CompTIA Network+ practice test: 4 free N10-009 questions with explanations

CompTIA Network+ at a glance, with the source for every line

Every row below is quoted from a document published by CompTIA and carries the date we checked it. Where CompTIA publishes nothing, the row says so instead of quoting a number from somewhere else.

Exam code

N10-009 (V9), launched 20 June 2024.Source: CompTIA, Network+ certification page, verified 7 August 2026

Questions

Maximum of 90, a mix of multiple choice and performance-based questions.Source: CompTIA, Network+ certification page, verified 7 August 2026

Time limit

90 minutes.Source: CompTIA, Network+ certification page, verified 7 August 2026

Passing score

720 on a scale of 100–900.Source: CompTIA, Network+ certification page, verified 7 August 2026

Recommended experience

CompTIA A+, plus 9 to 12 months in a junior network administrator or network support technician role.Source: CompTIA, Network+ certification page, verified 7 August 2026

How long it lasts

Three years from your certification date, renewable with continuing education units.Source: CompTIA, Certification Renewal Policy, verified 7 August 2026

Security+ passing score, for comparison

CompTIA publishes 750 on a scale of 100–900 for Security+ (SY0-701), against 720 for Network+.Source: CompTIA, Security+ certification page, verified 7 August 2026

Pass rate

Not published by CompTIA. CompTIA does not publish a Network+ pass rate.Checked against: CompTIA, Network+ certification page, verified 7 August 2026

Raw number of correct answers needed

Not published by CompTIA. CompTIA does not publish the raw number of correct answers this exam requires. It publishes the scaled passing score only, and gives no conversion between that scaled score and a number of questions.Checked against: CompTIA, Network+ certification page, verified 7 August 2026

Exam price

Not published by CompTIA. CompTIA states no exam price on the Network+ certification page. Vouchers are sold separately through the CompTIA Store rather than priced on the certification page, so there is no single published figure to quote.Checked against: CompTIA, Network+ certification page, verified 7 August 2026

Always verify: CompTIA retires Network+ versions roughly three years after launch and sets voucher pricing per region. Confirm the live exam code and price at comptia.org before you book.

What CompTIA publishes as the official CompTIA Network+ blueprint

These weights are CompTIA's, quoted from the source below. They are the only weights on this page that describe the real exam.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Source: CompTIA, Network+ certification page, verified 7 August 2026.

What our CompTIA Network+ question bank covers

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

What actually trips people up on Network+

CompTIA’s OSI model is the one being examined

CompTIA places encryption and data formatting, including TLS, at Layer 6 Presentation. In a real stack TLS sits between transport and application and most engineers will tell you Layer 7. On this exam, answer Layer 6. Learn the model as CompTIA defines it and keep your production instincts in a separate drawer.

Cable faults have precise names and they are examinable

A split pair passes a continuity test and still fails certification, because two wires landed on the right pins from the wrong twisted pairs and lost their noise cancellation. Open, short, reversed pair, split pair and crosstalk are four different faults with four different symptoms. Learn them as a set.

Troubleshooting outweighs security, and it is scenario-shaped

At 24% it is the biggest domain, and it does not ask for definitions. It gives you symptoms and asks which command-line tool you reach for. Know what netstat, arp, nslookup, dig, ipconfig, tracert and pathping each actually return.

Unicast, multicast, broadcast and anycast are constantly confused

Anycast is the one people miss: one address shared by many geographically separate servers, with routing picking the nearest. It is how DNS root servers and CDNs work, and it is not multicast.

Ports and protocols are still rote memorization

There is no clever way around it. The exam will ask you for port numbers and whether they run over TCP, UDP or both. Drill the list until it is automatic, because these are free marks you either have or do not.

A 4-week study plan

Four weeks. Our Network+ bank holds 651 questions mapped to the five official domains, weighted the way CompTIA weights them.

Week 1: concepts and the OSI model

Networking concepts is 23%. Nail the OSI layers as CompTIA defines them, addressing types, ports and protocols. Drill ports daily in short bursts rather than one long session.

Week 2: implementation and operations

39% between them. Cabling standards, wireless, VLANs, routing basics, then documentation, monitoring and disaster recovery concepts.

Week 3: security, then troubleshooting

Network security is only 14%, so give it a focused pass and move on. Then start troubleshooting, the 24% domain, and give it the time the weighting says it deserves.

Week 4: simulate and close gaps

Run 90-question, 90-minute simulations. Use the per-domain breakdown to pick your two weakest domains and Topic Drill only those. Book the exam when your readiness score is green.

Is Network+ hard?

Network+ is the most mechanical exam in this family. Ports, cable standards, subnets and the OSI model reward rote work in a way Security+ does not, which makes it predictable: if you have done the memorization, the questions are fair. The bar is 720 out of 900, lower than the 750 CompTIA publishes for Security+. CompTIA publishes no pass rate.

The genuine difficulty is that CompTIA examines its own model of networking, and it does not always match production. Encryption including TLS sits at Layer 6 in CompTIA’s framing; most working engineers would say Layer 7. Candidates with real-world experience lose marks by answering from the field rather than from the objectives.

In our own bank of 651 questions, network troubleshooting carries the most at 156 and networking concepts 150, the same order CompTIA weights them in at 24% and 23%. We would rather the drilling match the paper than spread evenly across the five domains.

The one number nobody can give you in advance is the price. CompTIA states no exam price on the Network+ certification page and sells vouchers through its store instead, so the figure you plan against is whatever your region quotes at booking. Budget for one attempt and drill until a second one is unlikely.

How the CompTIA Network+ differs from the exams beside it

Network+ sits between A+ and Security+ and it is the vendor-neutral one. Where CCNA wants you to type Cisco IOS commands, Network+ wants you to know what a split pair is and which layer of the OSI model CompTIA has decided TLS lives on. That last part matters: this exam tests CompTIA’s model of networking, which occasionally differs from how the technology behaves in production. Troubleshooting is the single heaviest domain at 24%, more than security.

Questions people actually ask about the CompTIA Network+

What is a passing score on CompTIA Network+?

720 on a scale of 100 to 900. Because the scale starts at 100, 720 is not 72% of the questions. CompTIA does not publish how many raw marks that works out to.

How many questions is CompTIA Network+?

A maximum of 90, mixing multiple choice with performance-based simulations, in 90 minutes. "Maximum" is CompTIA’s own wording, so you may see fewer.

Do you need A+ before Network+?

No. CompTIA recommends A+ plus 9 to 12 months of hands-on networking experience, but nothing stops you booking Network+ first. Plenty of people skip A+ and go straight here.

Is Network+ harder than Security+?

They are pitched at a similar level and share a 90-question, 90-minute format, but CompTIA publishes 750 for Security+ against Network+’s 720. Network+ is more mechanical: ports, cables, subnets. Security+ is more conceptual.

What is the current Network+ exam code?

N10-009, the V9 release, which launched on 20 June 2024. Check CompTIA’s Network+ page before booking, since it retires versions roughly three years after launch.

How long does Network+ last?

Three years from your certification date. Continuing education units renew it, and passing Security+ or another higher CompTIA certification renews it automatically.

How long should you study for Network+?

Four weeks is enough for most people with some hands-on networking behind them: one week on concepts and the OSI model, one on implementation and operations, one on security and troubleshooting, one on timed simulations. Double that if subnetting and port numbers are new to you.

Are these real Network+ exam questions?

No. These are original items written from CompTIA’s published N10-009 objectives, not recalled from a live sitting. Doing that breaches the candidate agreement and can cost you the certification. All 651 are ours, and each explains why the wrong port, cable type or subnet boundary is wrong.