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CompTIA Exam Syllabus

N10-009 syllabus, skills measured, and exam topics

Network+ certifies IT infrastructure skills to troubleshoot, configure and manage networks. Learn about the certification, available training and the exam.

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Skills measured by domain

Use the weighting table to decide where to spend the most study time.

Domain Weight
Networking concepts 23%
Network implementation 20%
Network operations 19%
Network security 14%
Network troubleshooting 24%

Detailed outline

Scan each section as a working study checklist instead of one long wall of text.

Networking concepts (23%)

  • OSI model layers: physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation, application.
  • Networking appliances: routers, switches, firewalls, IDS/IPS, load balancers, proxies, NAS, SAN, and wireless devices.
  • Cloud concepts: NFV, VPC, network security groups, cloud gateways, deployment models (public, private, hybrid), service models (SaaS, IaaS, PaaS).
  • Ports and protocols: FTP, SFTP, SSH, Telnet, SMTP, DNS, DHCP, HTTP, HTTPS, SNMP, LDAP, RDP, SIP.
  • Traffic types: unicast, multicast, anycast, broadcast.
  • Transmission media: wireless (802.11, cellular, satellite), wired (fiber, coaxial, DAC).
  • Transceivers and connectors: SC, LC, ST, MPO, RJ11, RJ45, F-type, BNC.
  • Network topologies: mesh, hybrid, star/hub and spoke, spine and leaf, point-to-point, three-tier, and collapsed core.
  • IPv4 addressing: public vs. private, APIPA, RFC1918, loopback, subnetting (VLSM, CIDR), and address classes (A, B, C, D, E).

Network implementation (20%)

  • Routing technologies: static and dynamic routing (BGP, EIGRP, OSPF), route selection, NAT, PAT, FHRP, VIP, and subinterfaces.
  • Switching technologies: VLANs, interface configuration, spanning tree, MTU, and jumbo frames.
  • Wireless devices: channels, frequency options, SSID, network types, encryption, guest networks, authentication, antennas, and access points.
  • Physical installations: installation implications, power considerations, and environmental factors.

Network operations (19%)

  • Documentation: physical vs. logical diagrams, rack diagrams, cable maps, network diagrams, asset inventory, IPAM, SLA, and wireless surveys.
  • Life-cycle management: EOL, EOS, software management, and decommissioning.
  • Change management: request process tracking.
  • Configuration management: production, backup, baseline configurations.
  • Network monitoring: SNMP, flow data, packet capture, baseline metrics, log aggregation, API integration, and port mirroring.
  • Disaster recovery: RPO, RTO, MTTR, MTBF, cold/warm/hot sites, active-active/passive, and testing.
  • Network services: DHCP, SLAAC, DNS, NTP, PTP, and NTS.
  • Access and management: VPNs, SSH, GUI, API, and console.

Network security (14%)

  • Logical security: encryption (data in transit/rest), PKI, IAM, MFA, SSO, RADIUS, LDAP, SAML, TACACS+, time-based authentication, authorization, least privilege, role-based access control, and geofencing.
  • Physical security: cameras and locks.
  • Deception technologies: honeypot and honeynet.
  • Security terminology: risk, vulnerability, exploit, threat, and CIA triad.
  • Audits and compliance: data locality, PCI DSS, and GDPR.
  • Network segmentation: IoT, IIoT, SCADA, ICS, OT, guest, and BYOD.
  • Types of attacks: DoS/DDoS, VLAN hopping, MAC flooding, ARP poisoning/spoofing, DNS poisoning/spoofing, rogue devices/services, evil twin, on-path attack, and social engineering (phishing, dumpster diving, shoulder surfing, tailgating).
  • Security features and defense: device hardening, NAC, key management, ACL, URL/content filtering, trusted vs. untrusted zones, and screened subnet.

Network troubleshooting (24%)

  • Troubleshooting methodology: identifying the problem, establishing a theory, testing, planning, and implementing a solution, verifying functionality, and documenting findings.
  • Cabling and physical interface issues: cable issues (incorrect type, signal degradation, improper termination, TX/RX transposed), interface issues (increasing counters, port status), and hardware issues (PoE, transceiver mismatch, signal strength).
  • Network services issues: switching issues (STP, VLAN assignment, ACLs), routing issues (routing table and default routes), address pool exhaustion, and incorrect gateway/IP/subnet mask.
  • Performance issues: congestion, latency, packet loss, and wireless interference.
  • Tools and protocols: protocol analyzers, command line tools, cable testers, and Wi-Fi analyzers.

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