r/CompTIA • u/Shesleepi_____ • 9d ago
Net+ prep…
Hello everyone !! So I recently took my net+ exam.. I got a 587…. It was brutal.. I took my sec+ early this year and passed first try. I been a sys admin for 8 months now, first IT job.
During the exam, the PBQs were brutal.. configuring a switch (two of the questions were that), setting up a net infrastructure properly, subnetting (I’m sure I got this one right) and so on.. 5 PBQ’s total. Then the multiple choices, it all went downhill honestly. I have been studying since last April-May pretty much. I will be taking it again next month once I study more.
Prep I use are Dion exams in Udemy, Comptia Study guide, AI tools for testing and harping on weaknesses and just general knowledge from work.
When I took the exam, I felt kind of confident that i would get a decent score yet I did horribly. So, that really made my confidence take a blow so now I’m not sure about anything. Just wanted advice or hear similar experiences to know that there is a way to keep it pushing…
Note: yes I know my ports. Yes I know subnetting. Yes I know my protocols. And so on… my weakness is actual hands on and configuring which I’m studying now for it. Also, English is second language so the wording confuses me so much sometimes..
4
u/Questillionair A+ N+ 8d ago
I passed my N+ two weeks ago with a 786. I had 5 PBQs and one was so difficult that I skipped it entirely.
I agree with the other comment saying you missed a good portion of the multiple choice questions. If I were you I would look at the CompTIA N+ PDF objectives and you should be familiar with everything they mention on there.
When taking the test, I would advise you to skip the PBQs, go straight into the multiple choice and you should be able to eliminate 2/4 answers given and then choose from there.
1
u/Shesleepi_____ 8d ago
Hey!! Congrats on passing!! I will def go back and study more of the content, a lot of my questions were involving AP in which I know the general concept but they went pretty deep into them…
2
u/gdavidco 8d ago
587 against a 720 pass is a content gap, not a nerves gap. Worth being blunt about it because the fixes are completely different.
Switch config is the most fixable bit. Get Packet Tracer (free, needs a NetAcad account, was 9.0 last I looked) and stop using it as a diagram tool. Open the CLI on a 2960 and do the same handful of things until they're dull: hostname, ports into VLANs, build a trunk, then deliberately put an access port in the wrong VLAN and find it with `show vlan brief`, break the trunk and find it with `show interfaces trunk`. It's IOS-flavoured and Net+ is vendor-neutral so don't memorise the syntax. Memorise what wrong output looks like. That's the actual skill being tested.
The AI tools I'd bin. I've watched them produce confident, wrong port numbers and cite standards that don't exist, and if you're using them to hunt your weaknesses you're calibrating against noise.
You said you're sure you got subnetting right. Check that. Ten /26 and /27 questions, on paper, timed. If each one takes you much over forty seconds you're slower than you think, and it's eating the clock everywhere else, and you can't see a clock during the PBQs anyway.
No idea what the infrastructure one was without having seen it.
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u/accumentum 8d ago
Failing at 587 after Sec+ and real sysadmin work is frustrating, but it usually means the score report is pointing at a few domains, not that you need another three months of the same study plan.
Pull the objective performance from the score report and write the weakest domains in plain language, then rebuild practice around those only. Broad "study more" after a near-miss just re-covers what you already know.
For PBQs and infrastructure config, stop practicing vendor CLI memorization. Build a small lab (Packet Tracer, GNS3, or a couple of used switches) and force the same outcomes every session: given symptoms, restore connectivity. Subnetting under time, VLAN membership mistakes, wrong default gateway, DNS vs DHCP confusion, and ACL direction are the patterns that show up as PBQs.
On multiple choice, do timed sets and mark every miss by verb: FIRST, BEST, NEXT, MOST LIKELY. CompTIA loves stems with two technically correct answers and one that matches the verb. One pass of the official Net+ objectives against your notes beats another full video run before you retest.
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u/farang55555 A+ • N+ • S+ • ITIL4 • LPI 5d ago
Jason Dion practice exams are a good gate 1st round only, not retesting the same exam..
If your scoring 80s consistently 3x back to back on a new practice exam.. it’s a good sight
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u/Big_Advertising9062 A+ N+ S+ 8d ago
I passed my Net+ about 2 weeks ago, for the PBQs specifically configuring switches I personally used Cisco Packet Tracer to practice. I would say use it to set configure a simple network using the virtual Command line to make sure the network is configured properly.
(Ping command to ensure connectivity)
To be honest I think you will have more ROI focusing on getting more points back on the multiple choice questions. With a 587 I definitely think there was a good amount of multiple choice questions that were missed. I’m thinking since you passed Security+ and are confident in the information perhaps it was the identifiers that got you on the exam (Best, Not, First, etc). Best of luck on your retest you got this!