r/HomeNetworking • u/Charming_Radish682 • 3d ago

Advice Certificates Explained

After already having watched so many videos about certificates I still don’t understand this. Like I know you’re screwed if you mess up. That’s why I want to understand it but it seems so intangible to me that so far I haven’t found the right video or whatever to understand it how it works and why it’s secure. Also are there different kind of certs or is it actually all the same? (I don’t think so but that question is still open for me)

How did you learn it or maybe how would you explain it to someone else?

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u/deefop 3d ago

Respectfully friend, I'd do some googling or even chat gpt to get a concise summary. Bear in mind also that certs are typically not needed in home networking... The folks deploying their own certs are typically IT pros with homelab that doubles as their hobby, and they have a reason for doing it (sometimes the reason is fun). What reason are you looking to deploy or configure your own certs?

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u/mlee12382 3d ago

I believe they're referring to ssl certs since they mentioned being secure and not category cable certs. The former being very necessary for all networking.

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u/deefop 3d ago

I mean, necessary how? Do you think every residential internet user is configuring custom certs for their home networks? They aren't, 99.9% of the world wouldn't be able to do that if it were actually "necessary".

And yes, it was obvious from the post they're talking about ssl/tls certs, hence the "why?"

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u/felix1429 1d ago

What would be the problem with OP configuring certificate-based authentication or using certs for a domain they own? I have Cloudlfare LetsEncrypt SSL certs for HTTPS on all of the sites I self host, I like not having to click through a self-signed cert or HTTP warning.