly on telecommunications, data communications, IP, MPLS, wireless, networking, Voice over IP (VoIP) phone systems, SIP and security.
Our emphasis is conveying the key concept-level knowledge in plain English - which you can't get reading trade magazines or talking to vendors. We put in place a solid, valuable and long-lasting understanding. It is our goal to bust the buzzwords, demystify the jargon, and cut through the double-talk to present a clear, cohesive picture.
Based on Teracom's proven instructor-led training courses developed and refined over twenty years providing training for organizations including AT&T, Verizon, Bell Canada, Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Qualcomm, the CIA, NSA, IRS, FAA, US Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force and hundreds of others, Teracom online courses are top-notch, top-quality and right up to date with the topics and knowledge you need.
