I guess I was just being lazy when I wrote that I don't have time. Of course, I have time. I took some time to ask this question, so I obviously care enough to put in time to learn.
My problem, I believe, was I didn't know if I putting in time to resources that I had myself discovered was worth it. This is coming from my experience on reading certain protocols' wikipedia entry, watching tutorials etc. and not gaining useful knowledge and understanding after spending dozens of hours into it. So I was being cautious of that.
So, what was missing, until now, was some guidance. With comments such as yours and many others here I have enough confidence that putting in time into these resources would not only be worth it but also would be an efficient use of my time.
So thanks for that as well.
Get the Cisco “Packet Tracer” application to help you study. It is a network simulation application that allows you drop fake hardware into a fake network that you can configure and pass packets across.
I know software developers don’t do certifications, but networking does (actually absolutely everybody else does). Those certifications are the equivalent of a law license or medical license for that industry.
> So, to summarize the problem with all these tutorials seems to be too much time commitment -- unfortunately I don't have that much time.
Make time. Find it. Skills and knowledge take study and practice which take time. If you cannot be bothered to spend time learning this I recommend you stop lying to yourself about it and go do something else.