General troubleshooting guide for a NOC job.

For the last 5 months, I've been working in a NOC for a company that offers all kinds of services(from voice to data services) and I did not receive any training at all(not even regarding the services we offer as a company).

The network engineers don't have a great relationship with the NOC team as they consider us just a bunch of monkeys and we do not have many privileges(just a couple of show commands) and when I'm going to any of them to ask any questions regarding a case, I usually get the passive attitude or they throw bullshit at me and I cannot call them out as I have no documentation/topology information(for example).

All of have at least 3-4 years of network engineering experience at this company, they know the network inside and out(or at least they should) but they are not willing to share anything.
Would also like to add that the documentation available to the NOC is at least 3 years old and let's just say that if I follow all the information from there, it won't lead me anywhere.

I have the CCNA, currently studying for CCNP route but to be honest I cannot apply what I learn here as the issues reported by customers have nothing to do with EIGRP, OSPF or any other topic from the CCNA. The issues range between packet loss, low speeds, internet link down and so on. And yes, I am not expecting any respect from the fellow engineers just because I have the certs, I realize they are just to get me through some doors.

Could anyone share a troubleshooting guide from the other NOCs or any tips that I can apply and make my work easier without too much implication of the network engineers? I dread when an alert comes in, there is 0 information about it and I have to call the on call engineer which will reign his superiority over me.
I'd like to add another funny part to this story...there is usually one engineer on call and sometimes when I ring one he is just going to be like 'yeah yeah I will have a look' and next thing he will do is call the other engineers that are not on call(keep in mind that this is at 2 in the morning for example)
tl;dr Looking for a troubleshooting guide from another NOC or based on real life experiences as the network engineers do not implicate themselves into the NOC life.

Find more posts tagged with

SAVE $250 on Your Boot Camp — Use Code "EXAM26"

Exclusively for TechExams members for Infosec Boot Camps starting before April 30, 2026

View Boot Camps

Comments

OfWolfAndMan

All these issues (Aside from low bandwidth. The customer can get over it) are something you start at the physical layer to troubleshoot. The best first tool for this is a fluke net tool. Before I continue, is there any other common issues you're trying to troubleshoot.

mistabrumley89

All depends on the network. Show commands can be very informative though.
Sh ip int br
sh arp (to go through from top down to follow where a MAC resides)
traceroute (very useful) you can find out the last gateway that receives the packet

Just a couple examples

darkerosxx

Not to be that guy, but it sounds like your job isn't to fix the network... it's to see the problems and report them. What I would do is take the attitude of a learning student and when you see something you'd like to learn about, ask if you can follow-up on the incident once it's fixed to find out what was wrong and how it was fixed, because it may help you do your job better. Then keep a notebook of those things, so when you see them again after you move up, you'll know what to do. If you go that route and you're still denied, then I would just keep studying and plan to move on.

xnx

darkerosxx wrote: »

Not to be that guy, but it sounds like your job isn't to fix the network... it's to see the problems and report them. What I would do is take the attitude of a learning student and when you see something you'd like to learn about, ask if you can follow-up on the incident once it's fixed to find out what was wrong and how it was fixed, because it may help you do your job better. Then keep a notebook of those things, so when you see them again after you move up, you'll know what to do. If you go that route and you're still denied, then I would just keep studying and plan to move on.

My thoughts exactly, take it step by step and don't do anything stupid that'll stop you from progressing within the company or getting a good reference if required.

certoi

Base on the information given, the network engineers seems to be a pretty tight knit team and don't plan to or intend to share any knowledge to help you-NOC team grow and progress. With that said you should continue grasp as much information and knowledge as possible and move on because that is not an environment in which you can grow and advance your career.

SixtyCycle

That is not an ideal team setup. I work in a NOC and aside from monitoring we also fix the problems. We have network engineers that are split into teams that handle specific clients only and new client setup. It should've been done early in your employment but I suggest speaking with your super/manager about your concerns and get a very clear overview of the scope of your position.

Fidelity

It sounds to me like your engineers are shooting themselves in the foot. You are definitely not in a teamwork environment currently. You might consider talking to the manager about them providing materials to the NOC team and how it will benefit not only the company but clients as well. If anything, it will make you stand out from your peers and move your name towards the top of the promotion list.