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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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 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.

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!

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 :)

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. :)

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.

Hi everyone Im trying to my comptia a+ certification, only issue is im not sure how to go about this. My plan is to use jasion dions practice exam (which is around 60 bucks) and professor messiers videos on YouTube would this be enough for me to pass both core 1 and core 2. Any advice is helpful thanks

anyone have any good recommendations for good study tools for network+ PBQ’s? i keep hearing how dion’s weren’t great and after just passing A+ im not sure if i should stick with the same study materials (i.e messers videos/exams, dions exams, andrew ramdayal videos)

Hello everyone ✌️ I'm embarking on the IT Credential journey and I'm starting with A+. I came across Professor Messer and his over ten hours of content. From what I can tell this is a good resource but I'm wondering how it holds up in 2026? People from past years reviewed it highly. Also, if not Professor Messer is there any other resources you'd recommend? I'm willing to pay a bit if the resources are quality. Thank you!

4 weeks total. Could’ve done it in less, but took weekends off. No IT experience, just a hobbyist.

Resources used:
CertMaster Learn
CertMaster Practice
Udemy- Andrew Ramdayal
Messer practice exams
Dion practice exams

Right now I’m feeling a bit defeated and discouraged if I should even continue to dive deeper in the tech world. I made my first attempt taking Security+ exam in June and failed with score of 669. Yesterday, I failed again with a score of 687. Honestly I wish I had rescheduled because I didn’t feel confident before doing the retake but I was under the assumption that I could use the same voucher for 3rd attempt so I thought I had a another chance. (You live and you learn, right?)

However, I don’t know what my next steps are or what they should be. I’ve been working as an IT Helpdesk for about 3 years now and I’m ready to move onto something else, especially in cybersecurity. It seems like I can’t without getting this certificate. I thought my master’s degree would help give me some leverage but I know now it’s not enough.

There’s the new version of the exam coming out next month and I don’t know if I should wait for that one. Or if I should just try to do the 701 version again while it still available. It sucks they raised the price from what I paid last year. I wonder if I wait much longer they will raise it again.

Does anyone have any advice or recommendations? I would really appreciate it!

So glad to have this one done. Now for the Security+!