I've built my own PC's and installed Windows, etc, since my first win95 machine. I, with the help of Google and the occasional Q to my friends, can handle most things I want to do on computers - but I'm largely clueless when it comes to networking and the internet.

You can skip to the TL: DR now if you want the Cliff's Notes version.

A decade ago, I stumbled through forwarding ports so my games could work, but since then, things have become more complicated. The settings screens for my Nighthawk 6700 router look like a flight computer for the space shuttle. Earlier this week I rebooted my computer, and my wireless printer is really slow, the Logitech ARX app on my phone can't connect to my computer, and my tablet can't play movies over Plex now.

I would like to gain a firm grasp on these things. I want to understand what my modem settings do, to understand why I need a static IP. I want to know what network gateways are. I'd like to know if the VPN settings in my router setup has anything to do with the VPN I signed up for, or if that's something else entirely. I can't even forward ports anymore, because the setting screen has changed so much. I want to make sure my tablet and phone and wireless printer are connecting properly.


TL: DR
Basically, I'd like to thoroughly understand what I need to set up and securely maintain a Win10 home computer and its internet connection with assorted wireless devices thrown into the mix, understand the settings in my router setup, and maybe even get my VPN working right.

I've been checking out videos and some websites. Some tell me how to plug the router in, and others spend a half-hour explaining TCP/IP from a design standpoint. Either way too simple, or way too complex. It would be great to find an organized tutorial/video series where every lesson builds on the previous ones, instead of jumping around random videos made by different people.

Usually, when I get to this point with a problem and I haven't found the answer, it's because what I'm looking for doesn't exist. . .but I've had great luck here in the past, so I thought I'd try my luck again. I'm just tired of having such a tenuous grasp on what I'm doing that I can't be sure, when things go wrong, what is to blame and how to fix it.