Computer Networking & Optical Communications

hi i was just wondering if anyone could give me information on this course with regards to modules and programming languages. is it a hard course to pass?

Laguna

Yeah it's easy enough, you do ASP and VBscript I think. A bit of Pascal in first year, I don't think it's got a lot of programming in the course to be honest, more to do with communications protocols

s4dd

aye, from what i've heard it's quite a bit of maths and pyhsics... alot of stuff on transmissions media and associated technologies..

wow that was quick thanks. another question is there a possibility of getting a job after the 2 years or is it better to advance??

s4dd

ah yes, carlow.. the city (town) that never sleeps

depends on your definition of "job" i suppose course i'm doing "BSc in Networking" seems to be getting 100% employment.. it's a 4 year thing, but there is alot of demand for qualified networkers... i guess it depends if you have the smarts or nae, although the full degree is always usefull.

Laguna

What s4dd said, you're not at much with just a certificate, most firms don't even look at you nowadays without a degree.

s4dd

Laguna wrote:

...most firms don't even look at you nowadays without a degree.

...and it's a crying shame as some "underqualified" folk know about 100 times more than lads with degrees... but as is the way of things. networking is a good field to be in though.. plenty of demand in industry.

s4dd

s4dd wrote:

...and it's a crying shame as some "underqualified" folk know about 100 times more than lads with degrees... but as is the way of things. networking is a good field to be in though.. plenty of demand in industry.

true underqualified people probably do know as much but you need that piece of paper to prove youve spent x years and officially understand the ins and outs i suppose. i think the certicate filters into 3rd yr of another course once you apply after the 2 years are up.

Laguna

Yeah it filters into my old course!. Computer systems management! lol, what a course...

Stephen

I think you can get into 2nd year of the computer networking BSc after getting the optical comms cert.

s4dd

Stephen wrote:

I think you can get into 2nd year of the computer networking BSc after getting the optical comms cert.

it has been known to happen... might be difficult now considering there is no BSc in networking any more they stopped that course.

The_B_Man

When i did it, we did C and C++ in 1st year, then VB in 2nd year. Also, there was a bit of Assembly language coding. We also did electronics and physics. The networking was cool too. we did a lot protocols and how they work etc for example we did the OSI 7 layer model and how emails work and we sent emails from telnet ( spoofin emails ). There was maths aswell and operating systems and ASP and linux and a few other things. It was quite packed.
Then whjen Balieb and them started the college, they decided they were too dumb to teach them all that stuff so they stripped it down. They got rid of a lot of the good stuff like C/C++ and replaced it with VB. They kept some of the electronics and maths but its basically cut down.

When i did it, we had the choice to go into Laguna's course, CSM (CW098), the programming course (CW036) or the Networking degree (CW046). Now, i think ur only options are CW098 and CW046 as C/C++ is cut off the course. Check the prospectus though.

Moonbeam

If u like maths and physics your sorted if you don't well it sucks,for many years it had the highest drop out rate of any course in the college and one of the highest in the country.

In 1st year we did c and assembly,
Electronics is great and the labs are fun,the physics labs aren't bad either.

Yes off course it is possible to get a job after 2 years, but for the sake of an extra 2 years and the option of gonig to any IT in the country if you last the first 2 years u may as well continue and get ur degree.

the_syco

Good course. YOU MUST BE GOOD AT MATHS, tho. I only had pass maths, and the maths were pretty hard. There was maths in the maths, physics, and electronic's, the physics explained stuff about the electronics, and the theory of the electronics was quite complex. And then there was the electroincs and physics equations in the maths.

The electronics practical was fun, tho. The french dude was a good laugh.

Luckily, tho, the physics teacher who I had is "never going to teach that course again", and I think someone said that they got decent teachers that you can understand (never could understand the electronics theory guy: we went through 2 or 3 of them, the 3rd being near impossible to understand, his speech, or his scribbling), so it should be all good for you.

The data guy we had was good. You could almost him him mumble binary at times! He though Motorola assembly langauge, which is easier to learn than the assembly language used in Intel chips.

We were thought C, which was good, and the teacher (I think it was taught by Ray) was very good. The networks part was also well explained (by Pádraig Loughlin, I think).

The_B_Man

syco, i'm muck at maths. i only 1 maths test in college and that was last years maths exam in the august repeats. i got complimentary passes in my maths tests in 1st and 2nd year. then failed again in 3rd yr but coz i failed others i didnt get the compo pass. so then i just passed it in august. although, yeah, u might wanna be good at maths if ur not great at programmin or another subject! hehe

1stly a big thanks to all of you for all your helpful replies.

2ndly well the story goes like this. i am fresh after one of the most crushing blows of my life from tipperary institute where i passed all my second year exams and project in Software development, except one, Algorithms of which i failed by a whopping 3% overall because of my poor java programming performance throughout the year and not because algorithms is difficult in itself.

i have done maths and data comms in TI which would be a big help should i take up that course in carlow next year. the physics however is a bit scary having had a terrible 2week experience in secondary school though i suppose i have taken on worse in my software development course.

4r(4ng3L

actually i started today doing the computer science CW019 and from this year onwards it has merged with CW020 networking and optical communications to become one course. For the first year you will study bits from both courses and in the second year you get to branch off into one of the many areas. Just though id let ya know as it is quite a big change u shud be aware of

4r(4ng3L

4r(4ng3L wrote:

Just though id let ya know as it is quite a big change u shud be aware of

it most certainly is a big change indeed thanks

The_B_Man

Did u say u went to an institute of technology in tipperary? are the initials TIT? haha thats gas! just like the Sligo Higher Institute of Technology. I think we shud merge with an IT in Laois and have the Carlow/Laois Institute of Technology!! haha.

Also, thats a big change as regards CNOC and CSM!! must be due to low numbers comin to the college.

The General

I just finished that course, and now on into CSM

The_B_Man

The_B_Man wrote:

Did u say u went to an institute of technology in tipperary? are the initials TIT? haha thats gas! just like the Sligo Higher Institute of Technology. I think we shud merge with an IT in Laois and have the Carlow/Laois Institute of Technology!! haha.

Also, thats a big change as regards CNOC and CSM!! must be due to low numbers comin to the college.

LOL! nah it was formerly known as Tipperary rural and business development Institute (ot T.R.B.D.I) but is now known simply as Tipperary Institute (or T.I).
Obviously the powers that be planned the names specifically in order to avoid any potential blushing.

i think I.T and computing is generally down nationwide and the points are poor. In fairness its mostly because they are hard very courses to pass even if you are computer literate.

Kazu

i did the Software development course in TI left after first year instead of going into second year did computer networking and optical communications
now going into CSM

you will find computer networking and optical communications easy

Kazu

Kazu wrote:

i did the Software development course in TI left after first year instead of going into second year did computer networking and optical communications
now going into CSM

you will find computer networking and optical communications easy

thats encouraging to say the least. i am fascinated by the data comms side of I.T.

Good luck to you on CSM!!! how long do you have to do in that before you get an ordinary BsC???

The_B_Man

u get the cert after the two years of CW019, then u do the add on for the ordinary degree (CSM3). then u go into 4th year (CSM4), do 6 months work experience and come back in september (CSM5) and do lotsa classwork til december then get ur higher degree.

The_B_Man

The_B_Man wrote:

u get the cert after the two years of CW019, then u do the add on for the ordinary degree (CSM3). then u go into 4th year (CSM4), do 6 months work experience and come back in september (CSM5) and do lotsa classwork til december then get ur higher degree.

very good info thanks. the course is defo an option for next yr but another CW course has caught my eye since CW024 which seems to be a more practical computing course. i may open another thread for info on this. it is only a 2 year cert though

The General

Kazu wrote:

i did the Software development course in TI left after first year instead of going into second year did computer networking and optical communications
now going into CSM

you will find computer networking and optical communications easy

ye he will find it easy just like you did