CompTIA Network+

Services are what users actually use. You learn the common protocols for the web, mail, name resolution, remote access and management, the ports they use, and what each does when it works and when it fails.

• Web, mail and file transfer protocols
• Secure and insecure versions of the same service
• Remote access: SSH, RDP and VNC
• DNS records and how a name is resolved
• DHCP leases, scopes and reservations
• NTP, SNMP and syslog for management

You build A service map for a small company showing ports, protocols and which are encrypted.

Addressing is the part of networking that cannot be bluffed. You work with IPv4 and IPv6, divide a block into subnets by hand and plan an addressing scheme that leaves room to grow.

• Public, private and special-use IPv4 ranges
• Subnet masks and CIDR notation
• Subnetting by hand and with variable lengths
• Default gateways and local versus remote traffic
• IPv6 addresses, prefixes and autoconfiguration
• Planning an addressing scheme

You build An addressing plan that divides one block across five departments, with room for growth.

A network is also a set of cables and racks. You compare topologies, choose copper or fiber for a run, terminate and test a cable and lay out a closet so it can be maintained by someone else.

• Star, mesh, hybrid and other topologies
• Copper cable categories and limits
• Fiber types, connectors and transceivers
• Terminating and testing twisted pair
• Power over Ethernet and its limits
• Racks, patch panels and cable management
• Network types: LAN, WAN, SAN and others

You build A cable run specification and rack layout for a new floor, with a labelling scheme.

Switches carry most traffic inside a site. You learn how they learn addresses and forward frames, divide a network with VLANs, prevent loops, and set the port features that keep a network stable.

• MAC address tables and frame forwarding
• VLANs and trunk links
• Spanning tree and loop prevention
• Link aggregation and port speed settings
• Port security and unused ports
• Inter-VLAN routing

You build A switch configuration with three VLANs, a trunk and port security, verified from the command line.

Routers join networks together. You read a routing table, configure static and dynamic routes, understand how NAT shares addresses and decide which routing method a given network needs.

• Reading a routing table
• Static and default routes
• Dynamic routing: OSPF, BGP and their purposes
• How a router chooses between routes
• NAT and port address translation
• First-hop redundancy and gateways

You build A three-router lab with static and dynamic routing and NAT, with a trace that proves it.

Wi-Fi fails in ways cables do not. You learn the standards, bands and channels, design coverage with a site survey, and secure a wireless network for both guests and staff.

• 802.11 standards, bands and channel width
• Access points, controllers and roaming
• Site surveys and heat maps
• Interference, signal strength and capacity
• WPA2, WPA3 and enterprise authentication
• Guest networks and captive portals

You build A wireless design for an office floor, with channel plan, placement and security settings.

A network nobody has documented cannot be run. You draw accurate diagrams, record baselines, and monitor performance and logs so you notice a problem before the users report it.

• Physical and logical diagrams
• Asset inventories, IP address management and labels
• Baselines and performance metrics
• SNMP, flow data and packet captures
• Logs, alerts and thresholds
• Policies, procedures and change records

You build A documentation set for a small network, with diagrams, an inventory and a baseline report.

Networks must keep working when something breaks. You design redundancy, balance load across links and servers, and plan for recovery, using recovery time and recovery point objectives to guide each choice.

• Redundant links, devices and power
• Load balancing and failover
• Hot, warm and cold recovery sites
• Recovery time and recovery point objectives
• Backups of device configurations
• Testing a recovery plan

You build A recovery plan for a two-site network, with objectives and a failover test.

Attackers use the same protocols you do. You learn how denial of service, spoofing, on-path attacks and rogue devices work at the network level and match each to the control that stops it.

• Denial of service and its variants
• ARP, DNS and DHCP attacks
• VLAN hopping and rogue access points
• On-path and wireless attacks
• Segmentation, ACLs and firewalls
• IDS and IPS placement
• Social engineering aimed at network staff

You build A threat table for one network, pairing each attack with a defense and where it sits.

Who can reach what is a network decision. You apply authentication and authorization, control access to ports and wireless, and build VPN and remote-access designs that fit how people really work.

• Authentication, authorization and accounting
• 802.1X, RADIUS and TACACS+
• Network access control and posture checks
• Site-to-site and client VPNs
• Jump hosts and out-of-band management
• Zero trust ideas applied to a network

You build An access design for staff, guests and administrators, with a VPN configuration.

Troubleshooting is a skill with a method behind it. You learn a structured approach and the hardware and software tools that give evidence at each layer, so you stop guessing and start isolating.

• A step-by-step troubleshooting method
• Cable testers, tone generators and loopback plugs
• Wi-Fi analyzers and spectrum tools
• ping, traceroute, nslookup and ipconfig
• arp, netstat and route
• Protocol analyzers and what they reveal

You build A tool-by-symptom reference that tells you which test to run first for each type of fault.

Work through the faults that fill a help desk queue. You diagnose bad cables and ports, weak Wi-Fi, address conflicts, name resolution failures and routing mistakes, and confirm each repair.

• Attenuation, crosstalk and bad terminations
• Duplex, speed and port mismatches
• Wireless coverage and interference problems
• IP conflicts, wrong gateways and DHCP failures
• DNS and routing faults
• Verifying a fix and recording it

You build Worked solutions to six faulty-network scenarios, each with evidence and a verified fix.

One scenario draws on every skill. You design a network for a growing business, build and secure it in a lab, document it, then repair a set of faults introduced into it.

• Gathering requirements for a growing business
• Choosing topology, addressing and equipment
• Building the network and its security
• Documenting and baselining the result
• Diagnosing faults someone else introduced

You build A built, documented and tested business network with a fault report.