13 Jun A Neat Way for Students to See What They’re Computers Are Connecting To

Knowing just a few commands to use in the command terminal can be quite helpful in diagnosing problems with your computer and or the network that your computer is using. (Bonus, it’s an easy way to make yourself look “super techy” in front of non-techy friends). One of those helpful commands is the Netstat command. 

The Netstat command will show you all of the connections that your computer is making to the Internet and to other devices on your local network. To run the Netstat command simply open your command terminal (on a Windows computer just type CMD into the search bar) then type “netstat” (without quotation marks) and hit enter. Give it time to run and you’ll see all of the IP addresses to which your computer is connecting. 

This new video from PowerCert explains the Netstat command and variants that you can add to the command to learn even more about what your computer is connecting to. 

Applications for Education
The netstat command along with many other commands is one that my PC repair students and my Intro to Networking students learn early in the year as it is helpful in diagnosing problems. 

Knowing just a few commands to use in the command terminal can be quite helpful in diagnosing problems with your computer and or the network that your computer is using. (Bonus, it’s an easy way to make yourself look “super techy” in front of non-techy friends). One of those helpful commands is the Netstat command. The Netstat command will show you all of the connections that your computer is making to the Internet and to other devices on your local network. To run the Netstat command simply open your command terminal (on a Windows computer just type CMD into the search bar) then type “netstat” (without quotation marks) and hit enter. Give it time to run and you’ll see all of the IP addresses to which your computer is connecting. This new video from PowerCert explains the Netstat command and variants that you can add to the command to learn even more about what your computer is connecting to. Applications for Education The netstat command along with many other commands is one that my PC repair students and my Intro to Networking students learn early in the year as it is helpful in diagnosing problems. Using the netstat command can be helpful in showing all students how many connections their computers are making even when they don’t realize it. Knowing what your computer is connecting to is an important part of building good cyber safety habits. So even if you don’t make your students learn the command, knowing the command and showing it to students can be an eye-opener for them. This post originally appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. If you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission. Sites that steal my (Richard Byrne’s) work include CloudComputin and WayBetterSite. Featured graphic created by Richard Byrne using Canva. Command Lines, cyber safety, cyber security, Free Technology For Teachers, how to, teaching technology, WindowsRead More