Network+ Prepping question

aolish

Hey all, I'm just about to buy a book on Net+ on amazon and have a question that I would like to ask on how to best prepare for the exam. Unfortunately I have very little networking experience and always have to depend on the auto configuration of routers and switches to connect my network together whenever I buy a new router or switch. I understand the very basic principles of networking but that is about it.

My question is I do know that networking is an extremely complex and confusing thing to study for (in my opinion at least) and that the Net+ absolutely requires you to have hands-on experience with this stuff. I think most of you know that networking is hard to grasp just by reading the material. My question is how can I best simulate a networking environment without having to mess up my current setup? Is it possible if I can buy another router and hook it up to a modem and just play from there? Will I somehow mess up my own network in some way by doing it like this or is there another way in going about in doing this.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I have almost zero clue on how to go about in doing this safely.

SharkDiver

I ended up buying some switches, routers and a firewall to pass Cisco exams, but I didn't have access to anything when I took the Network+.

The Net+ is more theoretical. I think you can learn everything you need just from reading a good Net+ book.