You will learn the following with CompTIA N+ certification at Network Kings-

Module 1: Networking Concepts

• Protocols

Explain the purposes and uses of ports and protocols.

1. Protocols and ports
2. Protocol types
3. Connection-oriented vs. Connectionless

• OSI Model

Explain devices, applications, protocols and services at their appropriate OSI layers.

1. Layer 1 – Physical
2. Layer 2 – Datalink
3. Layer 3 – Network
4. Layer 4 – Transport
5. Layer 5 – Session
6. Layer 6 – Presentation
7. Layer 7 – Application

• Routing and Switching

Explain the concepts and characteristics of routing and switching.

1. Properties of network traffic
2. Segmentation and interface properties
3. Routing
4. IPv6 concepts
5. Performance concepts
6. NAT/PAT
7. Port forwarding
8. Access control list
9. Distributed switching
10. Packet-switched vs. circuit-switched network
11. Software-defined networking

• IP Addressing Components

Given a scenario, configure the appropriate IP addressing components.

1. Private vs. Public
2. Loopback and reserved
3. Default gateway
4. Virtual IP
5. Subnet mask
6. Subnetting
7. Classful (Classes A, B, C, D and E)
8. Classless [VLSM, CIDR notation (IPv4 vs. IPv6)]
9. Address assignments
10. DHCP
11. DHCPv6
12. Static
13. APIPA
14. EUI64
15. IP reservations

• Network Topologies

Compare and contrast the characteristics of network topologies, types and technologies.

1. Wired topologies
2. Logical vs. Physical
3. Star
4. Rig
5. Mesh
6. Bus
7. Wireless topologies
8. Mesh
9. Ad hoc
10. Infrastructure
11. Types
12. LAN
13. WLAN
14. MAN
15. WAN
16. CAN
17. SAN
18. PAN
19. Technologies that facilitate the Internet of Things (IoT)

• Wireless Technologies and Configurations

Given a scenario, implement the appropriate wireless technologies and configurations.

1. 802.11 standards
2. Cellular
3. GSM
4. TDMA CDMA
5. Frequencies (2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz)
6. Speed and distance requirements
7. Channel bandwidth
8. Channel bonding
9. MIMO/MU-MIMO
10. Unidirectional/omnidirectional
11. Site surveys

• Cloud Concepts

Summarise cloud concepts and their purposes-

1. Types of services
2. SaaS
3. PaaS
4. IaaS
5. Cloud delivery models
6. Private
7. Public
8. Hybrid
9. Connectivity methods
10. Security implications/considerations
11. Relationship between local and cloud resources

• Network Services

Explain the functions of network services.

1. DNS service
2. Record types
3. TXT (SPF, DKIM)
4. CNAME
5. Internal vs. external DNS
6. Third-party/cloud-hosted DNS
7. Hierarchy
8. Forward vs. reverse zone
9. DHCP service
10. MAC reservations
11. Pools
12. IP exclusions
13. Scope options
14. Lease time
15. TTL
16. DHCP relay/IP helper
17. NTP
18. IPAM

Module 2: Infrastructure

• Cabling Solution

Given a scenario, deploy the appropriate cabling solution.

1. Media types (Copper and Fiber)
2. Plenum vs. PVC
3. Connector types
4. Transceivers
5. Termination points
6. Copper cable standards
7. Copper termination standards
8. Ethernet deployment standards

• Networking Devices

Given a scenario, determine the appropriate placement of networking devices on a network and install/configure them.

1. Firewall
2. Router
3. Switch
4. Hub
5. Bridge
6. Modems
7. Wireless access point
8. Media converter
9. Wireless range extender
10. VoIP endpoint

• Advanced Networking Devices

Explain the purposes and use cases for advanced networking devices.

1. Multilayer switch
2. Wireless controller
3. Load balancer
4. IDS/IPS
5. Proxy server
6. VPN concentrator
7. AAA/RADIUS server
8. UTM appliance
9. NGFW/Layer 7 firewall
10. VoIP PBX
11. VoIP gateway
12. Content Filter

• Virtualization and Network Storage Technologies

Explain the purpose of network storage technologies mentioned below-

1. Virtual networking components
2. Virtual switch
3. Virtual firewall
4. Virtual NIC
5. Virtual router
6. Hypervisor
7. Network storage types
8. NAS
9. SAN
10. Connection type
11. FCoE
12. Fibre Channel
13. iSCSI
14. InfiniBand
15. Jumbo frame

• WAN Technologies

Compare and contrast WAN technologies.

1. Service type
2. Transmission mediums
3. Characteristics of service
4. Termination

Module 3: Network Operations

• Documentation and Diagrams

Given a scenario, use appropriate documentation and diagrams to manage the network.

1. Diagram symbols
2. Standard operating procedures/ work instructions
3. Logical vs. physical diagrams
4. Rack diagrams
5. Change management documentation
6. Wiring and port locations
7. IDF/MDF documentation
8. Labelling
9. Network configuration and performance baselines
10. Inventory management

• Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Concepts

Compare and contrast business continuity and disaster recovery concepts.

1. Availability concepts
2. Fault tolerance
3. High availability
4. Load balancing
5. NIC teaming
6. Port Aggregation
7. Clustering
8. Power management
9. Recovery
10. MTTR
11. MTBF
12. SLA requirements

• Scanning, Monitoring and Patching

Explain scanning, monitoring and patching processes and summarise their expected outputs.

1. Processes
2. Event management
3. SNMP monitors
4. Metrics
5. Error rate
6. Utilisation
7. Packet drops
8. Bandwidth/throughput

• Remote Access Methods

Given a scenario, use remote access methods.

1. VPN
2. IPSec
3. SSL/TLS/DTLS
4. Site-to-site
5. Client-to-site
6. RDP
7. SSH
8. VNC
9. Telnet
10. HTTPS/management URL
11. Remote file access
12. FTP/FTPS
13. SFTP
14. TFTP
15. Out-of-band management
16. Modem
17. Console router

• Policies

Identify policies and best practices.

1. Privileged user agreement
2. Password policy
3. On-boarding/off-boarding procedures
4. Licensing restrictions
5. International export controls
6. Data loss prevention
7. Remote access policies
8. Incident response policies
9. BYOD
10. AUP
11. NDA
12. System life cycle
13. Asset disposal
14. Safety procedures and policies

Module 4: Network Security

• Physical Security Devices

Summarise the purposes of physical security devices.

1. Detection
2. Motion detection
3. Video surveillance
4. Asset tracking tags
5. Tamper detection
6. Prevention
7. Badges
8. Biometrics
9. Smart cards
10. Key fob
11. Locks

• Authentication and Access Controls

Explain authentication and access controls.

1. Authorisation, authentication and accounting
2. Multifactor authentication
3. Access control

• Basic Wireless Network

Given a scenario, secure a wireless network.

1. WPA
2. WPA2
3. TKIP-RC4
4. CCMP-AES
5. Authentication and authorisation
6. EAPPEAP
7. EAP-FAST
8. EAP-TLS
9. Shared or open
10. Preshared key
11. MAC filtering
12. Geofencing

• Networking Attacks

Summarise common networking attacks.

1. DoS
2. Social engineering
3. Insider threat
4. Logic bomb
5. Rogue access point
6. Evil twin
7. War-driving
8. Phishing
9. Ransomware
10. DNS poisoning
11. ARP poisoning
12. Spoofing
13. Deauthentication
14. Brute force
15. VLAN hopping
16. Man-in-the-middle
17. Exploits vs. Vulnerabilities

• Network Device Hardening

Given a scenario, implement network device hardening.

1. Changing default credentials
2. Avoiding common passwords
3. Upgrading firmware
4. Patching and updates
5. File hashing
6. Disable unnecessary services
7. Using secure protocols
8. Generating new keys
9. Disable unused ports
10. IP ports
11. Device ports (physical and virtual)

• Mitigation Techniques

Explain mitigation techniques and their purposes.

1. Signature management
2. Device hardening
3. Change native VLAN
4. Switch port protection
5. Spanning tree
6. Flood guard
7. BPDU guard
8. Root guard
9. DHCP snooping
10. Network segmentation
11. DMZ
12. VLAN
13. Privileged user account
14. File integrity monitoring
15. Role separation
16. Restricting access via ACLs
17. Honeypot/honeynet
18. Penetration testing

Module 5: Network Troubleshooting and Tools

• Network Troubleshooting

Explain the network troubleshooting methodology.

1. Identify the problem
2. Establish a theory of probable cause
3. Test the theory to determine the cause
4. Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem
5. Identify the potential effects
6. Implement the solution or escalate as necessary
7. Verify full system functionality
8. Implement preventive measures
9. Document findings, actions and outcomes

• Tools

Given a scenario, use the appropriate tool.

1. Hardware tools
2. Software tools
3. Packet sniffer
4. Port scanner
5. Protocol Analyser
6. Wi-Fi Analyser
7. Bandwidth speed tester
8. Command line ping

• Wired Connectivity and Performance Issues

Given a scenario, troubleshoot wired connectivity and performance issues.

1. Attenuation
2. Latency
3. Jitter
4. Crosstalk
5. EMI
6. Open/short
7. Incorrect pin-out
8. Incorrect cable type
9. Bad port
10. Transceiver mismatch
11. TX/RX reverse
12. Duplex/speed mismatch
13. Damaged cables
14. Bent pins
15. Bottlenecks
16. VLAN mismatch
17. Network connection LED status indicators

• Wireless Connectivity and Performance Issues

Given a scenario, troubleshoot wireless connectivity and performance issues.

1. Reflection
2. Refraction
3. Absorption
4. Latency
5. Jitter
6. Attenuation
7. Incorrect antenna type
8. Interference
9. Incorrect antenna placement
10. Channel overlap
11. Overcapacity
12. Distance limitations
13. Frequency mismatch
14. Wrong SSID
15. Wrong passphrase
16. Security type mismatch
17. Power levels
18. Signal-to-noise ratio

• Network Service Issues

Given a scenario, troubleshoot common network service issues.

1. Names not resolving
2. Incorrect gateway
3. Incorrect netmask
4. Duplicate IP addresses
5. Duplicate MAC addresses
6. Expired IP address
7. Rogue DHCP server
8. Untrusted SSL certificate
9. Incorrect time
10. Exhausted DHCP scope
11. Blocked TCP/UDP ports
12. Incorrect host-based firewall settings
13. Incorrect ACL settings
14. Unresponsive service
15. Hardware failure