Signal Path
Interactive Paths
Learn by operating the systems, making decisions, and seeing what happens. Three paths, one continuous world: start with a packet, learn what keeps it safe, then zoom out to the internet that carries a billion of them.
Signal Path I: Browser to Server
Journey of a packet from browser to server.
The same request path taught in How Networks Work, Acts 1 and 2, played instead of read: 24 guided missions across DNS, TCP, routing, Ethernet, and NAT, with XP, ranks, relics, and unlocks. No terminal required, and an 8-bit arcade mode if you want it with chiptune.
An ordered interactive course covering topics from Acts 1 and 2 in 24 missions. It records progress locally. Act 3 remains in the complete How Networks Work course.
Start Interactive Course →Or play the 8-bit arcade edition instead.
Signal Path II: Trust and Identity
How the web proves who it is, and how it remembers who you are.
Explore how the web establishes trust and remembers identity through TLS, certificates, SSO, OAuth, sessions, and tokens. Four standalone experiences, no fixed order, no completion tracking.
TLS Handshake
See the negotiation that turns a plain socket into an encrypted channel.
Certificate Trust
Walk the signature chain from the server back to a trusted root.
SSO & OAuth
Log in with Google. See the five parties and the three redirects that make it work.
Session vs. Token
After you log in, how does the server remember you on the next request. Try both answers.
Signal Path III: Internet Infrastructure
One server becomes an internet.
Explore how one server becomes an internet through server models, load balancing, firewalls, and BGP. Four standalone experiences, no fixed order, no completion tracking.
Servers
Watch one machine handle a request, then drown under load.
Load Balancers
Put a front door on a fleet. Pick a strategy. See what breaks.
Firewalls
Decide what gets in. Decide what gets out.
BGP capstone
See how thousands of autonomous systems gossip about reachability.
Different mode
You just ran BGP on the decision tree. Run it again with chiptune.
The arcade's final level is the backbone. Finish BGP here and Level 3 unlocks in there.
Enter the Arcade →