Which is why, thankfully, it's possible for the interviewer to have a dialogue. You don't have to lead in with "How does the internet work" to get that level o

Which is why, thankfully, it's possible for the interviewer to have a dialogue. You don't have to lead in with "How does the internet work" to get that level of depth, and in fact it's not usually the best way to find if a candidate can deep dive. You can lead in by asking the candidate how something higher-level works, and then as they provide feedback, take the conversation towards lower-level network protocols and layers. That way, the person answering doesn't need to guess either your desired starting depth or direction, and they can focus on communicating their knowledge to you. Interviews tend to be far more productive when everybody involved is working to help the candidate provide as much of their knowledge as possible, without setting up confusing questions or overly hostile hurdles to "challenge" them.