What the actual comptia-n10-008 sitting feels like

The exam is 90 questions max in 90 minutes, and on this one that matters because the mix is awkward: some questions are one-line fact checks, but the PBQs can eat 8–12 minutes each if you let them. CompTIA also lets you flag and return, and for Network+ that is not optional advice — it is how you avoid getting buried by a cable map, subnetting PBQ, or troubleshooting simulation before you have banked the easy points.

What I saw, and what most people report, is this pattern:

A handful of PBQs right at the start. Usually these are network troubleshooting, matching config to topology, ACL/firewall logic, AP placement/wireless settings, or subnetting/IP assignment.
Then a run of multiple-choice and multiple-response questions where CompTIA loves to hide the real task in the last sentence.
Lots of scenario wording like: "A technician needs the MOST secure...", "with the LEAST administrative overhead", "without replacing existing hardware", or "while maintaining high availability". Those qualifiers decide the answer more than the raw technology sometimes does.

For time, a realistic target is:

First pass on PBQs: 30–60 seconds each max. If you instantly know the task, fine. If not, flag it.
Multiple-choice section: average under a minute for straightforward items, maybe 75–90 seconds for troubleshooting stems.
Save 15–20 minutes at the end specifically for PBQs and any subnetting-heavy questions you parked.

CompTIA’s interface is basic but has quirks that matter on this exam:

The PBQs may require dragging labels onto a topology, selecting ports/protocols, or filling IP-related fields. Double-check that every draggable object actually snapped into place.
On multi-select questions, the prompt may say "Choose two" or "Choose three". Network+ uses that to punish partial knowledge. If you know one right answer but are shaky on the second, mark it and come back.
You can usually review flagged items, so use that to separate knowledge problems from time-consuming problems.

One blunt point: if you are slow at subnetting, cable standards, or reading switch/router outputs, this exam feels much tighter than 90 minutes suggests.

Weighting that should shape your study plan, not just your notes

CompTIA publishes the domain weights, and for N10-008 they matter a lot more than people act like they do:

Networking Fundamentals — 24%
Network Implementations — 19%
Network Operations — 16%
Network Security — 19%
Network Troubleshooting — 22%

That means the exam is really dominated by three things:

Fundamentals n- Troubleshooting
Security/Implementations together

If you are spending equal time on every objective, you are studying inefficiently. The biggest score movement usually comes from getting strong in these clusters:

IP addressing and subnetting inside Networking Fundamentals
Ports, protocols, routing, switching, and wireless standards across Fundamentals and Implementations
Security controls applied to network gear in Network Security
Symptom-to-cause troubleshooting in the Troubleshooting domain

A common mistake is underestimating Fundamentals because the name sounds introductory. On N10-008, Fundamentals includes the stuff CompTIA uses as the base layer for harder questions: CIDR, IPv4 vs IPv6 behavior, routing concepts, DNS/DHCP logic, MAC vs IP, transmission media, and ports/protocols. If you are weak there, you miss not only direct questions but also scenario questions in other domains.

Another mistake is overfocusing on memorizing isolated facts like "port 389 is LDAP" without learning how CompTIA wraps those facts in a task. They do not just ask for the port. They ask something like: "Users cannot authenticate to a new directory-integrated application through a firewall. Which port should be opened?" Or they bury it in a migration scenario involving LDAPS versus LDAP, secure management, or remote access.

If I had to prioritize from scratch for score impact, I would go in this order:

Subnetting, CIDR, private/public IP, APIPA, IPv6 basics
Switching and routing behavior: VLANs, trunking, STP concepts, default gateway, static vs dynamic routing
Wireless: 2.4 vs 5 vs 6 GHz implications, WPA2/WPA3, channel overlap, antenna/AP placement
Troubleshooting models applied to real symptoms
Security controls on the network: ACLs, segmentation, VPN types, NAC, RADIUS/TACACS+, port security
Cabling and transceivers, including fiber types and connector gotchas

The subnetting and addressing traps CompTIA keeps reusing

This exam is not CCNA-level deep on routing math, but subnetting absolutely shows up and it is one of the clearest separators between people who pass comfortably and people who scrape. The questions are usually practical rather than academic. You are more likely to see "Which subnet supports 30 hosts?" or "Which gateway/IP assignment is valid for this branch office?" than a giant binary exercise.

The gotchas I kept seeing in practice and on the real exam:

Usable host counts. People forget that /27 gives 32 addresses but 30 usable in normal IPv4 subnetting. CompTIA will often present one option that looks right if you forget network and broadcast addresses.
Default gateway validity. They will give an IP/mask pair and several gateway options, with one gateway outside the subnet. Easy points if you actually check the range.
APIPA versus DHCP failure. If a host shows 169.254.x.x, CompTIA expects you to connect that to DHCP not being reached or failing.
Private IP ranges. Know them instantly: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0–172.31.255.255, 192.168.0.0/16. They like to hide a public IP among private choices.
CIDR summarization. Not usually deep, but enough that you should recognize why route aggregation matters and be able to spot broad versus narrow prefixes.
IPv6 basics. Not advanced design, but enough to identify global unicast, link-local, loopback, and the role of SLAAC/DHCPv6.

What specifically helps on N10-008 is memorizing a compact host-count ladder:

/30 = 2 usable
/29 = 6 usable
/28 = 14 usable
/27 = 30 usable
/26 = 62 usable
/25 = 126 usable
/24 = 254 usable

That covers most of what they throw at you. Also memorize the block sizes for common masks because PBQs sometimes want fast assignment:

/25 = 128
/26 = 64
/27 = 32
/28 = 16
/29 = 8
/30 = 4

For IPv6, the exam usually stays practical. Know these cold:

::1 = loopback
FE80::/10 = link-local
FC00::/7 = unique local
2000::/3 = global unicast
SLAAC uses router advertisements; DHCPv6 can supplement or provide addressing depending on flags

If a question mixes IPv4 and IPv6 migration terms, watch for CompTIA’s favorite distractors:

Dual stack means running both protocols side by side
Tunneling wraps one protocol inside another
NAT64 is translation between IPv6 and IPv4, not just generic tunneling

Wireless and network implementation questions look simple until you read the constraint

N10-008 has a lot of wireless compared with what some older Network+ candidates expect. CompTIA likes wireless because it lets them test security, interference, implementation, and troubleshooting all in one question.

The repeated patterns are:

Coverage versus throughput: 2.4 GHz travels farther but is more congested; 5 GHz is faster with less range; 6 GHz adds cleaner spectrum but device support matters.
Channel overlap: in 2.4 GHz, remember the non-overlapping channels concept; CompTIA often frames this as intermittent interference or poor performance in dense office space.
Security choice: WPA3 is best when supported; if legacy devices are present, the answer may shift to WPA2 with AES depending on the scenario.
Enterprise authentication: RADIUS-backed 802.1X versus pre-shared key. If the question mentions centralized authentication, revoking individual users, or auditability, they want enterprise auth, not PSK.
Physical placement: AP location matters more than people think on this exam. Questions may mention walls, microwaves, Bluetooth devices, warehouse shelving, or too many APs using the same channel.

The trap is that several options are technically valid in real life, but one best matches the stated constraint. Example logic CompTIA uses:

If the question says "most secure wireless authentication for employees", think WPA3-Enterprise if available, then WPA2-Enterprise over anything PSK-based.
If it says "support older devices without replacing hardware", the best answer may drop from WPA3 to WPA2 or from 6 GHz ambitions to 5/2.4 compatibility.
If it says "reduce interference in a crowded office", changing channels or moving to 5 GHz is often more on-target than simply boosting transmit power.

On implementation questions outside wireless, know the practical distinctions between devices and features:

Managed vs unmanaged switches: if VLANs, QoS, SNMP, or port mirroring are involved, unmanaged is out.
Layer 2 vs Layer 3 switching: if inter-VLAN routing is required, a Layer 3 capability matters.
Trunk vs access ports: CompTIA likes to test whether a switch-to-switch or switch-to-router-on-a-stick connection needs a trunk.
PoE standards and use cases: APs, VoIP phones, cameras. They may not expect exact wattage tables every time, but know why PoE matters operationally.
Transceivers and fiber: SFP/SFP+, multimode vs single-mode, and which one suits short versus long distance. A common trap is selecting multimode for a campus-length run just because it sounds faster.

Memorize the cable/connectors that recur in options:

RJ45 for Ethernet copper
LC/SC/ST for fiber choices
Coax/F-type may appear in broadband/cable contexts
Straight-through vs crossover matters less in modern auto-MDI/MDIX environments, but CompTIA still expects you to know the historical logic

Security on N10-008 is network security, not a mini Security+

This exam does test security, but usually through the lens of network administration. If you study it like a broad cyber exam, you waste time. Focus on controls you would actually configure or recognize on infrastructure.

The big recurring items:

ACLs: standard idea of permitting/denying traffic based on criteria. Questions often ask what rule placement or policy best blocks one type of access while preserving another.
Segmentation: VLANs, guest networks, DMZ placement, isolating IoT devices, separating voice/data traffic.
AAA and centralized auth: RADIUS vs TACACS+ is a classic. RADIUS is common for network access; TACACS+ is more associated with device administration and separates authentication/authorization/accounting more cleanly.
VPN types: site-to-site versus client-to-site, and when IPsec or SSL/TLS-based remote access is more appropriate.
Port security / NAC / 802.1X: if the question is about preventing rogue devices from joining the network, these are stronger answers than generic endpoint antivirus.
Secure management protocols: SSH over Telnet, HTTPS over HTTP, SNMPv3 over older insecure SNMP versions.

Where people get tricked is by choosing the most dramatic security answer instead of the most network-relevant one. Example:

If a question is about unauthorized laptops connecting to office wall jacks, the answer is likely 802.1X/NAC or switch port security, not installing a next-gen firewall.
If admins need to manage switches securely, CompTIA wants SSH and SNMPv3, not just "use a VPN" unless the scenario is explicitly remote management across untrusted networks.
If public-facing servers must be accessible without exposing the internal LAN, think DMZ and segmentation first.

Know the secure/insecure protocol pairs because they show up constantly in options:

Telnet vs SSH
HTTP vs HTTPS
FTP vs SFTP/FTPS
SNMPv2c vs SNMPv3
LDAP vs LDAPS

Also expect a few questions that blend security with operations, such as:

Which control best supports logging and accountability for admin access?
Which design best allows guest internet access without internal resource access?
Which change best reduces the blast radius of a compromised IoT camera network?

Those are segmentation and identity-control questions more than pure threat questions.

Troubleshooting questions are where CompTIA gets sneaky

Troubleshooting is 22%, and this is where the exam feels most realistic. They often give you a symptom, one or two environmental clues, and several plausible causes. The trick is recognizing the symptom pattern fast.

Patterns worth drilling:

Duplicate IP symptoms: intermittent connectivity, ARP weirdness, one host knocking another offline.
DNS vs internet confusion: users can ping IP addresses but not browse by hostname = think DNS first.
DHCP scope exhaustion: some devices get addresses, new devices do not, APIPA appears.
Duplex mismatch / bad cabling / CRC errors: slow performance, retransmissions, interface errors rather than total outage.
VLAN mismatch: device physically connected but unable to reach expected subnet/resources.
Native VLAN or trunk issues: switch-to-switch connectivity problems affecting multiple VLANs.
Routing/default gateway issues: local subnet reachable, remote subnets unreachable.
Wireless interference: poor performance at certain times or in certain rooms, not total failure.
Broadcast storm / switching loops: widespread slowness, high CPU, MAC table instability; STP exists for a reason.

CompTIA likes questions where one answer fixes the symptom but another explains the root cause. They usually want the root cause unless the wording asks for the next step. Example:

If hosts in one VLAN cannot reach another but can reach local devices, missing inter-VLAN routing is a better diagnosis than "replace the switch."
If a user can ping 8.8.8.8 but not a website URL, DNS misconfiguration beats generic "internet outage."

For PBQs, expect at least one troubleshooting-style item where you must inspect a mini network and choose the failing component or config. To prepare, practice reading:

ipconfig / ifconfig style outputs
Routing tables at a basic level
Switch port/VLAN assignments
Interface status indicators like up/down, err-disabled, speed/duplex mismatches

One specific CompTIA habit: they often include an answer that is a valid troubleshooting action but too broad for the symptom. If a single workstation has a 169.254 address, replacing the core switch is nonsense even if, technically, a switch issue could affect DHCP reachability. They reward the closest, most proportionate network explanation.

What I would do in the last 7 days for this exact exam

If the exam were a week away, I would not reread the whole objective list. I would run a very targeted cleanup on the topics N10-008 repeatedly turns into points or traps.

Day 1–2: Subnetting and IP behavior

Drill host counts and block sizes until they are instant.
Practice identifying valid host ranges and default gateways.
Review APIPA, DHCP lease concepts, DNS records at a practical level, NAT/PAT basics.
Make sure IPv6 address types are recognizable on sight.

Day 3: Ports, protocols, and secure replacements

Memorize the common ports, but in scenario form: web, secure web, DNS, DHCP, SSH, Telnet, SMTP, IMAP, POP3, LDAP/LDAPS, RDP, SMB, SNMP/SNMPv3.
Pair each insecure protocol with its secure alternative.
Review where RADIUS, TACACS+, NTP, and syslog fit operationally.

Day 4: Switching, routing, and wireless

VLAN purpose, trunk/access, inter-VLAN routing, STP purpose, link aggregation basics.
Wireless frequencies, channel planning basics, WPA2/WPA3, enterprise auth, roaming and coverage issues.
Fiber/copper use cases and transceiver naming enough to avoid obvious bad choices.

Day 5: Troubleshooting sets only

Do symptom-based question sets, not pure recall cards.
Force yourself to name the likely layer involved: physical, data link, network, transport, application.
Review why each wrong answer is wrong; this matters more than the score.

Day 6: PBQ-style practice

Topology labeling
IP allocation and subnet assignment
ACL/firewall rule matching
Wireless deployment/troubleshooting
Basic switch/router config interpretation

Day 7: Final compression sheet

Build one page with only these items:

Subnet host counts and block sizes
Private ranges and APIPA
IPv6 key prefixes
Ports/protocols and secure alternatives
RADIUS vs TACACS+
WPA2/WPA3 and enterprise vs PSK
Trunk/access, VLAN, STP, inter-VLAN routing
Common symptom-to-cause mappings

One more blunt tip: if there is a topic you "sort of know," that is exactly what CompTIA exploits. Network+ is full of near-right options. In the last week, fix fuzzy areas instead of polishing strengths.

Small exam-day details that matter specifically for CompTIA

CompTIA wording is consistent enough that you can use it to your advantage. Certain phrases should trigger a narrower set of answers:

"Most secure" usually pushes toward enterprise auth, segmentation, encrypted management, or least-exposure designs.
"Least cost" / "without replacing hardware" often rules out the technically best but expensive redesign.
"High availability" points toward redundancy, failover, link aggregation, clustering, or dynamic routing depending on context.
"Scalable" often beats one-off static fixes when the environment is growing.

For PBQs, do not assume every field must be filled if the instructions do not require it, but do verify every answerable field is populated. Some Network+ PBQs are passable with partial completion, so if you are stuck on one device or one subnet, finish the rest and move on.

Use the review screen intelligently. On this exam, the questions worth revisiting are usually:

Multi-select items where two answers looked plausible
Subnetting questions you solved quickly and want to sanity-check
Troubleshooting questions where two root causes seemed possible
PBQs with drag-and-drop topology labels or interface assignments

The worst use of review time is rereading simple factual questions you already knew. The best use is checking places where CompTIA loves off-by-one mistakes:

Wrong subnet range
Wrong secure protocol variant
Wrong wireless standard for the constraint
Wrong device type for the job, like using a hub/repeater/bridge/switch/router interchangeably

If you want one final reality check on readiness: before sitting the exam, you should be able to look at a small office scenario and quickly answer all of these without hesitation:

What subnet fits the host count?
What should the default gateway be?
Is this an access or trunk port?
Is this DNS, DHCP, routing, VLAN, or wireless interference?
Is the secure answer SSH/HTTPS/SNMPv3/LDAPS/WPA3-Enterprise?
Does the problem call for segmentation, ACLs, NAC, or a VPN?

That is the center of N10-008. If those decisions are fast for you, the exam is manageable. If they are slow, the clock becomes the real opponent.