Since Jun 24 2026, i started studying for the Network+ certificate exam to improve and gain my overall knowledge regarding computer networks. I decided to, for the sake of sharing my timeline and content of study, share my study notes in text files written in Vim over here on my GitHub page.
I personally really didn't follow a specific study guide besides studying atleast one page every day of the week besides on Fridays. I also tend to see a lot of students lean towards learning curves when it comes to studying networks - the best way to learn networking is to see real-life scenarios of use cases in the network world or to use hands-on experience in scenarios such as modem, router or switch configurations. Of course, you need to have the proper network equipment such as switches, modems or routers, so i decided to host my own network via linking two Alpine Linux virtual machines on my own system to see how networks work software-wise. I did this starting from chapter 6, where the book starts to get a little more hands-on. If you can't or don't want to spend money on network infrastructure (I highly recommend you do, because networking is brilliant when done hands-on), try my method.
This is entirely up to you.
The notes are written as plain text files in Vim, and I recommend you clone this repository and open its content via Vim. Otherwise, it's also possilbe to view the contents of files simply by clicking on them here on the webpage - but if your Vim environment is configured to support reading text files and you're someone who prefers offline backups, definitely read them locally.
NOTE: These notes are NOT intended to teach you concepts regarding the objectives of the Network+ exam. If you wish to learn the objectives of the exam and excel at them, I suggest self-studying the CompTIA Network+ Exam Guide by Mike Meyers. He is an amazing tutor, network infrastructure maintainer and engineer, and most importantly, one of the best teachers I have had the honor to read the works of.
A. Mike Meyers: CompTIA Network+ Exam Guide
I used a PDF version of the CompTIA Network+ Exam Guide myself across this entire study. The book itself contains about 1200 pages give or take, and the material is dense; however, the author of the book tends to follow a very crucial pattern of teaching that takes you from the early concepts of networking such as ancient topologies, wiring standards and cabling standards and is definitely very broad over the TCP/IP protocol suite sections, where chapter 6, TCP/IP Protocol Suite extends to somewhere between 80 pages. The TotalSeminars Website offers a hands-on set of tests and quizes which you can take. Some of these tests are free, while some of them require additional purchases. If you pay for the book, you will definitely get these tests for free.
B. Professor Messer
known as Professor Messer on YouTube, he hosts one of the most widely known and popularized, free courses for Network+. I didn't take his course myself, but for some parts of the concepts I could not really understand well from the book, his videos offered visual guides and perfectly linear and understandable explanations. You can find the latest version of the course here.
C. PowerCert Animated Videos
While the YouTube channel may not offer concrete video playlists of courses about the objectives of the exam, you can easily find perfectly drawn and animated visual diagrams of concepts you might not understand easily from this channel. Stuff like routing tables, cable run layouts or how patch panels work are flawlessly drawn, animated and explained on this channel. If you ever feel stuck on something and look it up on YouTube, chances are you may see videos from this channel.