Want to learn how systems communicate?
Want to understand how the Internet works (and what it means when it doesn’t)?

Take CS1680!

Course summary

CSCI 1680 is an undergraduate course in computer networks. We will discuss the technologies supporting the Internet, from Ethernet and Wifi to routing protocols that govern the flow of traffic, and the web technologies and cloud services that are responsible for most of it. In doing so, we’ll focus on the protocols used on the Internet, including what each component does, how they work, why they are designed the way they are, their limitations and shortcomings (in terms of reliability, security, oversight, etc.), and what improvements are on the horizon.

Lectures: T/Th 09:00-10:20 EDT (All lectures will be recorded and streamed live via Zoom.)

Location: CIT 368

Prerequisites: Students are expected to have taken an introductory systems course, eg. CSCI 0330, CSCI 0300, CSCI 1310, CSCI1330, or must have consent of the instructor.

If you have questions about whether this course is a good fit for you, please feel free to contact the instructor!

Topics

For a list of topics, see the Schedule.

Registration FAQ

Is this course capped?

Per CS department policy, all CS courses are effectively capped in Fall 2024. Our goal is to admit as many students as we can, but there are some hard limits based on the size or our room and the amount of TA support we can provide.

How can I register? / What is the enrollment policy?

Students who are not already registered should fill out our registration request form. This form asks questions about your background to make sure you meet the course prerequisites, and contains instructions on how to request an override.

To receive an override, students must stay on pace with the course and submit assignments during shopping period to demonstrate that you are prepared to continue in the course. Concretely, this means you must stay on-track with the lectures (synchronously or asynchronously) and complete HW0, Project 0 (environment setup), and the milestone for the first project (Snowcast). HW0 and Project 0 will be released after the first lecture; Snowcast will be released after the second lecture.

When will I hear back about my override request?

If you filled out the form, we will email you on Monday, September 9 (probably in the evening, depending on when we get the data we need) with an update on your status:

  • If we have a slot for you: you will receive a conditional override, meaning that we confirm that we will grant your override request as long as you complete the assignments out during shopping period (per our enrollment policy. You can use this info to prioritize if you want to complete the assignments.
  • If we reach our capacity limit: some students may be placed on a waitlist. For those placed on the waitlist, we will provide guidance on what you should do if you still need another CS course to take (based on the latest department guidelines.

How will we decide who gets a slot?

We will prioritize students based on the department’s latest guidlines for managing enrollments across all CS courses, which is designed to prioritize students who need the course to graduate, students with limited course options, sophomore/juniors (to ensure a pool of TAs in future semesters), and other critical factors. To make these decisions, we will be coordinating closely with Kathi Fisler (co-Director of Undergraduate Studies) who is managing registration data across most courses.

Can I capstone this course?

Yes! Capstone students must complete extended versions of our two major projects (IP and TCP), which adds around 15% extra work to each project. For details, see our Capstone policy.

Course Policies

See Policies.