CNPA study guide
CNPA · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Network Professional Associate (CNPA) is an entry-to-intermediate networking credential aimed at people who have some hands-on exposure to networks and want a structured, vendor-neutral way to prove it. Typical candidates are help-desk technicians moving into network roles, junior administrators, and career changers who have finished a foundational course. The CNPA study guide has 8 sections and about 3,600 words.
01Network Fundamentals and Models
This domain tests whether you can place any network function at the right layer and follow a payload from application data down to bits. Items ask you to name PDUs, map OSI to the TCP/IP model, choose TCP or UDP for a service, and reason about encapsulation overhead.
453 words, about 2 min02Ethernet and Switching
This domain covers how Ethernet frames are built and how switches move them, including VLANs, trunking and Spanning Tree. Expect frame-field and frame-size items, MAC learning behaviour, VLAN tagging details, and root-port versus blocked-port reasoning.
485 words, about 2 min03IP Addressing and Subnetting
This domain tests subnet math fluency: masks, block sizes, host ranges, VLSM, private addressing and IPv6 essentials. Most items are solvable in under a minute with block-size arithmetic, so practise that instead of binary conversion.
375 words, about 2 min04Routing Fundamentals
This domain checks whether you can read a routing table and predict forwarding: longest match, administrative distance, metric, static versus dynamic routing, and the basic behaviour of RIP, OSPF, EIGRP and BGP. Longest prefix match wins outright, regardless of AD or metric.
447 words, about 2 min05Network Services and Application Protocols
This domain covers the protocols that make a network usable: name resolution, address assignment, address translation, time synchronisation and management, plus the well-known ports examiners love. Expect record-type, port-number and message-sequence items.
441 words, about 2 min06Wireless Networking
This domain tests 802.11 generations, RF channel planning, association and wireless security. Items are usually practical: pick the non-overlapping channel, choose the correct security standard, or explain a hidden-node symptom.
477 words, about 2 min07Network Security Fundamentals
This domain tests defensive fundamentals: the CIA triad, AAA, threat recognition, control types, filtering logic, VPN building blocks and Layer 2 hardening. Items are often scenario-based, asking what a control prevents or where an ACL belongs.
466 words, about 2 min08Network Operations and Troubleshooting
This domain asks you to diagnose faults methodically using the OSI model, show commands and test tools, and to describe operational practices such as monitoring, baselining and change control. Frameworks: bottom-up (start at cabling), top-down (start at the application), divide-and-conquer (start at L3 and ping outward), follow-the-path, and compare against a baseline.
456 words, about 2 min