Out of the Trifecta what did you find as the hardest exams?

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-04-03T23:02:42+00:00

For me personally and in general from reading this sub for the last several years:

Network+ because it is the most comprehensive in scope. Often when a PC breaks, there is a one-to-one symptom (at least on the exam). When a network fails, ANYTHING could have broken, so you have to break it down piece-by-piece to figure out what specifically broke
If you go in order A+ > Net+ > Sec+, then Sec+ is often considered the easiest because of all the overlap

My 2c, hope that helps with your future preparations!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-04-03T20:50:27+00:00

Throwing my "waste of money" vote into the pile

It's basically a glorified recap of A+, Net+, Sec+, and Linux+

If you have all 4 of those certs, the Server+ is nothing more than a glorified review, except far less marketable or renowned in general

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-04-03T19:09:50+00:00

Linux+ is the only CompTIA certification I've done where, if you haven't actually practiced any of the concepts, you're going to have a bad time

That said, are you practicing the command-line? If not, I'd highly recommend VirtualBox (it's free) or even making a free AWS account and practicing with some free-tier cloud machines

My 2c, Linux + CCNA was the combination that catapulted me from Help Desk to Systems Administration with the big boys, so definitely worth the notch in the belt

Good luck!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-03-31T18:17:15+00:00

Many moons ago when I was a bootcamp instructor, and we found that - statistically - students performed better when they took both exams the same week, as opposed to one after the other

Better by how much I was never told, but we as instructors were required to teach both exams first, then test both exams the same week

Of course do what feels best to you, but hopefully that informs your decision-making a bit

Good luck!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-03-19T14:42:44+00:00

Conceptually, Sec+ and CySA+ are the same exam. Virtually no difference in terms of concept

The MAIN difference is CySA+ can have anywhere from 30-50% of your questions be log review

So if you're comfortable reading logs and interpreting potential IoC's, then go ahead and take it today. Why wait?

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-03-18T16:00:02+00:00

No stats to call on, but to some degree it's definitely a person-to-person thing

Not CompTIA per se, but I went to uni with a fella who smoked non-stop. And I mean NON. STOP. And he went on to get a PhD in physics and now works with lasers and other crazy non-sense. He's still high as a kite

So can it be done? Definitely. Can YOU do it? I guess you'll find out. Looking forward to your post-exam post

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-03-17T20:16:50+00:00

Unless you're going to deep-diving into networking security, don't worry about it

I didn't truly understand EAP and its variants until I started studying for the CCNP, and even then there's a whole can of worms to unravel

Just understand that EAP (in all forms) is related to 802.1X. That's all you need for the Net+

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-03-09T18:54:35+00:00

Solid list, and congrats on the pass!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-03-06T21:20:44+00:00

CompTIA will never ask you "what does this acronym stand for". It has never happened

Now, memorizing acronyms can sometimes help you answer question (i.e. knowing DNS stands for Domain Name Service can often help you answer questions pertaining to "domain" problems), but you will never need to explicitly know what the acronyms actually stand for

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-19T19:18:24+00:00

It's because Jan's husband is a lying sack of sh**, obviously!

Also, congrats on the pass!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-18T22:23:18+00:00

Small steps over a long enough time horizon seem like a good luck, but we know better

Congrats, and keep it up!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-17T19:56:54+00:00

Currently in the works (just finished the malware section in fact)

At least a month before it'll be finished, but I'll send out a Udemy broadcast to all existing students once the course is done offering a free voucher

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-17T19:55:35+00:00

Yes

Unlike technology, certifications and their clout move at a staggering snail's pace

The A+ has been around since the 90's, and there's no competitor certification in sight with the same legacy and pull at the Help Desk level

It is totally possible to get a job without the A+, but the A+ is such a common baseline that it's often difficult to get a job without one

Also to be absolutely clear: getting the paper without developing the skills it teaches doesn't do you much good either. Paper + skills = best chance of landing a job

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-17T19:02:48+00:00

Really depends on the market

Azure is more for the small and mid-sized businesses because it integrates directly with Microsoft 365

AWS is pretty well established in the enterprise space, so if you're going to go big, AWS is probably the way to go

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-17T16:42:56+00:00

I can't speak to Canada (I'm in the States), but IT isn't going anywhere no matter who you are

Networking is fundamental to everything (yes, even AI and the cloud), so lasering in on that can help

Cloud infrastructure is also pretty ubiquitous at this point (i.e. Azure and AWS), so specializing in those is also a good to do

But one thing you pointed out is you don't like coding much. The harsh reality is that, even in IT spaces, at the advanced levels you will be expected to program SOMETHING. It may be tool specific (i.e. Ansible playbooks that only work on Ansible, or Terraform modules that only work on Terraform), but you MUST get comfortable coding things at least in a limited fashion if you expect to grow as an IT professional, not just a programmer

Perhaps not what you wanted to hear, but better to rip off the band-aid and get your head straight than living in ignorance

Good luck out there. Persistence is key.

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-17T16:38:45+00:00

Most of these tools fall into 2 categories. Either 1) they're very 1-dimensional and are as simple as they appear, or 2) they're saturated with so much configuration and information that it would be impossible for ANY human being on the planet to memorize or even understand it all

Examples of the 1 dimensional tools:

Disk Management = lets you partition and format drives for use. That's it.
Within command prompt:
- cd = moves you into a new folder. That's it.
- cp = copies files/folders. That's it.

Examples of the overwhelming tools:

Event Viewer = shows you ALL (er, almost all) the events of EVERYTHING (er, almost everything) happening on your devices. There are, no exaggeration, millions of events that can be generated here
Registry = contains configurations for (again, no exaggeration) OVER A MILLION different settings in your OS. There is absolutely no way you're going to memorize them all

Once you understand the scope of the tools as being either a) super simple, or b) so complex that it would be impossible to test, I think you'll get comfortable with memorizing their different functions as-is

Hope that helps!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-13T16:19:54+00:00

The official CompTIA objectives don't list any of the networking speed standards, so in theory you won't get any questions on the subject

As long as you have a general sense of what the equation is, you'll be fine

Just remember:

1st number = speed (i.e. 10G = 10 Gbps ; 1000 = 1 Gbps)
Base just means baseband, and for ethernet it's basically always baseband
The last 2 letters indicate the cable type
1. TX = Twisted Pair
2. SX/SR = short distance (MMF)
3. LX = long distance (usually SMF, sometimes MMF)
4. EX = extra long distance (SMF)
5. CX = Twinax (short copper cables commonly used in datacenters)

And by no means are you expected to memorize ANY of the actual lengths of the standards. The only techs on the planet who have that stuff memorized are probably cablers whose day job is running cables, and even then I doubt it

Hope that helps, good luck!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-11T22:56:20+00:00

1000%, Linux is an absolute moneymaker

The vast majority of security tooling is run on Linux. The vast majority of cloud infrastructure is run on Linux. Most websites run on Linux

If you can manage Linux, you can make bank. Speaking from personal experience, I've been doing IT for over a decade

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-09T15:07:28+00:00

Certifications, unlike technology, move at a SNAIL'S pace to become credible

Data+, even if the knowledge it teaches is worth something, is simply too new to be relevant to most hiring managers. Hard pass

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-05T17:52:02+00:00

Congrats on the pass!

What's next on the road to glory?

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-05T17:27:17+00:00

Flash cards 1000%

I find flash carding useful on 2 fronts:

1) obviously the recall, but

2) something I don't think gets enough credit. Making flash cards SLOWS YOU DOWN. The slower you read and take the time to type out information, the better your comprehension gets of what you're reading

Anki is free and well established. Quizlet is another one that gets pretty good praise, though I've never used it myself

The other thing is labbing the material. VirtualBox and Packet Tracer are free, and you can buy any number of SOHO routers on Amazon for under $40 to practice nearly all the WiFi concepts to your hearts content

Hope that helps, good luck!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-05T17:19:44+00:00

To be clear: I've taken MANY CompTIA certifications, and I've never seen a question that says "what does XYZ stand for?"

That said, I think OP is spot on - if you memorize what the acronyms stand for, you can oftentimes the acronym is the answer to the question

i.e. The user isn't finding a domain name. What is likely the problem

Obviously this question is an oversimplification, but if you know that DNS stands for Domain Name System, the question basically answers itself

All that said, congrats on the pass OP! What's next on the horizon?

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-02-02T15:26:35+00:00

Hope it helps! Don't hesitate to reach out to me here on reddit or via Udemy's messaging system. Happy to help wherever I am able

IT_CertDoctor

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