Difficulty level compared to Sec+

Nobylspoon

For those of you that have earned both Network+ and Security+, which exam did you find to me more difficult? I recently took the Security+ exam and although it was not to be taken lightly, it was not as difficult as I had expected. Is the Network+ exam more challenging?

earweed

I found the Net+ more challenging actually. Mainly because of the amount of material I had to remember. There is more memorization for the Net+ and I'm not as good at that.
I actually scored 10 points higher on the Net+ though.

rogue2shadow

earweed wrote: »

Mainly because of the amount of material I had to remember. There is more memorization for the Net+ and I'm not as good at that.

I agree. For me the Net+ was kind of boring because I had taken the CCENT before it. In terms of it versus the Sec+, I would say the Sec+ was a little bit harder because of the fact that it seemed more "situational" than the Net+ (harder is a relative term). The Net+ felt like a "networking A+" basically.

sidsanders

for me, sec+ i was more worried about then net+. net+ covers items i have seen many times under msft/novell/sun tests. sec+ had some items as well that crossed over other tracks as well, however there was enough diff items it took me a bit more to conver it to feel ok.

Subby808

I was wondering the same thing. I just finished up my Security + cert(about 3 weeks of study) and was curious if the network exam was any harder. I know for Security +, Darril's book is well praised. For the Network cert any suggestions on study material.

Thanks in advance.

earweed

My main study material was Labsim. My secondary source was the Learnkey video (done by Mike Meyers) The book I had was useless so those were my 2 main sources. I still managed to squeak out a 865 (900 being top score)

Nobylspoon

earweed wrote: »

My main study material was Labsim. My secondary source was the Learnkey video (done by Mike Meyers) The book I had was useless so those were my 2 main sources. I still managed to squeak out a 865 (900 being top score)

Glad to hear the Labsim was helpful, I used my student discount to pick it up yesterday

brewd

I thought the Security+ exam was harder as there are more abstract ideas that can be rather subjective when deciding on how to answer a question. For that matter, the passing score is higher as well. Often, with Security+, one has to suspend reality and answer in the way CompTIA would want you to.

I just passed the Network+ exam yesterday and was honestly shocked at how simple it was. I finished the exam in 20 minutes and would have had a perfect score, but threw a few questions intentionally so that I wouldn't get my exam audited for cheating.

I studied for 2 weeks solid, using the Sybex - Lammle book (which was very good). I've gone over this material in various forms over the years, but had to commit a lot of it to memory for the test, and so little of what I expected to be asked wasn't covered or was barely so.

For example, I created tables of info for cabling types spec (10base-2 through 10Gbase-EW), wireless specs, OSI layer specifics, etc, etc...and I hardly had to do that. I had only one question on subnetting, and it's a stretch to even call it that as I simply had to convert a binary based IP address to a decimal IP address. Funny thing, I even had a repeat in questions back to back asking the max number of cables used in a RJ-11 connector...

All in all, I guess it was good prep for the CCNA which I plan on going for after getting the Server+ cert out of the way. Maybe I just lucked out and pulled an easy test out of the mix of questions CompTIA has for this test, but in my impression if this is all it takes to get a Network+ cert then I've lost respect for it completely.

Computadora

brewd wrote: »

I thought the Security+ exam was harder as there are more abstract ideas that can be rather subjective when deciding on how to answer a question. For that matter, the passing score is higher as well. Often, with Security+, one has to suspend reality and answer in the way CompTIA would want you to.

I just passed the Network+ exam yesterday and was honestly shocked at how simple it was. I finished the exam in 20 minutes and would have had a perfect score, but threw a few questions intentionally so that I wouldn't get my exam audited for cheating.

I studied for 2 weeks solid, using the Sybex - Lammle book (which was very good). I've gone over this material in various forms over the years, but had to commit a lot of it to memory for the test, and so little of what I expected to be asked wasn't covered or was barely so.

For example, I created tables of info for cabling types spec (10base-2 through 10Gbase-EW), wireless specs, OSI layer specifics, etc, etc...and I hardly had to do that. I had only one question on subnetting, and it's a stretch to even call it that as I simply had to convert a binary based IP address to a decimal IP address. Funny thing, I even had a repeat in questions back to back asking the max number of cables used in a RJ-11 connector...

All in all, I guess it was good prep for the CCNA which I plan on going for after getting the Server+ cert out of the way. Maybe I just lucked out and pulled an easy test out of the mix of questions CompTIA has for this test, but in my impression if this is all it takes to get a Network+ cert then I've lost respect for it completely.

I'm planning on taking the Network+ exam as well. I am also using the Lammle book to study. Just curious does the exam allow the use of the windows calculator either basic/scientific mode for the subnetting/IP address questions?

cbsharpe0824

Wow! 20 minutes? Well, to be honest, I hope my test is that easy and I can't it didn't cover the topics you listed. I am taking my test next Monday, August 23rd..so wish me luck!

Any tips or suggestions?

I have been studying hard since June of this year....

brewd

@Computadora - sorry, I never looked for the calculator, can't recall if it's there or not. Honestly, as long as you know your 2^x powers you hardly need a calculator. Once you know those, you can pretty much do all the subnetting you'll need in your head. Check out this Linglom's blog post which cleared up IP Subnetting for me. Lammle's Network+ book describes it in just about the same way for that matter, but thought maybe the blog might make more sense to you.

@cbsharpe0824 - good luck on your Net+. What study materials are you using? My study method includes one read through of whatever book I'm using, highlighting the juicy details or stuff I may just not know well. Then I go back over the highlighted stuff and take detailed notes on it to commit it to memory. Next, I use whatever test questions I have for the exam and take notes on any that are tough or I have no clue on. Next I go over those book/question notes about 2-3 times prior to taking the test. This really commits it to memory well and I go in and blow through exams pretty quickly. Hope this helps, and again good luck next week!

cbsharpe0824

[
@cbsharpe0824 - good luck on your Net+. What study materials are you using? My study method includes one read through of whatever book I'm using, highlighting the juicy details or stuff I may just not know well. Then I go back over the highlighted stuff and take detailed notes on it to commit it to memory. Next, I use whatever test questions I have for the exam and take notes on any that are tough or I have no clue on. Next I go over those book/question notes about 2-3 times prior to taking the test. This really commits it to memory well and I go in and blow through exams pretty quickly. Hope this helps, and again good luck next week![/QUOTE]

Well, I was using everything and anything I can get my hands on from oline utilities from the actual CompTia network + 2009 edition book that was supplied to me for the upcoming class. I have taken several online tests and study questions from this site and others. I am feeling confident. The good thing is that my class is this weekend and I take the test on Monday. This class will be a refresher course for me. I have been studying since June.

brewd

You should be fine then. I think you'll end up being surprised at how easy the Network+ exam really is. Just go in there knowing your fiber and ethernet specs well and the rest of the stuff is a piece of cake.

BTW - about the calculator, I just took the Server+ exam today and they did have a Calculator button (right where the exhibit button would be normally) for a question that could have possibly required some calculation. Thought maybe they would do the same for Subnetting questions in Network+, sorry I can't remember for sure.

cbsharpe0824

brewd wrote: »

You should be fine then. I think you'll end up being surprised at how easy the Network+ exam really is. Just go in there knowing your fiber and ethernet specs well and the rest of the stuff is a piece of cake.

BTW - about the calculator, I just took the Server+ exam today and they did have a Calculator button (right where the exhibit button would be normally) for a question that could have possibly required some calculation. Thought maybe they would do the same for Subnetting questions in Network+, sorry I can't remember for sure.

Fiber and ethernet specs huh? Thanks for the tips, again really appreciate it! I feel confident and ready to be honest. I'm just glad that the company that I work for has footed the bill. It's like vacation because I will be in DC for 4 days!