UPDATE: The Current Status of the N10-006 Net+ Exam

Hey everyone. As many of you know possibly from my previous posts, the Net+ Exam has a very low pass rate (30%) and has been under the intense scrutiny of Network+ Training Vendors, even some folks from CompTIA themselves. Go here if you want more information about what people are saying about the exam. http://www.techexams.net/forums/network/119027-current-status-network-exam-unbearably-hard-now-new-update.html

Well, after getting off the phone a little while ago with the exec. director of my school who has an ear with those who help design the exam at CompTIA and has insider knowledge, it seems that everything is coming to a head. CompTIA Training Vendors across the US are dropping the Network+ curriculum from their lists of available classes, and the army and other parts of the DoD are removing the Network+ certification as a requirement for employment. This exam is no longer deemed an introductory exam, but is viewed as something closer the the CCNA exam, not a beginners certification as it once was.

I'm mentioning this because it may be prudent for those who are actually studying for the Net+ to go ahead and pursue the CCNA instead, since they are matched in difficulty. I've gone too far myself to stop studying for the Net+, but I wish I had started with the CCNA curriculum instead. It makes no sense to get a Bachelors degree only to be viewed as an Associates. That's my current take.

Hope this helps someone.

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cyberguypr

I don't know, does the 30% passing rate seem insanely low to anyone else?

TacoRocket

I've taken the new Network+ and working on the CCNA. I can tell you they are not like each other and the Network+ is still an introductory exam.

What I believe gets a lot of people is the amount of material for the exam. Its the protocols, the quick subnet math, and hardware that is a lot more comprehensive.

If you're coming from the A+ (which I think a lot of people are) then it is a step up. However, going A+ to CCNA (while not impossible) would be a greater leap!

Ricohtech1984

Mpstyler,

I read your other posts and did have a question (had no response on other post).....How did you get through security plus, but not network plus? You had mentioned you failed the class three times, so was wondering why you attempted the N+ again?

Also, was there any mention from your director that Comptia might loosen up on the difficulty of the test? It does stand to reason that putting 25% more content in the exam to learn, (even Mike Meyers said it's the biggest overhaul of the exam since it's existence), making the test questions more difficult, and adding more sims that eat up valuable time, you are given the same amount of time and number of questions as previous versions.

They (Comptia) need to do something about this. Ricoh, my company, has it as a requirement for my tech level (although I don't currently have a need for it), and I am personally trying to get it passed as well. Hope they do something soon.

Mpstyler

Ricohtech1984 wrote: »

Mpstyler,

I read your other posts and did have a question (had no response on other post).....How did you get through security plus, but not network plus? You had mentioned you failed the class three times, so was wondering why you attempted the N+ again?

Also, was there any mention from your director that Comptia might loosen up on the difficulty of the test? It does stand to reason that putting 25% more content in the exam to learn, (even Mike Meyers said it's the biggest overhaul of the exam since it's existence), making the test questions more difficult, and adding more sims that eat up valuable time, you are given the same amount of time and number of questions as previous versions.

They (Comptia) need to do something about this. Ricoh, my company, has it as a requirement for my tech level (although I don't currently have a need for it), and I am personally trying to get it passed as well. Hope they do something soon.

I think you might have misread what I said about my classes. My classes weren't regular classes, they were bootcamps; 40 hours of material in one week, Mon-Fri from a 600~ page textbook. There was no "pass/fail" for the class. The pass was in taking the exam, which I have failed twice now. We did around 5-6 quizzes every day with a total of 20 questions, averaging to over 500+ multiple choice questions by the end of the week. It was a lot of work. When I first started Net+ I didn't even know the difference between a router and switcher (no A+) so I had to work extra hard at understanding the material. Luckily, just yesterday I had an interview for a NOC Technician, and I answered every network related technical question correctly and my interviewers were thoroughly impressed.... all information I learned from the exam objectives on the Net+ exam. Studying hard pays off, and the material is relevant to real-life.

The Security+ and Network+ have a TON of overlap. For obvious reasons, Sec+ questions have a more security emphasis, but also teach encryption, PKI, hashing, firewalls, security policy and change management in more detail from what I remember; I'm sure I'm missing a few more important ones. Other than that, 80% of everything you learn in Net+ you will see again in Sec+ objectives and materials. It's viewed as a more advanced certification than the Net+, but I think the opposite is true. The Net+ covers a lot more and is much more complex IMO.

Mpstyler

TacoRocket wrote: »

I've taken the new Network+ and working on the CCNA. I can tell you they are not like each other and the Network+ is still an introductory exam.

What I believe gets a lot of people is the amount of material for the exam. Its the protocols, the quick subnet math, and hardware that is a lot more comprehensive.

If you're coming from the A+ (which I think a lot of people are) then it is a step up. However, going A+ to CCNA (while not impossible) would be a greater leap!

How much of a greater leap would you say then?

One of my Network+ bootcamp instructors once taught a 2 week CCNA class (I assume they broke of ICND1 and ICDN2 into separate weeks). I asked him about the comparative difficulty, and he replied that over 50% of the material you learn from Net+ you can take with you to help pass the CCNA Exam's. He cited one of the main differences that you actually needed to know how to manually set up a network using commands from routers and switchers. My assumption is you also need a greater knowledge of routing protocols that isn't covered on the Net+

Care to share the differences you have seen?

TacoRocket

Mpstyler wrote: »

How much of a greater leap would you say then?

One of my Network+ bootcamp instructors once taught a 2 week CCNA class (I assume they broke of ICND1 and ICDN2 into separate weeks). I asked him about the comparative difficulty, and he replied that over 50% of the material you learn from Net+ you can take with you to help pass the CCNA Exam's. He cited one of the main differences that you actually needed to know how to manually set up a network using commands from routers and switchers. My assumption is you also need a greater knowledge of routing protocols that isn't covered on the Net+

Care to share the differences you have seen?

After reading the other posts I would advise for you to take your pace at the material. I've taken week bootcamps and they are great in their own way. However I hated them. Because there's not enough time to let the material sink in.

The differences I've seen so far (I'm still working on my CCNA for school right now) is that the CCENT and CCNA go into more detail about how routing and switching works. It is not just the standards but the actual protocols. The network plus covers protocols such as DNS and DHCP. CCENT and CCNA cover stuff like HDLC.

You can carry over a lot of the material. To put it in perspective bookwise though, the network+ from Mike Meyers is around 800 pages. The CCENT and CCNA books I have from Cisco Press are 900 and 700 respectively. I also picked up 31 days before your CCENT and CCNA exam booklets which are a decent sum up.

Granted I do overprep then a lot of people. Because I do apply a lot of what I learn in my job so I like knowing the material to the core. You can pass the Network+ by watching CBT Nuggets and a book. I would have trouble on the CCENT and CCNA if I didn't practice on IOS. If thats through hardware or software (I have 2 2960s, 1 3560, and 3 2811s).

Lastly I will counter you with this. Maybe it is a good thing the Network+ is harder. It makes the certificate and exam more valid content wise. It will also help you take the next step more fulfilled than the previous iteration. I enjoyed having the knowledge of the Network+ carried over to the CCENT because I don't have to backtrack for any explanation. I understand the topics and all the new material has a solid foundation to build on.

I would take some time to sit and let the material stick (which it seems you have). The biggest part for any exam is how they word the questions. Once you take a couple exams from different organizations it is a lot easier to predict the material on the test. CompTIA is straight to the point, Microsoft loves their scenarios, etc. Then retake the Network+. I think you will have better chance once you apply the question format into your studying.

JohnnyUtah41

passed the n+ last week. Wasn't that difficult. I wish they gave you more time though. 82 questions in 90 minutes was cutting it close for me. Performance based questions were not that hard. good luck

ThomasITguy

Honestly for the DoD I have not ever seen Net+ as a required cert.... ive always seen Sec+, MTA, CASP, or CISSP, or CCNA depending on the job.

JohnnyUtah41

TacoRocket wrote: »

Lastly I will counter you with this. Maybe it is a good thing the Network+ is harder. It makes the certificate and exam more valid content wise. It will also help you take the next step more fulfilled than the previous iteration. I enjoyed having the knowledge of the Network+ carried over to the CCENT because I don't have to backtrack for any explanation. I understand the topics and all the new material has a solid foundation to build on.

Good Point. I'm glad its harder. It has been known as an easy cert to get for all these years..which is exactly why i never got it. Went the cisco route anyway. I'm at a new job and network+ was on the list of things to get for a raise. Studying for a week or so, already knew most things being 10 years in IT. boom certified. thanks

TAshman847

I took this exam this afternoon.

I have my MCSE 2012 Private Cloud. 10/8.1/7/XP, All SBS Flavours, Deployment Specialist and now Network+ as of today.

The reason im writing this is all the scare stories of how hard this exam is.

The exam really isnt that hard. All I used is the CBT Nuggets and made lots of notes. Also with CBT we get transcender flash cards and 3 practice exams which i passed. I studied for two weeks.

The only thing that annoyed me is this supposed to be a vendor neutral exam and every interface information slide was a cisco router. I recommend you do the ipv4 subnetting course by Keith Barker and parts of the IPv6 course. Also install GNS3 so you can familirise yourself with the Cisco IOS interface. Other than these few quirks a very simple exam with a lot of trouble shooting. But if you study hard its achievable.

I spent 2 weeks after work doing the exam and passed with 803 out of 900.

Good luck and dont buy into the doom and gloom.

Will be starting my CCNA exam tomorrow.

Cheers Tom

Pseudonymous

I've failed Network + twice. Once in December in again this February. 650 and 687. Coming from all of the other certs I've studied for (A+, N+, MCTS:W7, etc) this one was by far the hardest. It could just be my lack of overall experience in Networking, but I studied hard for this cert. It's not really that I didn't understand the material. A lot of the questions were long and confusing. I used:

- Professor Messor (bought the notes too)
- Mike Meyers (The book and the video on Lynda.com)
- The Pearson Lab Simulator
- Cybrary
- CertMaster
- Other random things

I've spent ~$500 so far on study material and attempting the tests and I have nothing to show for it. That's my own problem, but it's nice to see that at least it's not just me that was having problems passing it. If you have Networking experience than this exam was probably a lot easier, but I don't have any so it's pretty challenging.

I considered going Security + and coming back to Network + (or maybe even doing CCNA first), but I want to finish what I started I'm studying it all over again. I'll do attempt #3 in a couple weeks.

lloris_20

Is comptia going to make it easier? Any update?

Nisseki

Hi Tashman,

How many months/years networking experience do you have?

Many thanks,

lloris_20

TAshman847 wrote: »

I took this exam this afternoon.

I have my MCSE 2012 Private Cloud. 10/8.1/7/XP, All SBS Flavours, Deployment Specialist and now Network+ as of today.

The reason im writing this is all the scare stories of how hard this exam is.

The exam really isnt that hard. All I used is the CBT Nuggets and made lots of notes. Also with CBT we get transcender flash cards and 3 practice exams which i passed. I studied for two weeks.

The only thing that annoyed me is this supposed to be a vendor neutral exam and every interface information slide was a cisco router. I recommend you do the ipv4 subnetting course by Keith Barker and parts of the IPv6 course. Also install GNS3 so you can familirise yourself with the Cisco IOS interface. Other than these few quirks a very simple exam with a lot of trouble shooting. But if you study hard its achievable.

I spent 2 weeks after work doing the exam and passed with 803 out of 900.

Good luck and dont buy into the doom and gloom.

Will be starting my CCNA exam tomorrow.

Cheers Tom

Do you have much networking exp?

Clawhammer

I agree with many statements here about the difficulty level, mainly that this is a very broad test so naturally you will have to memorize a lot of things. But, between some deep questions and the simulations, you also have to have a pretty could working concept of networking too. I think it is that combo that makes it harder to pass.
I took a course and just passed the N+. If you want my recommendation for a study class it was https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/course/91300/comptia-networkplus-certification-prep/ . I had an instructor name George Mays. Make sure you get him. He took his networking very seriously; he would carry around RFC's in his briefcase in case he had to prove himself correct during a discussion on networking. It's expensive I know so if you are entitled to training from your company, that would be a good time to use it!

LemonadeVodka

I just failed miserably 650 on Saturday

I studied via WGU uCertify extensively and the questions were no where similar.

joelsfood

If the uCertify material wasn't close to the test, that's a failure in uCertify, not the test.

I would suggest checking out the Network+ material from Professor Messer

https://www.professormesser.com/#

As well as the Lynda.com videos (look to be Mike Myers' ) available through the WGU library.

jibtech

I used the uCertify material for the Network+ earlier this summer, and found it was more than sufficient. However, it covers a LOT of material. The uCertify course includes 9 different practice tests and close to 600 questions in the PrepEngine. At a minimum, you should be able to hit mastery on the prep engine, as well as consistently in the 90s on the practice exams.

For me, the hardest two parts were subnetting and the OSI model. If they don't make sense, or you still have to struggle with either of those, you aren't ready for the exam.

As far as Network+ vs CCNA, it is no contest. The basic knowledge you get for the Network+ is assumed during the CCNA. You should know subnetting, OSI and common ports perfectly before attempting the CCNA. Realistically, the CCNA level material will be time constraining enough without having to think about the basics as well, particularly in the sim questions.

coreyb80

jibtech wrote: »

I used the uCertify material for the Network+ earlier this summer, and found it was more than sufficient. However, it covers a LOT of material. The uCertify course includes 9 different practice tests and close to 600 questions in the PrepEngine. At a minimum, you should be able to hit mastery on the prep engine, as well as consistently in the 90s on the practice exams.

For me, the hardest two parts were subnetting and the OSI model. If they don't make sense, or you still have to struggle with either of those, you aren't ready for the exam.

As far as Network+ vs CCNA, it is no contest. The basic knowledge you get for the Network+ is assumed during the CCNA. You should know subnetting, OSI and common ports perfectly before attempting the CCNA. Realistically, the CCNA level material will be time constraining enough without having to think about the basics as well, particularly in the sim questions.

I'm currently attending WGU and just finished up my first semester. My very last class was intro to Networking which covered the OSI model along with subnetting as well. First class of my new semester is Net+ so hopefully that has set me up to win in that department since the material is fresh in my brain still.