
All About Computer Network Technician
Network technicians are a subset of
computer technicians and are trained in the same ways, plus they may also have
the other skills. They work in IT networks where computers or wireless devices
are involved such as laptops, cell phones, PDAs, gaming consoles, personal
digital assistants, and other types of high tech gadgets.
A good network technician will have good
communication skills, be able to troubleshoot complex problems, and usually
know more than one programming language. Network technicians generally have
more experience and are certified in various fields, like service technicians,
security guard, and computer systems administrators. Also a technician may also
work with telecommunications in some sectors, such as VOIP or private line
phone service.
Network
technicians use various methods to troubleshoot
problems. Troubleshooting involves the administration of a network and the
determination of the cause for any problems in the network. Although a
technician may not have any knowledge of programming, he can still find and fix
any kind of issues.
There are four typical ways in which a
technician would diagnose the problem and then determine what the best solution
to fix it is. The different ways of diagnosing problems are described below.
Network administrators can usually tell by
observing the problem whether the problem is isolated or occurs throughout the
network. If it occurs throughout the network then the problem is more likely to
occur in other networks.
Technician can sometimes pinpoint the
problem by using tools that they can find in their workstation. Sometimes these
tools are applications that they can download from the internet.
Technicians can also learn by heart
troubleshooting techniques that they can learn by going through the articles
and magazines that cover troubleshooting. They can also learn through trial and
error by experimenting with the various tools and software available on the
internet.
System administrators can use diagnostic
tools to identify the problem as they can see the graphical representation of
how it looks like, i.e. visual identification.
Sometimes technicians can use the
diagnostic tools and applications in a simple way, this is called manual
analysis. In this case, a technician can only diagnose and solve the problem.
System administrators can manually run
diagnostic tools to determine the cause of the problem. System administrators
can check the type of device, its internet protocol address, operating system,
and hardware that are involved in the problem.
Network technicians can also use diagnostic
tools and applications that they can download from the internet to pinpoint the
problem. They can use web-based tools that allow them to trace the path of the
network traffic and identify the source and destination of the data.
The diagnostic tools can also determine the
content of the packets and determine the types of errors and problems that are
present. In this way, the network technician can send the information to a
control center or a different technician to check the problem further.