CompTIA

A Detailed Guide on Steps to Passing the Network+

Passed Net+ with a 783. Below is a guide I wish I had when studying for my Net+. This guide will give you my best studying tips, resources, and inside exam-specific tips to help pass.

Step 1: To start, the Net+ Exam Objectives will become your bible, Professor Messer is your preacher. I started by watching Messer Net+ playthrough once with no notes, just listening and mentally understanding while referencing the Exam Objectives with each video. From this alone, I estimate you should know and retain ~50-60% of the material. This gets you familiar with the material. Watch on 1.5-2x speed. This will take about a week.

Step 2: Take all ExamCompass Net+ quizzes. Asses what you got wrong in each quiz and understand why. This will take 1-3 days.

Step 3: Watch Prof Messer+Exam Objectives playlist a second time, taking detailed notes on things that require memorization and/or things you need to brush up on. Cables, 802 standards, Fiber speeds, Port numbers, routing protocols, CLI tools, complicated concepts, etc. I took about 20 pages of notes from this go around. This takes about 1-2 weeks.

Step 4: Start doing practice questions. A LOT of them. I did about 2000+ before I took my exam. Here are the resources I used to do practice questions.

YT: DeanCyber, Vincent Humble, Burning Ice Tech, CyberJames, Certblaster, Prof Messer Net+ Study Group playlist, Powercert Animated

App: Network+ by Thanh Hung

Questions took about 2 weeks to get through them all.

Step 5: Watch Prof Messer Net+ playlist a THIRD time. By this go around, you’ll have done hundreds to thousands of questions and really know what areas you’re strong in and weak in and things you overlooked. Take even more notes again. This takes 2-3 days on 2x speed. Be able to look at the exam obj at this point and verbally say 1-2 things about every single line on that list. I also used Anki/Quizlet flash cards for things that had to purely be memorized.

Step 6: Buy Dion’s 6 practice exams. They always go on sale; I got it for like $15-20.

Step 7: Do all 6 Dion exams. Take notes after each exam on things you should’ve known or are new. Skip things you got wrong because they were out of scope. His exam is a little tougher then the real thing; if you score between 70-80% you’re good to go for the real exam. My scores ranged between 74%-88% first time around.

Step 8: You’re ready for the exam! If you did everything above, I’d estimate you have at least a 90% chance of passing.

My exam experience: Since I did so many practice questions, everything felt familiar to me on the exam except the PBQ’s. I flew through the MC. PBQ’s were tougher, but honestly if you have mastered the material then you can figure it out.

MC: Heaviest on section 1 of Exam Objectives. I did have subnetting questions, like 2-3. I can honestly say there was a question from each subsection in the Exam Objectives though, so don’t skimp on anything. Know your acronyms as well, or you’ll be sorry.

PBQ: Heavy on Section 5. I got 4 PBQ’s. They highly resemble the CertMaster PBQ practice questions. Actually, they present almost identically. Certblaster, Vincent Humble, and Dion practice exams have PBQ’s that were nearly identical to my real exam, especially with ACL’s and interpreting CLI outputs for switches and workstations. If you really know your stuff, you’ll be able to figure out the PBQ’s so don’t sweat this too much. Still, save it for last.

Cheap Vouchers: I bought mine from https://getcertified4less.com for $280; just get one that’s about to expire and time it so you are about ready to take your exam when you buy it.

Subnetting: I got 2-3 questions on subnetting. I can do any subnet calculations mentally in about 30 seconds or less. I used Prof Messer to learn the Magic Number method, then https://www.subnetting.net/Start.aspx subnetting game to practice until it was effortless. Not only should you be able to calculate anything regarding subnetting, but interpret why computers can’t connect to each other or to a network based on misconfigured IP/subnetting (and make appropriate changes)

What I would’ve studied more if I retook it: Definetly reading CLI outputs regarding switches. It’s a short part in Messer’s videos, but played a significant role in the real test. Thankfully I sorta knew it enough to get by from all the practice questions/YT videos but it caught me by surprise. I would’ve also used ChatGPT to walk me through example scenarios where it used CLI tools relating to switches/routers to resolve network issues. I also should’ve studied Network Security a lot harder. They drill into minute distinctions and scenario based questions where only the BEST answer is chosen, though technically all are right.

What I’m glad I knew well: Anything to do with Section 1. So many MC question from that area. Also routing protocols showed up enough to note about in this post which I had dialed down. Memorizing all of the 802 standards, you really do need to know ALL of them, even the minor ones. Trust me, they showed up. I also used ChatGPT to walk me through example network troubleshooting scenarios where it used each CLI tool, interpreted the results, and explained how the results are useful to resolving the problem. This was super key to being familiar with anything CLI based in the PBQs.

Exam Setting: Took it online, followed the rules, had absolutely zero trouble. This is my second Comptia online exam and I never had problems. Don’t be afraid to take it online as long as you follow the rules.

Whats next: I have Net+ and Sec+, now I’m going straight into the CCNA and aiming to grab that by EOY. Drop any questions you have below not mentioned in the post. Thanks!

EDIT: I removed PBQ question detailed info that may infringe upon the NDA for Comptia. However, I can give you a little more info if you shoot me a DM.

Obviously with NDA's signed I can't give specific questions but I can tell you the steps I took to train myself and pass the Network+ N10-008 on the first try I'll put my study notes at the bottom.
Resources:

Professor Messer's free Network+ course on youtube. I watched the entire 93 video course (about 20hrs). Professor Messer's videos cover every topic to the exact extent of the exam. He does a fantastic job covering each section in detail in easy to watch videos. Most in the 5-10min range. His 7 second subnetting section is amazing and easy to remember. You'll need to know how to make this for the exam to quickly perform subnetting on those questions. Cost: FREE

Mike Meyers: All-in-One Network+ N10-008 Exam guide. I only read through the Fundamental section because this was my area of weakness after multiple practice exams (we'll get there in a sec). Overall his book his very thorough and covers topics in a slightly informal way. This makes learning easier. He also provides a 10 question quiz after each chapter. He does include a link to a practice test and an exam readiness test. I found the exam readiness helpful and consistent with other practice exams. Cost: $50

Jason Dion's 6 practice exams. These exams are perfect. They are harder than the actual CompTIA Network+. I never scored above 82% and I took each exam only once. I did this because I didn't want to get caught up remembering the questions. His exam do a great job of training your brain to recognize the trick wording CompTIA may use on the exam. Cost: $79.99* Udemy offers discounts so I only paid $16. They run these promotions often.

CompTIA CertMaster Practice: If you want to feel like you've not learned anything and have your ego beat into the ground, this is the practice platform for you. I found that the practice exams and section exams were 5-10x harder than the actual exam. They word questions in extremely difficult ways to make you second guess your decisions. The also do not tell you if a multiple select question has 2 or 3 options. The actual exam will tell you "select 2" or "select 3" for the multiple select questions. They are worried someone might guess how to score the test so the don't use the same grading scale. For example I missed 1 PBQ (performance based question) and failed the practice because it was worth 33% of the overall score. This is not the case with the actual exam. Cost: $189* I did not pay this amount because it was included with the purchase of my Network+ exam voucher.

These are the only resources I used for training. I trained for 5 weeks only studying about 6 hours a day for 3 days a week. This was enough for me. I passed my Network+ N10-008 with a 756 or 84% of all possible points. You need at least 720 out of 900 to pass. I had 3 PBQ's and only 74 questions total. The test is extremely difficult but can easily be passed if you have done the required training. The biggest sections per there study guide are Fundamentals and Troubleshooting. Definitely make sure you know those areas and read the official N10-008 study guide. Here is the URL: https://partners.comptia.org/docs/default-source/resources/comptia-network-n10-008-exam-objectives-(2-0)

Good luck everyone and don't worry, if you study hard or follow the path I have you will be more than ready! Don't get in your own head, you'll do great!

Notes: https://www.reddit.com/r/CompTIA/s/LXM2EljWX3 removed since people can’t play nice 😊