Identify the fundamental conceptual building blocks of networks.

TCP/IP model, OSI model, frames and packets, addressing

Differentiate between bandwidth and throughput.

Latency, delay, speed test vs. Iperf

Differentiate between LAN, WAN, MAN, CAN, PAN, and WLAN.

Identify and illustrate common physical and logical network topologies.

Compare and contrast cloud and on-premises applications and services.

Public, private, hybrid, SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, remote work/hybrid work

Describe common network applications and protocols.

TCP vs. UDP (connection-oriented vs. connectionless), FTP, SFTP, TFTP, HTTP, HTTPS,

DHCP, DNS, ICMP, NTP

Compare and contrast private addresses and public addresses.

Address classes, NAT concepts

Identify IPv4 addresses and subnet formats.

Subnet concepts, Subnet Calculator, slash notation, and subnet mask; broadcast domain

Identify IPv6 addresses and prefix formats.

Types of addresses, prefix concepts

Review quiz

Identify cables and connectors commonly used in local area networks.

Cable types: fiber, copper, twisted pair; Connector types: coax, RJ-45, RJ-11, fiber

connector types

Differentiate between Wi-Fi, cellular, and wired network technologies.

Copper, including sources of interference; fiber; wireless, including 802.11 (unlicensed,

2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz), cellular (licensed), sources of interference

Describe endpoint devices.

Internet of Things (IoT) devices, computers, mobile devices, IP Phone, printer, server

Demonstrate how to set up and check network connectivity on Windows, Linux, Mac OS,

Android, and Apple iOS.

Networking utilities on Windows, Linux, Android, and Apple operating systems; how to run

troubleshooting commands; wireless client settings (SSID, authentication, WPA mode)

Identify the status lights on a Cisco device when given instruction by an engineer.

Link light color and status (blinking or solid)

Use a network diagram provided by an engineer to attach the appropriate cables.

Patch cables, switches and routers, small topologies, power, rack layout

Identify the various ports on network devices.

Console port, serial port, fiber port, Ethernet ports, SFPs, USB port, PoE

Explain basic routing concepts.

Default gateway, layer 2 vs. layer 3 switches, local network vs. remote network

Explain basic switching concepts.

MAC address tables, MAC address filtering, VLAN

Demonstrate effective troubleshooting methodologies and help desk best practices, including

ticketing, documentation, and information gathering.

Policies and procedures, accurate and complete documentation, prioritization

Perform a packet capture with Wireshark and save it to a file.

Purpose of using a packet analyzer, saving and opening a .pcap file

Run basic diagnostic commands and interpret the results.

ping, ipconfig/ifconfig/ip, tracert/traceroute, nslookup; recognize how firewalls can

influence the result

Differentiate between different ways to access and collect data about network devices.

Remote access (RDP, SSH, telnet), VPN, terminal emulators, Console, Network

Management Systems, cloud-managed network (Meraki), scripts

Run basic show commands on a Cisco network device.

show run, show cdp neighbors, show ip interface brief, show ip route, show version, show

inventory, show switch, show mac address-table, show interface, show interface x, show

interface status; privilege levels; command help and auto-complete

Describe how firewalls operate to filter traffic.

Firewalls (blocked ports and protocols); rules deny or permit access

Describe foundational security concepts.

Confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA); authentication, authorization, and

accounting (AAA); Multifactor Authentication (MFA); encryption, certificates, and

password complexity; identity stores/databases (Active Directory); threats and

vulnerabilities; spam, phishing, malware, and denial of service

Configure basic wireless security on a home router (WPAx).

WPA, WPA2, WPA3; choosing between Personal and Enterprise; wireless security concepts