Network+ study plan: four weeks, one printable review sheet

Four weeks, weighted by the exam

Plan on about an hour on weekdays. If a checkpoint fails, give that week a few more days: the weights tell you where extra time pays off most.

1. Week 1 · How networks fit together

   Networking Concepts · 23% of the exam · 114 Network+ practice questions on this domain

   • Learn the OSI layers in order and what works at each one (objective 1.1).
   • Memorise the port table on the sheet (1.4). Quiz yourself both ways: port to protocol and protocol to port.
   • Subnet by hand until a /26 or a /29 takes you under a minute: network, broadcast, usable hosts (1.7).
   • Read cloud connectivity and the newer topics (SDN, SD-WAN, zero trust, IPv6) once, then come back to them with questions (1.3, 1.8).

   Checkpoint: You can name the layer, the port and the subnet without looking anything up.

2. Week 2 · Building it

   Network Implementation · 20% of the exam · 107 Network+ practice questions on this domain

   • Routing: static versus dynamic, what a routing table chooses, and where NAT and first-hop redundancy fit.
   • Switching: VLANs and trunks, spanning tree, link aggregation and MTU.
   • Wireless: channels and bands, SSIDs, authentication modes and antenna types.
   • Physical installations: racks, cabling, power and environment.

   Checkpoint: Given a small office diagram, you can say which VLAN, route or wireless setting is wrong.

3. Week 3 · Running and defending it

   Network Operations · 19% of the exam · 106 Network+ practice questions on this domain + Network Security · 14% of the exam · 92 Network+ practice questions on this domain

   • Documentation and lifecycle, monitoring (SNMP, flow data, logs) and disaster recovery terms.
   • IPv4 and IPv6 services: DHCP, DNS, NTP, and how a client gets an address.
   • Remote access and management: VPN types, jump boxes, in-band versus out-of-band.
   • Security: the attacks in the objectives, and the features that stop them (port security, ACLs, segmentation, NAC).

   Checkpoint: For each attack you can name one control on a switch, router or firewall that blocks it.

4. Week 4 · Troubleshooting, then a timed run

   Network Troubleshooting · 24% of the exam · 127 Network+ practice questions on this domain

   • Learn the seven steps on the sheet in order (5.1). Scenario questions often ask which step comes next.
   • Cabling and interface problems, network service problems, performance problems.
   • Tools: ping, traceroute, nslookup/dig, ipconfig/ip, a cable tester, a Wi-Fi analyser, and what each one proves.
   • End the week with a timed run: 90 questions in 90 minutes, then review every miss by domain.

   Checkpoint: No domain is far below the others. Fix the weakest one before you book.