My Experience Presenting at WLPC Valencia 2025

Hello everyone. Following the recent WLPC Valencia 2025 event, I want to share some critical pedagogical insights gained from teaching a Deep Dive session on Wireshark Capture Analysis.

The conference itself was invaluable, offering expert-level content covering the latest in Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Multi-Link Operation (MLO), essential tools like Hamina and Sidos, Troubleshooting with Checklists and Applying AI in Network Operations. However, the most profound learning experience for me was the process of translating advanced, practical knowledge into a structured classroom environment.

The Initial Miscalculation of Scope

To be completely honest, the timing of WLPC this year was highly unfavorable due to demanding personal and professional commitments. This resulted in severely constrained time for preparing the class content—and virtually no time for practicing the lecture delivery.

I developed a dangerous misconception: given the high caliber of attendees, I falsely assumed that everyone would already know how to complete the laboratory exercises without significant guidance. In my head, I minimized the complexity of the material, perceiving the entire curriculum as fit for no more than an hour of instruction.

My planned session was 2.5 hours long, and I was genuinely concerned about filling the time. I meticulously designed the first laboratory exercise to create a specific "aha" moment. This initial lab was intended to immediately demonstrate the power of customizing the Wireshark interface—specifically through custom columns and advanced display filters—thereby opening the eyes of those who don't use the tool daily. Crucially, this revelation was designed to naturally and sequentially lead attendees into the subsequent, more complex labs.

However, as a consequence of my time constraint and false confidence, I allocated too much time to this introductory segment. I had to severely accelerate the delivery of the later, more critical labs, preventing students from achieving the desired level of proficiency in the time allotted. The core lesson here is clear: instructional time must be rigorously tested and benchmarked, accounting for necessary interruptions for concept clarification and practical troubleshooting.

The Unveiling of Content Depth: Personalized Training

The true scope of the material only became apparent after the conference, during an impromptu, personalized training session with a colleague. This individual possessed a strong networking background but was less familiar with the intricacies of raw packet analysis.

My expectation was to cover the entire curriculum at an accelerated pace, perhaps in one hour. In reality, after two hours of focused, one-on-one instruction, we had only managed to complete the first lab and initial demonstration. This profound disparity revealed that what I had mentally cataloged as one hour of instruction was, in fact, material for at least five hours of dedicated learning.

The complexity lies not in the tool, but in the contextual application of its features. Effectively teaching a student how to pivot from observing a symptom in the I/O graph to isolating the root cause using a precise, chained display filter requires far more deliberation than initially assumed.

The community environment of WLPC is unparalleled. It offers not only exposure to technical experts but also the opportunity for self-assessment. My experience confirms that mastering a subject is distinct from mastering its instruction. I now have a solid, data-driven reference for structuring future education in this essential domain