CompTIA Network+ (N10-009) Study Guide

Preparing for the CompTIA Network+ exam (N10-009)? This is the complete study guide — six chapters covering all five official exam domains, written in plain language for working technicians and engineers who want networking to make sense, not just to memorize.

The real exam: a maximum of 90 questions — multiple-choice and performance-based — in 90 minutes, with a passing score of 720 on a scale of 100–900. CompTIA recommends 9–12 months of experience in the IT networking field; there is no mandatory prerequisite. The certification is valid for 3 years and renews through CompTIA's Continuing Education program.

What's inside:

- Chapter 1 — Networking Concepts: the OSI model as a working map, every appliance contrasted (IDS vs IPS, NAS vs SAN), cloud concepts and VPCs, the complete ports-and-protocols table, media and connectors, topologies, IPv4 addressing with a full subnetting workshop, and the modern landscape — SDN/SD-WAN, VXLAN, zero trust, infrastructure as code, IPv6

- Chapter 2 — Network Implementation: route selection in order (prefix, administrative distance, metric), OSPF/EIGRP/BGP, NAT and PAT, FHRP and the virtual IP, VLANs and 802.1Q trunking, spanning tree, jumbo frames, wireless channels/encryption/antennas, and professional physical installation (MDF/IDF, PoE budgets, rack power and airflow)

- Chapter 3 — Network Operations: the documentation set (diagrams, IPAM, SLA, heat maps), lifecycle and change management, golden configurations, SNMP/flow/packet monitoring and baselines, disaster recovery (RPO, RTO, MTBF, MTTR; cold/warm/hot sites), DHCP/DNS/time services in full, and secure access methods (VPN designs, jump hosts, out-of-band)

- Chapter 4 — Network Security: encryption in transit and at rest, PKI and certificates, RADIUS vs TACACS+ vs LDAP vs SAML, MFA and least privilege, honeypots, the CIA triad, PCI DSS and GDPR, segmentation for IoT/OT/guest/BYOD — then the full attack catalogue (DoS/DDoS, VLAN hopping, MAC flooding, ARP and DNS poisoning, rogue devices, evil twin, on-path, social engineering), each paired with its defense

- Chapter 5 — Troubleshooting Methodology, Cabling and Services: CompTIA's seven-step methodology with the tenants of every step, interface counters read like vital signs (CRC, runts, giants, drops), error-disabled and PoE faults, fiber mismatch and TX/RX transposition, STP loops and root-bridge diagnosis, and the complete addressing differential (pool exhaustion, wrong gateway, duplicate IP, wrong mask)

- Chapter 6 — Troubleshooting Performance, Tools and Capstone: latency, jitter, loss, and throughput by application archetype; wireless performance diagnosis; the full tool kit (protocol analyzer, ping, traceroute, dig, tcpdump, netstat, Nmap, toner, cable certifier, Wi-Fi analyzer, visual fault locator, and the show-command family); and a capstone that runs all five domains through one branch-office build, plus performance-based-question strategy

Files included (1): network-plus-study-guide.pdf — the complete 6-chapter guide (92 pages)

Want practice questions too? The Deluxe tier adds the full 500-question practice bank and the cheat sheets, plus license-key access to the online practice hub.

Independent study material. Not affiliated with or endorsed by CompTIA.