Advice on passing

I just passed the test (first time) on Friday. However, I was somewhat unhappy with my overall score of 659 (I really thought I was better prepared).

I'm certainly no expert, but I think I can suggest a few pointers for others on passing the test the first time (these were already mentioned in the forums but I just didn't pay very close attention to them):

Follow the objectives from CompTIA and stay on topic! There are several online practice exams that I kept scoring low on because they present questions that are networking in nature but are not covered by the Net+ exam. I wasted huge amounts of time trying to learn about and memorize everything that I came across. I think the time I wasted on subjects that weren't on the exam was the major reason for my low score.

Definately use more than one source for study. I bought the Sybex Network+ 4th edition which is excellent, but even that had gaps in the information. I also used the TechExams pdf which helped out on several questions for me. Also, keep reading the forums- I realized during the exam that they're full of VERY useful information about the specific exam, as well as general information on the exam environment.

Make sure you know the easy stuff (OSI model details, ports, cable specs) backwards and forwards. Literally- use flashcards if you have to (like I did) and know the specs from the topic and the topic from the specs. If you have that level of knwoledge over the easy stuff, you've got half the test in the bag already.

Finally, do take advantage of the online practice exams that are out there- just don't get too worked up over questions that aren't covered by the exam objectives. The practice tests on TechExams were right on point, as were those on mcmcse.com. ProProfs.com exams were the chief source of my frustration, however. Out of the 250+ questions on their site maybe 15% were completely unrelated.

If you pay attention to the objectives you won't see any big surprises- any questions that seem to come out of left field are probably of the "ungraded" category.

I hope this helps someone who is about to take the test- good luck!

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Comments

justus1

First of all, congratulations on passing!! Secondly, I was in the same situation, so don't feel so bad. The network+ is part of a new Department of Denfense mandate, so my whole office took the test (or nearly the whole office), only a few of us passed, and those of us who did passed by only a few points. Many people think that this is "just" a CompTIA exam and walked into the testing center. Being prepared for any exam, whether it is the CISSP or the network+ is key to success!!

jscimeca715

My future father in law always says, "The min wouldn't be the min if it wasn't good enough." I used the Sybex book as well as FastPass and created my own flash cards for the necessities such as the OSI Model and cable specs. Those are huge, even though they may not come out an ask you specifices they may help you answer more obscure scenario based questions. I was extremely nervous going in but once you get on a roll you can do awesome. Good pointers.

kmartshopper

Well, I passed today. Yeah me...

I seemed to have over studied in areas not on this test. I had 2 questions on ports. I think 3 on the OSI model and about 30+ on aspects of NOVELL and other questions that were so ambiguous it bordered on WTF!! I'm not saying my studying was a waste of time. I learned quite a bit. I guess I should have focused on NOVELL, WIN98 (SE, ME) and 2000. You need to know the command line parameters for arp, netstat, nbtstat, ping and when to use them. Know nslookup, netbeui, speed specs of copper and fiber and the distance(not that I was asked more then 2). I had 1 question that involved hacker attack (man in the middle). This test was outdated. I was asked about ICS on a win 98SE ME machine.. Read about it HINT, HINT..

In closing, the test needs to be upgraded. In all the online practice exams and all the books I looked through did not really prepare me for this most of this test. Last, but not least, study TROUBLESHOOTING clients and across the network... GOOD LUCK..

kmart

147

I had 2 questions on ports. I think 3 on the OSI model and about 30+ on aspects of NOVELL and other questions that were so ambiguous it bordered on WTF!! I'm not saying my studying was a waste of time. ... You need to know the command line parameters for arp, netstat, nbtstat, ping and when to use them. Know nslookup, netbeui,

That's interesting, because my experience was a little more balanced (of course the test is randomly generated for each taker from what I understand). I had about 5 questions on ports and about as many on OSI model or related subjects, but only about 10 total questions on Novell and Mac.

I did have a boatload of questions on the command line utilities and how to interpret them, though. Takers should definately be very familiar with their typical outputs and uses. On that note, I never saw examples of the *nix versions of those utilities in any of my studies, but I got questions based on their outputs. Takers should hunt down printouts from dig, ifconfig and traceroute utilties, and not depend solely on nslookup, ipconfig and tracert printouts.

blurple

Congrats for you guys too I passed today aswell