Prep
What this CompTIA Network+ study guide covers
This CompTIA Network+ study guide is built around the current exam, N10-009 (Network+ V9), which CompTIA launched on June 20, 2024. CompTIA says exams usually retire about three years after launch, so an estimated 2027 retirement, but it has not named a successor yet. Until it does, N10-009 is the exam to study for.
Below you will find the exam facts, a 10-week study plan mapped to the five official domains, the lab work that matters most, and how to use practice tests without fooling yourself. Exam facts come from CompTIA's Network+ page; where we use another source, we say so.
Check that every book, video or question bank you use says N10-009. Material for the older N10-008 exam is still everywhere online, and its objectives are organised differently.
| Domain | Weight | Weeks in our plan |
|---|---|---|
| Network troubleshooting | 24% | 8, 9 (plus review in 10) |
| Networking concepts | 23% | 1, 2, 3 |
| Network implementation | 20% | 4, 5 |
| Network operations | 19% | 6 |
| Network security | 14% | 7 |
Network+ N10-009 exam facts
| Item | N10-009 |
|---|---|
| Questions | Up to 90 |
| Time | 90 minutes |
| Question types | Multiple choice and performance-based |
| Passing score | 720 on a scale of 100-900 |
| Languages | English, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish |
| Prerequisites | None required. CompTIA recommends A+ and 9 to 12 months of hands-on experience as a junior network administrator or network support technician |
| Validity | 3 years, renewable through CompTIA continuing education (30 CEUs and a US$150 CE fee per cycle) |
CompTIA's store loads prices dynamically, so we could not read the price on an official page. According to CompTIA partner Total Seminars, the US list price rose from US$390 to US$399 in mid-2026. Prices differ by country, so check the CompTIA store before you buy a voucher.
The five domains and what they weigh
CompTIA publishes a weight for each domain. Your study time should roughly follow these numbers:
- Network troubleshooting (24%): the troubleshooting methodology, cabling and physical problems, network services and performance issues, and the tools you use to find them.
- Networking concepts (23%): the OSI model, network appliances, cloud concepts, ports and protocols, and IPv4 addressing.
- Network implementation (20%): static and dynamic routing (BGP, EIGRP, OSPF), NAT and PAT, switching, wireless devices and physical installations.
- Network operations (19%): monitoring with SNMP, flow data, packet capture, baselines and log aggregation; documentation, lifecycle and change management; disaster recovery.
- Network security (14%): encryption, PKI, IAM, MFA, SSO, RADIUS, LDAP and SAML, plus attack types and defences.
Troubleshooting and concepts together are almost half the exam. Troubleshooting questions also draw on everything else, so you cannot treat it as a separate topic to cram at the end.
The 10-week Network+ study plan
This plan assumes 8 to 10 hours a week and some basic IT knowledge at A+ level. If you are starting from zero, stretch it to 14 or 16 weeks rather than skipping topics. Each week ends with a short set of practice questions on that week's domain.
| Week | Domain (weight) | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Networking concepts (23%) | Download the official N10-009 objectives. OSI model layers, encapsulation, common appliances (routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, proxies) and what each does. |
| 2 | Networking concepts (23%) | Ports and protocols until you know the common ones cold. Transmission media, cable types and transceivers. Topologies and cloud concepts. |
| 3 | Networking concepts (23%) | IPv4 addressing and subnetting: CIDR, subnet masks, private ranges, and splitting a network by hosts or subnets. Do subnetting drills every day from this week until the exam. |
| 4 | Network implementation (20%) | Static and dynamic routing (OSPF, EIGRP, BGP at a conceptual level), route selection, NAT and PAT. |
| 5 | Network implementation (20%) | Switching: VLANs, trunking and spanning tree. Wireless standards, channels, frequencies and security. Physical installation topics such as racks, power and environment. |
| 6 | Network operations (19%) | Monitoring (SNMP, flow data, packet capture, baselines, logs), documentation, change management and disaster recovery concepts. Core services such as DHCP, DNS and time synchronisation. |
| 7 | Network security (14%) | Encryption in transit and at rest, PKI, IAM, MFA, SSO, RADIUS, LDAP and SAML. Common attacks and the defences that match them. |
| 8 | Network troubleshooting (24%) | Learn CompTIA's troubleshooting methodology in order. Cabling and physical faults, then service problems (DHCP, DNS, routing) and performance issues. |
| 9 | Network troubleshooting (24%) | Command-line and hardware tools in practice. Work through broken-network scenarios in a lab or simulator. First full timed practice exam at the end of the week. |
| 10 | Review and test | Two more timed full-length practice exams. Rework every wrong answer against the objectives, redo weak subnetting and troubleshooting areas, then sit the exam. |
Notice the plan spends three weeks on concepts and two on troubleshooting, and that the final weeks keep coming back to troubleshooting. That mirrors the weights: 47% of the exam sits in those two domains.
How long to study for Network+
CompTIA does not publish a recommended number of study hours. The honest answer depends on your starting point:
- You hold A+ or work on a help desk: around 8 to 10 weeks part-time is realistic, as in the plan above.
- You already configure networks at work: you may need only 4 to 6 weeks, mostly to fill gaps and learn CompTIA's terminology.
- You are new to IT: consider A+ first, as CompTIA recommends, or allow 14 to 16 weeks and build a home lab early.
Use practice-test scores, not the calendar, to decide when you are ready. Book the exam when you score well on full timed sets you have not seen before, not when you finish the last chapter.
Labs that pay off on exam day
Performance-based questions ask you to do things, such as match cables to connectors, place devices in a diagram or work out why a host cannot reach the internet. Reading alone does not prepare you for them. You do not need expensive gear:
- A free network simulator such as Cisco Packet Tracer to build VLANs, routes and NAT.
- Your own computer's command line: ipconfig or ip, ping, tracert or traceroute, nslookup or dig, netstat and arp.
- A packet capture tool such as Wireshark to watch DHCP, DNS and a TCP handshake happen.
- Your home router's admin page to see DHCP scopes, port forwarding and wireless security settings in a real interface.
Spend at least one session a week in a lab, and more in weeks 8 and 9.
How hard is Network+?
Network+ is an entry-level certification, but many candidates find it harder than A+. The topics are narrower, but deeper: you have to calculate subnets, read routing behaviour and pick the cause of a fault from a short description. The 90-minute clock adds pressure, since performance-based questions take longer than multiple choice.
The passing mark is 720 on a 100-900 scale. CompTIA does not publish pass rates, so we cannot give you one, and you should be wary of sites that do.
How to use practice tests
Practice questions work best as a learning tool, not just a score check. We recommend this routine:
- From week 1, answer a short set of questions on the domain you just studied.
- For every miss, find the matching objective and write one line on why the right answer is right.
- From week 9, take full timed sets of up to 90 questions in 90 minutes.
- Track your score per domain. Spend the last week on the lowest one, weighted by its share of the exam.
Start with our free Network+ practice test. Our guide to the testing effect explains why answering questions beats rereading notes.
After Network+
Network+ is the networking step on CompTIA's core path between A+ and Security+. If you want a security career, Security+ is the usual next exam, and passing it also renews Network+. If you want to specialise in networking, CCNA goes deeper. Our CCNA vs Network+ comparison and Network+ vs Security+ guide help you choose.