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6 free, original PBQs for Network+ (N10-009), with a network diagram, the Windows command line and drag-and-drop. Do each task, check it, and read why the answer is right.
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CompTIA Network+
You do each task instead of picking an answer. Every question is explained after you check it, and you get a score at the end.
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The questions
Each one with its scenario and task. Try it above first, then open the explanation.
Question 1 · Network diagram · Networking Concepts
An office needs one device to connect its network to the internet and route between the two, one device to give its wired computers ports on the same network, and one device to let laptops join that network without a cable.
Place the right device in each of the three empty places.
A router connects different networks, so it sits between the internet and the office. A switch connects devices inside one network, forwarding frames by MAC address, so the PC, the printer and the access point plug into it. A wireless access point bridges Wi-Fi clients onto that wired network. A load balancer spreads requests across servers and an intrusion detection sensor watches traffic; neither connects devices.
Question 2 · Matching · Networking Concepts
You’re reading a packet capture and want to recognize each conversation by its port number.
Match each protocol to its default port.
SSH is TCP 22 and DNS is 53 (UDP for most queries, TCP for large answers and zone transfers). A DHCP server listens on UDP 67, HTTPS is TCP 443, Remote Desktop is TCP 3389 and SNMP queries go to UDP 161. Telnet (23) and SMB (445) are common wrong answers here.
Question 3 · Matching · Networking Concepts
You’re carving up 10.20.0.0/16 for a new site and don’t want to waste addresses. Each network needs room for its hosts, and every subnet loses two addresses to the network and broadcast addresses.
Match each network to the smallest prefix that holds it.
Usable hosts are 2 to the power of the host bits, minus 2. A /30 gives 2, which is exactly a point-to-point link. A /27 gives 30, a /26 gives 62, a /25 gives 126 and a /23 gives 510. A /28 (14 hosts) is too small for 25 devices, and a /24 (254) would waste addresses on 120 phones and is too small for 500 laptops.
Question 4 · Ordering · Network Troubleshooting
Users on the second floor report that the network is slow. Before you change anything, your manager asks you to follow CompTIA’s troubleshooting methodology step by step.
Arrange the seven steps from first to last.
You gather information before guessing, and you test a theory before acting on it. The plan comes before the fix because a change can have side effects worth knowing about first. After the fix you check the whole system, not just the symptom, and you finish by writing it down so the next person doesn’t start from nothing.
Question 5 · Windows command line · Network Troubleshooting
A user says a website is slow. Before blaming the website, you want the facts about this PC’s own network settings and the path its traffic takes. You’re at a Command Prompt on the PC.
Use the right command for each task, and type what you find where a task asks for it.
ipconfig /all adds the DNS servers, the MAC address and the DHCP lease to what ipconfig shows. nslookup asks the DNS server for a name’s address. tracert lists each router on the way to a destination, which shows where a delay or a break begins. arp -a shows the MAC addresses the PC has learned for addresses on its own network.
Question 6 · Sorting · Networking Concepts
A colleague describes a fault as “a layer 2 problem”. To follow conversations like that, you need to know where each device, address and protocol sits in the OSI model.
Put each item under the OSI layer it works at.
Layer 1 is the signal itself: cables and hubs, which repeat bits without reading them. Layer 2 moves frames inside one network using MAC addresses, which is what a switch does. Layer 3 moves packets between networks using IP addresses, which is what a router does. Layer 4 is TCP and UDP, which deliver data to the right application by port. HTTP and DNS are applications, at layer 7.
CompTIA lists Network+ among its certifications with simulation performance-based questions: tasks in an approximation of a real tool, such as a firewall, a network diagram or a terminal window. CompTIA’s page on performance-based questions, read on November 12, 2026.
Guide
CompTIA describes performance-based questions as exam items that test your ability to solve problems in real-world settings. Most are simulations: an approximation of a tool such as a firewall, a network diagram, a terminal window or an operating system.
You don’t pick an answer. You do the task, and there can be more than one correct way to do it.
Try each question cold. Getting it wrong first and then reading why teaches more than reading the answer and nodding along.
A right answer reached by guessing is a wrong answer waiting for exam day. Every question here explains why each part is what it is.
CompTIA says a simulation question can be skipped and returned to later, with your work saved. If one is eating your time, move on, answer the multiple-choice questions and come back.
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Open the toolFAQs
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Yes. CompTIA lists Network+ among its certifications with simulation performance-based questions: tasks in an approximation of a real tool, such as a firewall, a network diagram or a terminal window. That is from CompTIA’s page on performance-based questions, read on November 12, 2026.
No. They’re original tasks written to each exam’s published objectives. Using leaked real exam questions breaks every vendor’s exam rules.
CompTIA says a performance-based question can have more than one correct way through it, that its scoring allows for the different approaches, and that partial credit may be given. Here, each question is scored by its parts, so you can see which part you missed.
CompTIA says a simulation question can be skipped and returned to later, and that your work on it is saved when you move on. A virtual-environment question has to be completed when you reach it: a warning screen tells you so first.
No. It’s a practice terminal that runs in your browser. It understands the real commands the task needs and answers the way the real system would, but it isn’t a full operating system: nothing is installed, and nothing you type can break anything.
No. The questions run in your browser and nothing is saved. Sign up only if you want full practice exams and progress tracking.
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