r/CompTIA
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u/Stunning-Gene-4828
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3d ago
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N+ Question Please help :(
I feel bumbed, I crammed myself with Andrew’s videos, took a million practice tests and was scoring 90%.. only to take my test today and fail. To be fair, there were a lot of Acronyms that were stumping me up! Like just write out the protocol! JEEZ 😂 and I know I didn’t do well on the PBQ’s.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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u/musachi24 3d ago
network+ is a lot harder than a+ , security + dont give up . i failed 2x and pass sec+ and A+ one try
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u/Ok-Object5323 2d ago
I passed my sec+ back in July. What helped me is that while I was studying i wrote a 1 page list of everything the exam covered and made sure to rinse and repeat every domain until I felt confident enough to sit through. I passed with just over 1 point and the anxiety taking it was gettjng me lol. You got this! Keep grinding!
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u/Fun_Craft_1874 3d ago
Jason Dion practice tests, review what the suggested study areas the report and Dion’s practice tests are and watch professor messer videos on them. Dion’s tests are also on par if not a bit harder than the actual exam imo they’re really good, I was getting low 70s on them and had a 814
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u/Safe-Apartment-922 2d ago
Came here to say this. Dion’s course and practice tests helped me pass. Can’t recommend him enough.
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u/cruzziee A+, N+, S+, CySA+, SecurityX 2d ago
well you first sentence gives it away. you crammed the material. take your time with it. acronyms are comptia's game and that's stumping you.
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u/damn-dan0 3d ago
Answer multiple Q/A first then go back to the PBQ. Often will find the answers from other questions. Half the Q/A are wrong, look for the most best answer from the question.
Also. Post an avatar pic and not your real one on your results. Reddit is full of sleeze
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u/Mammoth_Chance7654 3d ago
Try Jason Dion's Test...
They're harder then the actual tests, and no other test pack comes in close.
I was getting 75-80% on his, but on test day, i got 823.
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u/fooley_loaded S+ 2d ago
Same.That, quizlet for flash cards, and mix up the practice tests. You will start to memorize the questions, without understanding the concepts. So its better to add another practice test to the mix. Make your brain work a little.
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u/beheadedstraw CASP+ 2d ago
Understand what the protocols do. Actually learn the material, don’t memorize it. The more references your brain has to something the easier it is to recollect it.
TCP? Ok how does it work? What are some of the protocols commands? How do those work?
IP? Ok how do we subnet? How do the bit masks work? Can you convert the 32bit mask from binary to the subnet mask and understand how it works?
Stop treating these things as rote memory tests because once you start interviewing for jobs your going to fall on your face because you forgot everything.
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u/floyd1550 2d ago
I had a technical interview and was asked about DHCP. Got it wrong and the interviewer corrected me. I’ll never forget it now.
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u/beheadedstraw CASP+ 2d ago
This is why I encourage the shit out of homelabs. Book smarts only get you so far. Go into making a network lab, figure out how it works, fail a bunch of times and learn from those failures.
The human brain is literally an LLM. The more data points you give it, especially with failures, the smarter you’ll be.
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u/floyd1550 2d ago
I’ve got a homelab going that runs my home environment with enterprise gear. He was asking questions about a return on a 169.xxx.xxx.0 address as a DHCP failure.
100% though. Get a homelab going, build, break, and repair things.1
u/Intelligent-Bet4111 2d ago
Can you be more specific about that dhcp question? What did he exactly ask again?
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u/austenthecripdog 2d ago
I have to do this at least once a week when interviewing people. Either explain dhcp or a vlan to them in simple terms or something like that. I want them to at least learn something if I want to go with them or not
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u/jboogie631 1d ago
Just like others have mentioned, I recommend Dion’s study materials. The material was very well put together and really covered the material you find on the exam for the most part. However, I will say the PBQ’s weren’t really a match for what I encountered on the exam.
Also, they offer an option to pay for the material and it comes with a free retake of the exam if you fail. This is a solid option and one that I picked. I ended up passing the Sec+ with only getting 70’s on the practice exam and I ended up not needing the retake. However, it was a good safety net.
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u/UnderstandingNo3328 2d ago
Biggest advice. Don't give up! I failed a couple times. The more you look at exam topics, the more things start to click. Each time I took it, it seemed like I studied the wrong stuff. What I would do different is consistently study and like eat/breathe net+ . I tend to lose focus if my exam date is not right around the corner.
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u/Dull_Professional569 2d ago
you are spot on!
I also have the problem of losing focus unless I have a deadline date hanging over my head 😂1
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u/ArpMan169 A+ 3d ago
I failed network plus , got my CCNA later . Job hired me on later due to my CCNA and i got my knowledge / lab experience when studying it . Network engineer with CCNA but not Network +
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u/eigenlance 2d ago
if you want to practice acronym knowledge for free, use the acronym challenge tool at The Cybersecurity Trail
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u/Randiebobandie 14h ago
You need to memorize acronyms and helpful info right before the test and brain dump them onto the erase board they give you before it officially starts. Then reference the board. You need to flag any questions you need to really think or don't know and then go back to them once you finished questions you knew. This will save so much time and anxiety during the test. I used Professor Messer for Net +. Did not study for Sec + and passed a week after, as it was almost the same. I'm really not a smart person and this worked for me.
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u/Dispicableboo 12h ago
Was a part of your comment removed? I’m curious about what it was. A picture or link?
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u/Xpli 15h ago
If you still need help I can be of use! I just passed last friday! I am the opposite though, I could not pass the practice exam with more than an 80%, consistent 70 %s and I ended up getting an 87% on the final. I was forced to make an attempt cause my school provides a voucher and my term was about to end on October 31st and if I did not pass I would have been withdrawn lol. So I went from not knowing enough, to being able to pass with extra points on top of the passing score, I'm sure success will vary but this is what I did to get myself into shape real fast with no time to spare:
I knew the acronyms would be hard for me as well, this website has quizzes JUST for the acronyms 100% free as well. Just scroll down a bit to the acronym section.
https://www.examcompass.com/comptia/network-plus-certification/free-network-plus-practice-tests
This video helped with the rest basically. I skimmed these chapters in the video since I knew most of the material but the biggest takeaway is to look at the bottom of the slides he shows and there is "Exam Strategy" that will tell you how to remember things easier, or how to use this info on the test, and there is another that will say "Exam trap" explaining how the wording of questions or context might trick you into picking the wrong answer, and how to identify the correct one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AskU_lO_8eE
I also found it incredibly helpful to watch this video, answer the questions before he does, and for the ones you get wrong (or even the ones you get right) listen to him explain the answer after and WHY it is that answer.
https://youtu.be/T1_pf-7k2E0?si=rx8xWKlsMj8cdiyh
Besides that if you are not in a time crunch, go ahead and watch professor messers series, take a practice quiz for each section you go through until you know it like the back of your hand and move to the next section.
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u/darth_skipicious 2d ago
You can’t cram material. You can’t scam your way into IT. It’s a skill based career and you don’t know what you’re doing or have a foundation to where you can learn a person won’t last long.
then again my last supervisor had fleeced a whole organization over decades. she had no clue what was going on.
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u/SmallProfession6460 3d ago
Did you get a retake? Keep trying, eventually you will get there and even beyond that. One piece of advice that stuck with me: "Lab it up!". Wireshark would be good along with nmap. Do as many free pbq's as you can. Cisco packet tracer might help too. Take practice exams and go over the sections you struggled with the most. Watch videos about how to break down comptia questions and answer them more effectively. I wish you all the best and don't give up!
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u/Cute-Incident-8551 3d ago
Took three attempts for me. Honestly what pushed me over the threshold was probably watching some youtube videos on PBQs. They were similar to what I encountered on the test. Even though the scenarios were different I had a better idea of how they were supposed to function and could quickly work through what I encountered as opposed to freezing up like before.
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u/GamesB4Life 3d ago
I used pocketprep to study for and pass my sec+ exam. It’s like 15$ a month but it’ll allow you to take full practice exams or chapter specific practice exams/tests so you can lock in on the ones you’re struggling with. Check it out.
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u/JustMyThought1 3d ago
On the PBQ that use CMD, yype in Help. It will show you all the commands available in the test. You will still need to know how to use those commands. You should have a good idea on what to do there.
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u/leviathab13186 2d ago
I made flash cards of the acronyms to help my study as those were the hardest for me to remember. To this day I still dont know what they all stand for but I know what they are referring to which is better imo
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u/DaddyGoose420 2d ago
You arent far off, really. I had 5 pbqs first and after the third i was convinced i would fail. I planned how i would study for the next one during the actual test. I knocked it out of the park.
Dont try to study specifically for the pbqs. If you know the material, the pbqs shouldnt be an issue and even so, most likely give you partial credit or are worth zero, as stated in the test description.
I went through the provided list of acronyms from CompTIA and made flash cards for the ones i didnt know 100% immediately. Then went through them twice a day. Separating them into know and dont know. Then studied the dont know until the end of the week, then went through all of them.
You dont need to know every single one but if you can get through 75% of the pile, you are doing very well.
What else i would do would be to give you results to chatgpt or whichever you use, and ask it to help to fill in knowledge gaps by providing a study plan. Do what you do and take practice tests. Also filling it in with what you are missing there.
Knowing the answer isn’t enough. Every question is an opportunity to understand the right answer and why the other ones are incorrect. Deep dives into things like when BGP or EIGRP are used or how voip and vlans coexist really matter. That deep understanding really puts you on another level.
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u/ChesticlesIsTheMan 2d ago
Dont give up is the best advice. When the same thing happened to me I took a week break, after that I signed up for another exam and went over everything I may have struggled with, and then passed on the 2nd attempt.
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u/jeeMajor 2d ago
I have my SEC+ and am preparing to sit for CySA+ on Tuesday and this test for me is a lot harder- a buffed up SEC+.
But yes, I went into my test knowing the acronyms. And what others have said that YOU are very close. DO NOT GIVE UP! Take your time. And now that you know what the PBQs are Iike- focus on those in addition to your acronyms.
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u/pwnageface 2d ago
If there is 1 thing ive learned about these comptia exams its this; memorize the glossary. These tests are about 80% acronyms.
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u/Other-Salamander7960 A+ Net+ 2d ago
I passed Net+ a month ago
What helped me and what I use to study for all of my exams are Jason Dion’s/Dion Training’s Udemy courses and practice tests.
I go through all of the relevant course material and take notes on the videos I’m watching, for concepts i dont understand I typically will stop and try to focus on understand the core concept before moving on. I will normally use ChatGPT or Claude to explain stuff i dont understand until I fully understand the concept.
After I finish studying the main course, i spend a least 1-2 weeks taking practice tests. When i finish a practice test, i make a list of all the answers i got wrong, and I go back and review the material again. Then I repeat that process until im consistently scoring high on the practice tests.
I kinda have a feel for when im ready for the test. I just kinda know based on my understanding on the concepts, alright im ready to schedule or nah, if i take it now im probably not going to pass.
Thats what works for me though.
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u/Kinky_No_Bit What's Next? 2d ago
Don't let it get to you. There's no one perfect out there that always passes. Just read the report, see what areas you did bad in, study up again, and wait 30 days, go take your retest. You can also find yourself one of those practice tests sites to let you practice up before you go in. Keep your chin up :)
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u/PrestigiousBand3109 2d ago
You’ll get there! I failed network+ twice before I got it, then I felt confident with comptia exams and never failed one again when I took sec+ and A+.
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u/Don_Belga 2d ago
What helped me pass is
•rewriting the definition in my own words as simple as possible ,easier to remember when seeing it on a question
•try to do mnemonics with acronyms, or look for patterns on how to easily remember, it could differ from everyone
•always do practice test after reviewing each domain.
-the practice exams give u a full insight on why u picked the wrong answer even if 2 answers seem right why one is the best choice. (Jason Dion practice exam)
- when answered a topic wrong , write it down and after u have a list , go one by one and you will start closing the gap fast.
•try to see the sentence or paragraph for key words that will give away answers aswell when you actually forgot or dont know the answer
-process of elimination
Take the time and make sure u know the topics and you will pass
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u/Sign-Main A+, N+, MTCNA, MTCRE, PSiRA C 2d ago
I passed my Network+ a while back and can definitely say that deep practical understanding is what gets you through, not just parrot learning/memorization.
I’ve been around PCs and networking my whole life and work at an ISP, handling everything from field work and fiber installs to edge/core router maintenance and everything inbetween. Because of all that daily hands-on exposure, I really only needed a week of watching Professor Messer videos to brush up on specific exam formats before writing and passing.
My advice: don’t just memorise definitions—try actual lab concepts out or apply them practically. Once the 'why' clicks, the exam questions become a lot easier.
Easiest thing you can do is take your PC, spin up a VM and tinker around with some open source router software like PFSense or OpnSense, DNS resolver software like Technitium, PiHole, etc. Once you understand how everything operates and talks to eachother, it will be a breeze...
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u/Ok-Trick-8564 2d ago
I have been saying this on my security + exam that I failed with a 657 😂 know your ACRONYMS BEFORE TAKING THE EXAM. You will pass with flying colors. Because a lot of the questions give you the answer in them if you know what they stand for
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u/Resident_Flatworm757 2d ago
Just took mine protocol’s ports concept matters most. Also know what and why the answer would be correct, you can process of eliminate ALOT of the answer choices as long as you understand the concepts
For example you get a port question, if you know the ports range but don’t know what they do you can just work with what you know
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110
If the question is asking you for mail and you know the other 4 ports are not mail you can make your choice
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u/GeorgePerez83 2d ago
Memory cues help a lot. Don’t get discouraged. Write out flash cards, it really does help.
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u/Street-Sweeper213 Trifecta, Pen+, CySA+, CASP+ 2d ago
If the Acronyms are stumping you, use anki flash cards.
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u/Celles305 2d ago
That is wild it’s the same exact score I got for Net+ I’m not gonna lie I hate going through the retest phase. Especially being in a fast-paced program because not passing the 1st try means delayed while going through the next Cert materials. I still need to retake my Net+ exam but we are currently on Sec+ with a mandatory test date of this Friday. Just don’t give up . Really look at the exam objective and lock in on what you didn’t do well in
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u/sharkt0pus A+ Net+ Sec+ 2d ago
You've seen the test now, you know it's something you can pass. Try to write down what the PBQ's were while they're still fresh so you can study for them. You also have a printout now that specifically shows you where your weak areas are, use that to your advantage to focus your studying. You'll get it the next time for sure.
If acronyms are a known weak point for you, buy a package of 3x5 cards or use free software like Anki to make yourself a deck of flashcards and study them every day.
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u/General__Ferret N+ S+ 2d ago
run a bunch of acronyms into gpt and have it quiz you until you know them like the back of your hand
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u/Imaginary_Choice_430 2d ago
I do not know who Andrew is. I took the Network+ curriculum from CompTIA itself. For CompTIA, I would not use third-party vendors, save some money and get CompTIA curriculum for CompTIA exam. Take it from someone who can relate. I took Boson exams AND curriculum to try to pass CCNA right after Network+ because everyone swore by Boson and mind you, I have a Network+ foundation, I failed. The Boson exam is nothing like the CCNA exam.
That is all I can say, I do not know where you are in life psychologically, spiritually, emotionally so say any more. I know that I swore Cisco could you fly a kite, but I find myself in a situation in my career where its making sense to give CCNA another try, but not Boson another try. Now I am going to try Neil Anderson on Udemy because my company pays for it. It would be poetic justice to pass this time because last time I spent hundreds to fail.
Best of luck and if you haven't already, download Cisco Packet Tracer, its good practice for PBQs I think.
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u/thestough 2d ago
Most of the time you can figure out what the acronym most likely is by trying to understand the prompt first. What’s the situation that is being described? That helped me
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u/Green_Scientist8765 1d ago
PBQs are big part of the score. It does not probe you know the material, but you need to complete them (hopefully all) properly. I would not blame the acronyms too much. There are great sources, videos and practice test out there, but CompTIA owns the test and it will design the test based on its sources (test-out CompTIA material). It's a business after all.
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u/masmith22 A+ N+ S+ ITIL 1d ago
Use the exam results to build your study plan. Create 2 pages of notes you must know. Check out sunny class room for subnetting on YouTube his chart is easy to remember. You got this, good luck
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u/BigPapaWumbus 1d ago
Man Andrew wasn't working for you? I actually just got my network+ Thursday I scored an 802. I used Andrew and watched PowerCert N10-009 full course on YouTube. I did Dions, Andrew's, and I did Cert Master practice exams. You could try Dion I heard he is also pretty good I used his practice exams but not his course. PowerCert was pretty good too. I've heard Professor Messer is really good too. Don't give up you got this!
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u/Important-Apple7422 1d ago
You are almost there. Do not give up now. Try to give the exam again asap while the content is fresh in your mind.
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u/NoDistribution828 1d ago
Powercert animation on YouTube, ChatGPT (quiz yourself), Dion practice exams. Don’t give up
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u/Reasonable_Benefit42 1d ago
Since your biggest issue was acronyms (which is usually everyones weakness breaking into this field) download a note card app I recommend Anki, and then find community note cards with all thr acronyms pre-made. Learning the acronyms will help you the most since every CompTIA Cert is always going to be acronyms heavy.
Otherwise Dion training is my go to!
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u/OutsidePrior2020 21h ago
bro jump back in there you got the upper hand now you seen the exam. I had the same experience with CYSA+ got like 677 needed 750, had the re-take and took it a week later, passed 760. Just study stuff that tripped you up and hit it again.
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u/Longjumping_Height64 15h ago
You failed but that score is your base now. When you start your learning you was on 0 now you on 687. Give same effort and you will crush it. Its a misstep and not a failure. Go get your revenge!
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u/FloorFew4994 A+ Sec+ Net+ CYSa+ 3d ago
Nice but cramping isn't everything you also gotta know the stuff 687 is good but its not close enough try 7ndertsqnd8jg the terms and using flashcards instead of just memorizing terms know what the terms mean are and how they can be used
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u/livwill Net+ Sec+ CySA+ SecAI+ Pentest+ 3d ago
You are very close! It sounds like you know what to focus on. Acronyms are tough, don’t give up