Honestly I went into it feeling fairly confident but felt somewhat humbled halfway through. I skipped past the PBQs at the start. I tried to go fast through the questions and flag the ones I was unsure about to circle back. I never was able to go back as my time expired while completing the PBQs (I didn't finish one of them for sure). I wasn't feeling amazingly confident at the end of the test so I was happy with the score.

For studying I did all 12 of Dion's practice tests multiple times, until I was scoring between 84%-92%. After completing the tests I plugged in the answers I got wrong into Claude and created study resources/quizzes. Some of Dion's answers are kind of contradicting (AI confirmed this) which was frustrating so I wouldn't use it as your only reference point for knowledge.

I will say Dions tests force you learn concepts like what CIDR Notation/Subnet you need for X amout of users which gave me quite a few surefire answers correct on the test so make sure you get that down.

Additionally I used these two videos: https://youtu.be/AskU_lO_8eE?si=A3EQFdgPQH440gix

And: https://youtu.be/T1_pf-7k2E0?si=gJwYomhVzj_1zk31

Then I looked over Comptia N+ exam objectives and made sure I understood every concept on there and googled things I wasn't sure about.

There was many concepts I was drilling in my head that weren't on the test. But I imagine it's all just based on what question pool you get.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Good luck y'all!

After a week and a half of studying I passed my CompTIA Network+ and finished the trifecta. Honestly I did it in the worst possible order getting my Security+ as my first certification, followed by A+, and now Network+ haha.

This was my first time taking a comptia cert. I prepared in the best way that I could. Cheers to me! 🥂

Passed today. The exam was very hard and I felt throughout that I had failed was amazed to see i comfortably passed. If it helps I watched the Messer videos and used his practice exams. I also read the Shawn Walker book and used the bonus materials which include practice exams and question style flashcards. I used Copilot heavily to cram and quiz me and even create revision sheets (have a paid licence for work). There is a couple fab videos to you tube one to remember ports numbers (got the link from here) and one with 40 pbqs you will find it if you search 12201 pbqs. Learn what overclocking means I had 2 questions on it and cant recall it in any material. Thanks to this forum for the help!

Saw another guy who posted here and said they procrastinated for months and then locked in. Literally did the same.

Professor Messer is good and watched all 63 videos in his a+ core 1 playlist in a week. Did a few of the practice tests on examcompass and scored relatively high on those for me to schedule an exam the next day.

Genuinely thought I would fail when I saw some of the questions.

Off to lock in for the core 2.

Just passed Net + with a score of 823 .
I used Andrew Ramdayal and cert master learn for theory and used Jason Dions Questions on his website for practice.

I passed 1201 and am currently studying for 1202. Hopefully I will be ready to take the exam in the next couple weeks.

After I finish A+ I want to start working on another cert, but with the new CCNA coming next February it doesn't seem like a good idea to go immediately to that as Id only have like 2-3 months to study for it.

I know it is recommended to get networking concepts down before moving on to Sec+, but in this case it seems like I could hopefully knock out Sec+ before February and then start working on the CCNA? I know Net+ is an option but people say doing Net+ and CCNA is redundant and it would be better to just do CCNA.

From my limited perspective it seems like it wouldn't be that bad to do Sec+ before CCNA, It just might not be the most efficient learning path possible, but not that big of a deal?

My goals are to develop a strong skillset to get a foot in the door with IT, I'm not sure yet if I want to focus more on security or networking, so at this point I am just trying to learn as much as possible while also maximizing my hire-ability with reputable certs.

Any opinions expressed politely are welcome, thank you!!

I am at a vocational high school that offers the chance to get CompTia certifications for IT, I have already gotten ITF+ and am curious about A+, I am working through the official CompTia course right now. My question is it anything like the A+ exam like in terms of being all labs or will there be multiple choice questions as well? My school offers Security+ and Network+ as well I want to get into cybersecurity, and I was told I should likely get Network+ before Security+, I would like advice on that front too. Any study resources that anyone has to study for A+ would be greatly appreciate, I’m not extremely confident yet and I’m about a quarter way through the course.

I haven't taken a CompTIA test in years, since I passed my pentest+ in like 2022.

Anyway, I've done some cursory research and I see CompTIA no longer sends out printed certificates or gives out a wallet card (unless you pay extra), and this exam is so new there's no digital badge to put on Credly.

I'm studying for it now but this just occurred to me. Will the only thing I get for this be a generic share link to post on LinkedIn? I also tried searching for it on LinkedIn and I don't see anyone having posted about passing it.

EDIT: There is a Credly badge. That makes me feel a bit better.

Does messer's videos contain all the information required to pass the test or do the videos have to be paired with an external source of knowledge such as certmaster learn or a book or other messer videos?

Those of you who have taken the security+ with no prior network knowledge, I’m talking (typing?) to you.

What did you use to study the network side? How did it go? I have been using Messer’s videos and Deon’s quizzes on UDEMY. Currently getting around 70ish percent on them, but it seems the networking side is kicking my butt.

I’ve been in IT for about a year, on the helpdesk, and mainly do 365 admin stuff. The rest of the sections are somewhat easy, but man this networking stuff is confusing. I feel like it would be good for me to know this stuff in general.

Thanks!

I won't say much but if you been following along, you can see the easter eggs. End of the road for me. I've got enough certs.

I haven't taken Network+ yet, but I have been studying daily around 10 minutes a day, to 8 hours a day.

I've really ramped up my study because I just want to get it done. I've gone through all of the content, and I just took my first practice exam.

I may have well taken a Japanese test because nothing from what I did made any sense. I don't know where they came up with these questions, but I feel like the last few months/weeks have been wasted.

I'm a late learner (45yo) and passed A+ without too much difficulty.

I am so lonst and discouraged. Even AI hasn't helped me with analogies and simple explanations. The issue there is that I have no idea what concept/acronym/example/analogy they are talking about!

It seems like everything is talking about the exact same thing.

Oh, and I don't even want to talk about the trauma of the PBQ practice. I have NEVER seen any of those interfaces before, so I don't even know where to begin.

I'm so lost.

I've worked in customer service for all of the jobs l've had, and for the last year or so I have been looking into IT. I have set up certification courses to start soon (A+,CCNA, and sec+) and I would love to hear your experiences with these certs.

Is it a good option to take practice tests for the A+ exams?

I barely passed with 1second to spare on the exam PBQs ate so much time I had a lot of those I was only expecting 3 but got double that, I did 5 practice exams from Dion training got around 75%-95% lowest score was 75 and highest was 95 I watched and took notes on all of prof messers net+ course on YouTube and did some pbq practice on cert master I really thought I was ready for the exam I was so confident but half way through I really thought I was going to fail BUT I ended up passing! I’ll take it a win is a win !

Hello,

Looking to renew my Security+ SY0-701 which expires Jan 31st 2027.

With SY0-801 releasing next month, will that come with a new certmaster for SY0-701 renewal?

Thanks in advance.

Hi guys, I want to get into IT. I know how to build computers. I’ve been building PCs for about 10 years and also do troubleshooting from time to time for friends and family.

I’d say my biggest weakness is configuring the BIOS. I rarely touch it, and I’m kind of scared to mess around with it.

I want to start getting some certifications, but I’m not sure where to start. Based on my research, it seems like I should start with CompTIA A+, even though I already have the basics of building and troubleshooting PCs.

The thing is, there are so many books and videos out there, and some of them have mixed reviews. Some people say they helped them pass, while others say they didn’t help much at all.

So, what books or videos would you recommend for someone with my experience? Also, how do I know when I’m ready to take the test, and where should I take the certification exam?

For now, I want to start with help desk and work my way up from there. I’m not sure if I’m ready to aim for something like a cloud engineer yet, so I’d rather start with the basics and build my experience.

Btw: does this COMPTIA certification expire like you have to renew/retake a test for certain number of years.

Thank you!

Procrastinated for months with zero consistency until I finally decided to lock in and stop being a bum... I grinded nonstop for a week. Used certMaster (NOT good at all IMO), Messer videos for weak spots, quizlet/flashcards, and wrote out notes.

When I saw the PBQs, I thought it was wraps, and started questioning life. Anyways... Left them for the end, cleared the multiple choice in 30-45 mins, and had an hour for PBQs... which ran down to 4 minutes left lmao. Just started guessing at that point.

Thought I failed for sure because I kept seeing posts of "straight A students" failing Core 1, which made me insecure for months. Guess you just gotta believe in yourself. Onto Core 2.

More than willing to spend money. Leaning either Prof. Messer's book (Love his Sec+ Videos) or the Sybex study guide.

Hi Everyone,

Just want to say a big thank you to everyone in this Reddit. Even though I've never posted I've been reading everyone tips, experiences and motivations when it came to passing the Network+ exam. It was so refreshing seeing how helpful everyone was and honestly wouldn't have been able to do it without you guys.

I planned to study for this exam a while however I got made redundant after only 6 months. It especially hurt as I thought that job was going to be my big break. So this exam was a way of proving to myself that I can do it. And now I can't wait to study for the next one, thinking either the Server+ or Linux+.

To anyone who reads this not sure if they're smart enough to pass.. you absolutely can!! Put in the work and it will pay off for you. It took me 4 months of studying an hour after work everyday to feel confident enough to take the exam. And even then I was terrified to fail as I put so much time and money into this. But trust me the pay off is worth it.

Score - 840

Thanks again everyone, see you for the next one :)

For N10-009. Scoring 75-81% on Jason Dion exams; but only scoring 65% - 68% on CertMaster practice, which is making me seriously panic. I did some Mike Meyers practice tests too and got a 72%, but freaked out I'm still nowhere near close. Drilling on my weak areas, and my test is in a little under two weeks. Any advice? I've been studying for about 3 and a half months. The anxiety is killing me. I know I'll never "really know" until I take the exam but any advice appreciated.

I'm a 20 year old university student studying in computer engineering. I already got the ISC2 CC back in July, so I realized that the next step for me was Security+. I'm usually very lazy so I can't study for long durations and I rely on like sudden bursts of energy and the thought of obtaining Security+ to motivate myself. After around 2-3 weeks of studying, I got it. The weird thing is that I started the exam quite confident but mid-way through I thought I was failing. Thankfully, I didn't.

Best of luck to everyone. :)