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How hard is the CompTIA Network+? What to expect from N10-009

By the founder of CertOwl • July 2026 • 3 min read

People usually ask this question in one of two situations: right after passing the CompTIA A+, or while deciding whether to skip the A+ entirely. Either way, the answer is the same. The Network+ is a clear step up from the A+ in depth, and for most candidates it lands just below the CompTIA Security+ in overall difficulty. It is very passable with proper preparation, and it punishes shallow preparation without mercy.

The exam at a glance

The current version is N10-009, released in June 2024. You get up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, a mix of multiple choice and performance-based questions (PBQs), and you need a score of 720 on a scale of 100 to 900 to pass. The voucher costs $399. CompTIA recommends A+ level knowledge plus 9 to 12 months of hands-on networking experience before attempting it, but neither is enforced, and plenty of people pass without the job experience. If you're still weighing the order, we covered whether you need the A+ first separately.

One number from the objectives deserves your attention before anything else: network troubleshooting is the heaviest domain at 24 percent of the exam. Networking concepts follow at 23 percent, then implementation at 20, operations at 19 and security at 14. Nearly a quarter of your score comes from diagnosing broken networks, not from defining terms.

What makes it harder than the A+

The A+ is wide and shallow. The Network+ flips that: fewer topics, but each one goes deeper, and the questions expect you to use the knowledge rather than recognize it.

Subnetting is the wall. For most people this is the first exam topic in their IT journey that feels like math. You cannot memorize your way through it. You either practice until you can split a network quickly, or you burn five minutes per subnetting question and wreck your pacing. Candidates who fail N10-009 often report running out of time, and subnetting is usually where the time went.

Troubleshooting scenarios have believable wrong answers. A typical question describes symptoms, and every option is something a real technician might try. You're being tested on the order of operations and the most likely cause, which only feels obvious if you understood the material instead of flashcarding it.

PBQs demand hands-on comfort. Expect simulations like configuring a switch port, matching cable types, or reading a network diagram to find the fault. They sit at the front of the exam and can eat several minutes each. Skipping them and returning later is a legitimate strategy, and you should decide on it before exam day, not during.

Network+ vs A+ and Security+

CompTIA publishes no official pass rates for any exam, so treat every precise percentage you see online as an estimate. Community polls and training providers consistently place the Network+ around the same first-attempt success zone as the other entry certs, roughly 70 to 80 percent for prepared candidates, with the same caveat we explained for the A+ difficulty question: the people who fail are mostly the people who underprepared.

In the usual ranking, the A+ is the gentlest of the three, the Network+ sits in the middle, and the Security+ edges it out because its material is more abstract. Many people who hold all three say the Network+ felt like the most satisfying one to study for, because the concepts connect into one coherent picture instead of a pile of facts.

How long you should plan to study

With an A+ or about a year of IT work behind you, 40 to 60 hours of focused study is a realistic budget. At an hour a day, that's six to eight weeks. Starting from zero, plan for two to four months, because you'll be building the mental model of how networks work, not just reviewing it.

Whatever your timeline, the preparation that works is the same: study from the official objectives, do hundreds of practice questions with explanations, and run at least two full timed simulations before the real thing so pacing is a solved problem. If the first attempt goes wrong anyway, the retake policy is friendlier than people assume: no waiting period before your second try.

The Network+ deserves respect, not fear. Give subnetting real practice time, drill troubleshooting logic, and the exam becomes a checkpoint instead of a wall.