learn/network-plus/plan
83 topics across 8 weeks, with each week's reading coming back the following week. The spacing is the point: reviewing something a week after you read it holds far better than reading it twice in a night, and it feels less productive at the time, which is why people skip it.
Adapt the timeline. The week count is a structure, not a researched figure, and it grows as topics are written. Nobody publishes reliable data on how long N10-009 takes, and the numbers in circulation are marketing. Stretch or compress it; keep the shape, which is read once, revisit a week later, then practice mixed.
This plan covers the reading half. Performance-based questions are scored on system state, and that half needs a machine to break and fix.
Week 1
Read
- Start here
- What a network actually is
- MACs, IPs and ports
- The OSI model
- The boxes on a network
- IPv4 addresses and the mask
- Subnetting by hand
- Address classes, private ranges and APIPA
- IPv6 addressing
- TCP, UDP and the handshake
- Ports and the protocols that use them
- Copper cabling
- Fibre and transceivers
- Physical installations
Revisit
Nothing yet. Review starts in week 2.
Week 2
Read
- How a switch learns
- Unicast, multicast, anycast and broadcast
- VLANs
- Trunking and 802.1Q tagging
- Interface configuration and link aggregation
- Spanning tree
- MTU and jumbo frames
- The routing table and static routes
- Dynamic routing protocols
- Route selection
- VLSM and planning an address space
- NAT and PAT
- FHRP, virtual IPs and subinterfaces
- Topologies and architectures
Revisit
- Start hereanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- What a network actually isanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- MACs, IPs and portsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- The OSI modelanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- The boxes on a networkanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- IPv4 addresses and the maskanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Subnetting by handanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Address classes, private ranges and APIPAanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- IPv6 addressinganswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- TCP, UDP and the handshakeanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Ports and the protocols that use themanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Copper cablinganswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Fibre and transceiversanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Physical installationsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
Week 3
Read
- SDN, SD-WAN and VXLAN
- Wireless and cellular media
- Wireless channels and frequencies
- SSIDs, network types and access points
- Wireless security and authentication
- Security vocabulary and the CIA triad
- Encryption, certificates and PKI
- Identity and access management
- Network documentation and diagrams
- Lifecycle, change and configuration management
- SNMP
- Flow data, capture and port mirroring
- Baselines, alerting and monitoring solutions
- Disaster recovery
Revisit
- How a switch learnsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Unicast, multicast, anycast and broadcastanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- VLANsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Trunking and 802.1Q tagginganswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Interface configuration and link aggregationanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Spanning treeanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- MTU and jumbo framesanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- The routing table and static routesanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Dynamic routing protocolsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Route selectionanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- VLSM and planning an address spaceanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- NAT and PATanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- FHRP, virtual IPs and subinterfacesanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Topologies and architecturesanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
Week 4
Read
- DHCP
- IPv6 address assignment and SLAAC
- How DNS resolution works
- What happens when you open a web page
- DNS records and zones
- DNS security
- Time protocols
- IP protocols and tunnelling
- VPNs
- Managing devices remotely
- Physical security and deception
- Compliance and audits
- Access lists, filtering and security zones
- Network segmentation
Revisit
- SDN, SD-WAN and VXLANanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Wireless and cellular mediaanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Wireless channels and frequenciesanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- SSIDs, network types and access pointsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Wireless security and authenticationanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Security vocabulary and the CIA triadanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Encryption, certificates and PKIanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Identity and access managementanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Network documentation and diagramsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Lifecycle, change and configuration managementanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- SNMPanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Flow data, capture and port mirroringanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Baselines, alerting and monitoring solutionsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Disaster recoveryanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
Week 5
Read
- Layer 2 attacks
- Attacks on services and people
- Device hardening and network access control
- Cloud concepts and connectivity
- Zero trust, SASE and infrastructure as code
- The troubleshooting methodology
- Ping, traceroute and what they prove
- Connection and interface tools
- Name resolution tools
- Narrowing a fault by layer
- Cable faults and signal problems
- Interface counters and port status
- PoE and transceiver problems
- Switching faults, loops and VLANs
Revisit
- DHCPanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- IPv6 address assignment and SLAACanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- How DNS resolution worksanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- What happens when you open a web pageanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- DNS records and zonesanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- DNS securityanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Time protocolsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- IP protocols and tunnellinganswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- VPNsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Managing devices remotelyanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Physical security and deceptionanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Compliance and auditsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Access lists, filtering and security zonesanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Network segmentationanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
Week 6
Read
- Routing and default gateway faults
- Addressing faults
- Wireless performance and roaming
- Packet capture and protocol analysis
- Discovery tools and device commands
- Bandwidth, congestion and bottlenecks
- Latency, jitter and packet loss
- Quality of service
- Wi-Fi generations and the number on the box
- How the internet is glued together
- Reading the standards
- The hour after it breaks
- How big networks actually break
Revisit
- Layer 2 attacksanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Attacks on services and peopleanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Device hardening and network access controlanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Cloud concepts and connectivityanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Zero trust, SASE and infrastructure as codeanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- The troubleshooting methodologyanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Ping, traceroute and what they proveanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Connection and interface toolsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Name resolution toolsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Narrowing a fault by layeranswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Cable faults and signal problemsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Interface counters and port statusanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- PoE and transceiver problemsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
- Switching faults, loops and VLANsanswer the Check yourself questions from memory first
Week 7: mixed practice
Stop reading new material. Work mixed practice sets rather than domain-by-domain ones: a set where every question comes from the same domain never makes you choose an approach, so it flatters you. Use the per-objective breakdown to find the weak spots, then reread only those topics.
- Domain 1: Networking Concepts
- Domain 2: Network Implementation
- Domain 3: Network Operations
- Domain 4: Network Security
- Domain 5: Network Troubleshooting
Check the coverage reportfor objectives with no questions written yet. Those are gaps in this site, not gaps in the exam.
Week 8: full exams
Timed, weighted, whole. 90 questions in 90 minutes to match the real thing, with a pass mark of 720 on 100 to 900. Sit at least two, on different days. A score you get twice is information; a score you get once is noise.
Do not read anything new this week. If a full exam finds a weak objective, reread that one topic and move on.
What a week actually looks like
Roughly 21 hours of reading, plus revisiting. The order matters more than the hours:
- Open last week's topics and answer their Check yourself questions from memory, before rereading anything. Getting one wrong is the point; that is where the learning happens.
- Reread only the sections those questions exposed.
- Read this week's new topics. Answer each Before you read prompt before continuing, and each Predict block before opening it.
- Work the Work it through scenario without scrolling to the reasoning.
- End the week on a practice set that mixes domains, not one that matches what you just read.
Step 1 is the one people skip, and it is the one carrying most of the effect. Rereading feels like progress because the words come easily the second time. That feeling is fluency, not knowledge, and it is the single most reliable way to walk into an exam confident and underprepared.