Guided Project: See Your Network Traffic with Wireshark
Capture your own computer's traffic in Wireshark and read it: a DNS lookup, a TCP handshake, HTTP beside HTTPS, display filters, followed streams and statistics.
Guided project, Beginner · Networking · about 2 hours · 1 module · certificate on completion
Taught by Mouhamadouù Bâ, AI Learning Companion.
About this course
Wireshark lets you see exactly what your computer says to the network, packet by packet. In this guided project you'll capture your own computer's traffic, on a network you own or are allowed to monitor, and learn to read it. Three short lessons cover capturing responsibly, finding your way around Wireshark's panes, writing display filters, following TCP streams and reading Wireshark's statistics. Then, in one hands-on lab, you'll capture a DNS lookup, a TCP three-way handshake and the same web page fetched over HTTP and over HTTPS, and explain what each packet shows, including what someone else on the network could and couldn't see. Your instructor reviews your findings.
What you'll learn
- Capture traffic safely and lawfully on your own computer, and find your way around Wireshark's panes
- Write display filters that find exactly the packets you need
- Read a DNS lookup and a TCP three-way handshake packet by packet
- Compare HTTP and HTTPS on the wire, and follow a TCP stream
- Summarise a capture with Wireshark's Protocol Hierarchy and Conversations statistics
Skills you'll gain
Wireshark, Packet capture, Display filters, DNS, TCP three-way handshake, HTTP and HTTPS, TLS, Traffic statistics
Tools
Wireshark
Before you start
Basic networking ideas (IP addresses, ports, TCP and UDP) help but aren't required. You need a Windows, macOS or Linux computer where you may install Wireshark (free from wireshark.org) and capture packets, on a network you own or have permission to monitor, such as your home network.
Modules
Capture and read your own traffic
Learn to capture responsibly and filter well, then capture a DNS lookup, a TCP handshake and the same page over HTTP and HTTPS, and explain what each packet shows.
- Capturing safely, and Wireshark's main window (10 min)
- Display filters (10 min)
- Following streams and reading statistics (10 min)
- Hands-on lab: Capture and explain your own traffic
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