What Is Network+ Certification? The N10-009 Exam in Plain English

What is Network+ certification? It is CompTIA's vendor-neutral networking credential. It shows that you can explain how networks work, set up switching, routing and wireless, keep a network running, secure it at a basic level, and troubleshoot it when it breaks. "Vendor-neutral" means you are not tested on one manufacturer's gear. The concepts carry over to whatever equipment your employer runs.

The current exam is N10-009, also called Network+ V9. It launched on June 20, 2024, and it is the only Network+ exam you can book today. You get a maximum of 90 questions in 90 minutes, a mix of multiple-choice and performance-based items, and you need 720 on a scale of 100 to 900 to pass. The rest of this post covers who the certification suits, what the five domains are, what it costs, how renewal works, and where it sits in CompTIA's lineup.

Who is the Network+ certification for?

Network+ is aimed at people early in an IT career who work with networks, or want to. Typical candidates are help-desk and desktop-support technicians moving toward network work, junior network administrators, NOC staff, and career changers who want a recognized first networking credential.

CompTIA's recommended background is "CompTIA A+ certification, with 9 to 12 months of hands-on experience in a junior network administrator or network support technician role." Read that as advice, not a gate. There is no eligibility check and no experience audit. Anyone can buy a voucher and sit the exam. The recommendation tells you the level the questions are pitched at: someone who has plugged in cables, read a switch config and chased down a DHCP problem at least a few times.

If you have no hands-on time at all, you can still pass, but you will be learning in theory what other candidates already know from the job. Budget your study time with that in mind. Network+ requirements and renewal covers the experience question and the renewal rules in more detail.

The credential also has weight in U.S. government work. CompTIA lists Network+ against DoD 8140 work roles including technical support specialist, network operations specialist, and system administrator. The exam is accredited by ANAB to the ISO 17024 standard, which is part of why it shows up in job postings and government contracts.

What is the Network+ certification exam like?

Here are the N10-009 facts in one place, all from CompTIA's own exam page and objectives document:

A few of these need a sentence of context.

Performance-based questions ask you to do something rather than pick a letter: place devices, read output, fix a configuration, put steps in order. CompTIA does not say how many you will get, and it does not say which objectives they come from, so be wary of anyone quoting a fixed count.

The score is scaled. 720 is not 72% of questions correct, and CompTIA does not publish a pass rate. If you want a realistic picture of the difficulty, how hard the Network+ exam is goes through the scoring and the parts candidates find hardest.

On delivery: you schedule through CompTIA and Pearson VUE, then choose a test center or an online proctored session from home. CompTIA's online testing FAQ says OnVUE proctors communicate only in English, which matters if you plan to sit in another language from home.

On timing: CompTIA's page says retirement is "usually three years after launch (estimated 2027)." No successor exam has been announced and no retirement date has been set. If you are studying now, N10-009 is the exam you are studying for.

What are the five Network+ domains?

The N10-009 objectives split the exam into five domains and 25 objectives. These are the official names and weights from the objectives document:

In plain terms:

Networking Concepts is the foundation: the OSI model, appliances and their functions, cloud connectivity, ports and protocols, cabling and transceivers, topologies, IPv4 addressing and subnetting, and newer use cases for modern networks.

Network Implementation is building it: routing, switching (VLANs and related features), wireless, and the physical side of an installation.

Network Operations is running it: documentation and processes, monitoring, disaster recovery, IPv4 and IPv6 services such as DHCP and DNS, and how you get access to and manage network devices.

Network Security covers basic security concepts, common attacks and their effect on a network, and the defenses you apply.

Network Troubleshooting is the largest domain. It covers CompTIA's troubleshooting methodology, then cabling, service, and performance faults, and the tools and commands you use to find them.

Ten of the 25 objectives begin with "Given a scenario," which tells you the exam wants you to apply that material, not just recognize it. For a tour of every domain and what each one actually asks of you, read the Network+ domains explained.

The habit that makes the objectives useful

One habit pays off from the first day: file everything by objective number. Every note, every flashcard, every missed practice question gets a tag such as 1.7 or 5.3. After fifty or so questions, your misses stop looking random. They cluster on three or four objectives, and those objectives are where your next week of study goes.

This matters more on Network+ than on most exams because the domains overlap. A wrong answer in a troubleshooting scenario is often a Domain 2 or Domain 3 gap in disguise, and the tag is what tells you which. A Network+ study plan maps hours to the domain weights week by week, and a practice question walkthrough shows how scenario items are built and why the wrong answers are wrong.

What does Network+ cost to earn and to keep?

The Network+ voucher costs US$399 in CompTIA's U.S. store. CompTIA prices vary by country, so check your local store if you are outside the U.S.

CompTIA also sells the voucher with a retake option and in bundles with its own training products. There are no free retakes otherwise: if you fail, you pay the exam price again. You can retake a second time without waiting, but you must wait at least 14 calendar days before a third attempt and any after that. What the Network+ exam costs lays out the bundle prices, the retake rules, and what to expect on exam day.

Network+ is valid for three years from the day you certify. To keep it, you either earn 30 continuing education units (CEUs) within that three-year cycle and pay a $150 CE fee, which covers the whole three years and is not an annual charge, or you renew another way.

The other routes carry no CE fee. You can pass the latest version of Network+, complete CompTIA's CertMaster CE course for Network+, or earn a higher-level CompTIA certification that fully renews it. Security+, CySA+, PenTest+, SecurityX, and Cloud+ V3 all count.

If you let it lapse, the credential expires and you have to pass the then-current exam to get it back. CompTIA allows a 30-day grace period for fees or CEUs earned inside the cycle. The full detail is in Network+ requirements and renewal.

Do you need A+ first, and does Security+ come next?

CompTIA's three core certifications run in a natural order: A+ for hardware, operating systems and support work, Network+ for how devices talk to each other, and Security+ for how those systems are attacked and defended. None of the three requires the one before it. The order is a recommendation, and plenty of people stop at Network+ because their work is network operations rather than security.

If you do climb, the steps connect in a useful way: a later Security+ pass fully renews Network+. Whether the climb, the time and the $399 make sense for you is its own question, and is Network+ worth it works through it case by case.

How do you start preparing for Network+?

Start with the objectives document. It is the official list of what can appear, and every topic on the exam traces back to one of its 25 numbered objectives. Read it once so you know the shape of the exam before you open any study material.

Then work domain by domain, weighted toward Troubleshooting and Concepts, which together carry 47% of the exam. Start practice questions in your first week rather than your last, because they teach you how CompTIA phrases a scenario, and that phrasing is a skill in its own right.

If you want one book that follows the objectives in order, the CompTIA Network+ N10-009 Study Guide 2026 gives each of the 25 objectives its own numbered chapter, so chapter 5.1 is objective 5.1, and works step-by-step drills for the ten scenario objectives.

FAQ

Is Network+ vendor-neutral?

Yes. The exam tests networking concepts, configuration and troubleshooting without tying them to one manufacturer's equipment or command set. That is why the knowledge carries over to whatever gear your employer runs.

How many questions are on the Network+ exam?

N10-009 has a maximum of 90 questions, a mix of multiple-choice and performance-based items, and a 90-minute time limit. CompTIA does not publish how many of those are performance-based.

What score do you need to pass Network+?

You need 720 on a scale of 100 to 900. The score is scaled, so 720 does not equal a fixed percentage of questions answered correctly. CompTIA does not publish a pass rate.

Does Network+ expire?

Yes. It is valid for three years. You renew by earning 30 CEUs and paying a $150 CE fee for the three-year cycle, by passing the latest Network+ exam, by completing CertMaster CE, or by earning a higher-level CompTIA certification such as Security+.

When will N10-009 retire?

CompTIA says retirement is "usually three years after launch (estimated 2027)." No exact retirement date and no successor exam have been announced, so N10-009 is the exam to study for now.

Looking for a plain-English Network+ guide? CompTIA Network+ N10-009 Study Guide 2026 covers all five domains in 25 objective-numbered chapters, with worked drills for the scenario objectives and 164 original practice questions in five domain banks, every answer explained.

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