CompTIA Network+ Certification Training

Media is the signal-carrying medium through cables and wireless. It determines network speed and reach, with the length and speed of media driving design decisions.

Learn how bridges separate networks into segments using mac addresses to forward data to all ports; switches forward only to the destination port, reducing collisions.

Explore the OSI model’s seven-layer stack and how data moves from top to bottom using last-in, first-out flow, with Layer 2 using MAC addresses and bridges or switches.

Explore how the TCP/IP model maps to the OSI model, with the application, transport, internet, and network access layers, and preview ports and protocols.

Explore how port 80 handles unsecured http traffic and port 443 uses ssl/tls to create encrypted, sometimes tunnelled connections, ensuring private web data.

Explore area networks by examining a local area network, small office home office setups, and personal area networks, including wireless lan and wireless pan configurations in a fictional company diagram.

Understand how intranets and extranets govern network access through credentials, not cabling, by giving internal employees and external partners distinct usernames and permissions.

The bus topology uses a single cable with vampire taps to connect each node. End terminations absorb electricity to prevent reflections, explaining why signals collide on this shared medium.

Designing a wired network centers on hardware like switches and routers, with firewalls, modems, hubs, and cables; memorize standards such as cat five, cat seven, and 1000BASE-T.

Learn how crossover cables in twisted pair setups connect similar devices by swapping transmit and receive wires, using t568a on one end and t568b on the other, versus straight-through cables.

Explore how phones became the first modern network, evolving from traditional lines to VoIP, private branch exchange, and endpoints, and why quality of service matters for business communications.

Master how binary represents information as on and off signals, and see how ones and zeros turn into numbers like 192.168.1.254, while preparing for the upcoming IP addressing topic.

Explore how computers use binary for data with on and off states, where one equals true and zero equals false, and how bits form bytes.

Learn how to apply repeating bit-column patterns to place ones and zeros in binary, using the eight-bit 128-64-32-16-8-4-2-1 sequence to reach 255, aiding exam prep.

Learn how hexadecimal encodes data more compactly than binary or decimal by using two-character hex digits from 0 to f, enabling memory savings and faster systems.

Learn subsetting, or IP addressing, by creating network addresses like city zones and using subnet masks to determine the network address. Explore classful and classless addressing, practice and revisit often.

Mac addresses are six bytes of hexadecimal, separated by colons or dashes, never dots. The first half is organizationally unique identifier and second half identifies the host at layer 2.

Explore public vs private networks, learn usable IP addresses in IPv4 and the move toward IPv6, and memorize common private ranges: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0–172.31.255.255, and 192.168.0.0/16.

Explore IP addressing, the TCP/IP model, and how public and private addresses enable device connectivity, with gateways performing NAT to link private networks to the internet.

Learn the shift from classful to classless subnetting, including CIDR and VLSM, and how to use subnet masks—such as 255.255.255.0—to define the network portion like 172.16.36.0.

Explore classful and classless subnetting concepts by examining 32-bit IP addresses, subnet masks, and how 255 and 0 indicate network versus host portions across class A, B, and C.

Explore subnetting as a network architect, converting a class b network into multiple class c subnets (172.20.0.0/24) to create a network of networks across Frogmore Soup locations.

Master practical subnetting by dividing a class B 172.16.1.0/24 into five subnets of varying sizes, using a chart to assign 25–28 bit masks and accounting for network and broadcast addresses.

Learn how DHCP automatically assigns ip addresses from a scope, using discovery, offer, request, and acceptance, as clients broadcast to 255.255.255.255 and servers respond, with manual and apipa options.

Discover how DNS acts as a phone book for networks by mapping names to IP addresses, using fully qualified domain names, top-level domains, and subdomains, with www host resources.

Explore how dns records like a, ptr, and cname, plus forward and reverse zones and mx, enable name resolution and authentication with kerberos servers.

Explore how DHCP assigns IPs to DNS, how DNS resolution uses recursive and iterative queries, root servers and TTL to locate an A record and a PTR for FQDNs.

Explore how to build a wired network and what happens when a node connects to it. Learn about the hardware and the concepts of dhcp and dns with real-world examples.

Configure IPv4 network by placing three routers in bridge mode and offloading DHCP and DNS to a server, with the gateway linking the modem to resources through an access server.

Explore security basics through the CIA triad, triple A concepts, and risk analysis to identify vulnerabilities, threats, and controls, then learn attack classifications and network hardening.

Practice risk analysis to identify vulnerabilities and threats to data and server room systems, and decide on controls such as backups and firewalls to prevent or mitigate harm.

Disable unused services, ports, and hardware to reduce attack surface; close TCP 23 and 53, block 80 and 443 on servers, and disable unused accounts, USB ports, and NICs.

Maintain three copies of your data across two or more sites, with at least one off-site or cloud backup. The archive attribute marks files and folders for backup.

Demonstrate 802.1x port-based authentication using the supplicant, authenticator, and authentication server to grant secure network access, then illustrate single sign-on tokens and access control lists for resource access.

Learn how radius and tac x enable centralized authentication in 802.1x networks, detailing the roles of supplicant, authenticator, and authentication server, with notes on udp versus tcp and enterprise requirements.

Learn how Kerberos enables single sign-on by using ticket granting tickets and a key distribution center to access services like email, file servers, and web servers.

Master Wi‑Fi hardening by securing access to wireless networks and encrypting data between devices and access points. Apply the latest encryption standards, WPA, WPA2, and WPA3, to minimize interception risk.

Master troubleshooting hardware by building and repairing cables, testing cable integrity with signal timing, and applying tools like lookback and Wi‑Fi analyzers for site surveys.

Explore essential command line tools for network troubleshooting, including IP config, ping, traceroute, ARP, and Root, and learn why CLI skills persist beyond GUI changes for the CompTIA Network+ exam.

Diagnose DNS issues by inspecting the local DNS resolver cache with ipconfig /displaydns, flushing it with ipconfig /flushdns, and using nslookup to perform full DNS queries for hosts like Apple.com.

Explore traceroute usage across Windows and Unix-like systems to map hop-by-hop routes to destinations such as amazon.com, observe latency in ms, and inspect DNS resolution with nslookup and DNS cache.

Address wired issues by mastering duplex modes, load balancing with round-robin routing, VLANs, and network analyzers to verify switch configurations and troubleshoot with blinking lights.

Identify wireless issues from reflection, refraction, and absorption that reduce range and create dead spots, and perform a simple site survey with a mobile device to reposition access points.

Understand wireless interference and channel overlap on 2.4 and 5 GHz, with channels 1/6/11 and 3/8, and address common connection issues and WPA/WPA2/WPA3 security, including enterprise radius server requirement.

Evaluate signal to noise ratio by comparing the signal to ambient noise from sources, perform a site survey, and address overcapacity with more access points and multiuser MIMO.

Isdn is a standard that uses two 64 kbps bearer channels plus a d signaling channel, multiplexed into primary rate interfaces by t and e carrier systems.

Explore the evolution of cellular wide area networks from 1G analog to 5G, detailing GSM and CDMA, 3G convergence, IP packet switching, VoIP, and WiMAX.

Explore routing protocols including RIP, EIGRP, OSPF, and BGP, detailing hop counts, updates, convergence, and AS-based routing to prepare for the exam.

Explore social engineering as a primary attack method and examine denial of service, dns poisoning, eavesdropping, and botnets, plus malware such as viruses and ransomware.

The lecture explains ransomware, a rootkit that encrypts drives, data encryption and decryption keys, ransom payments in Bitcoin and Tor, and evolving payloads like spam, phishing, and adware.

Assess risk analysis and compare cold, warm, and hot recovery sites to ensure a ready backup plan for worst-case downtime.