A+ Core 1 220-1201 Practice Test and Study Guide

The exam at a glance

This course

How the course works

1. Cheat sheet. Everything the exam expects you to recall cold, printable.
2. Starter test. A few questions per exam domain, with a confidence rating on each.
3. Your tutorial. Lessons chosen from what you missed or guessed, each with a checkpoint and a deeper explanation.
4. Practice tests and retraining. 50 questions, weighted like the real exam. Every miss is explained and feeds back into your lessons.
5. 3 of your last 5 at 80%. That unlocks one full-length test on the real exam's clock: 90 questions in 90 minutes, at its real passing score of 75%. Pass it once and you are ready to book.

Read the first 15 lessons here

1. Laptop Hardware: Replacing Batteries, Keyboards, RAM, Storage, Wireless Cards, Cameras, and Biometrics 10 min
2. Mobile Connections and Accessories: USB-C, Lightning, NFC, Bluetooth, Tethering, Docks, and Styluses 9 min
3. Mobile Network Connectivity: Cellular, SIM and eSIM, Wi-Fi, Hotspots, Bluetooth Pairing, and Location 9 min
4. MDM, BYOD, and Synchronization: Device Configurations, Policy Enforcement, Corporate Apps, Sync, and Data Caps 9 min
5. How Data Moves: MAC and IP, Frames and Packets, Switches and Routers, and the Layers in Plain Terms 9 min
6. TCP Versus UDP and the Port List 11 min
7. Wireless Technologies: Bands, Channels, Widths, 802.11 Standards, Bluetooth, NFC, and RFID 10 min
8. Network Hardware: Routers, Switches, Access Points, Patch Panels, Firewalls, PoE, Modems, ONTs, and NICs 10 min
9. Services of Networked Hosts: Server Roles, Internet Appliances, SCADA, and IoT 9 min
10. IPv4 Addressing: Private and Public Ranges, Masks, Gateways, APIPA, and Static Versus Dynamic 11 min
11. IPv6 Essentials: Address Format, Link-Local, Global, Loopback, and Dual Stack 8 min
12. DNS Records and Email Authentication: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC 10 min
13. DHCP, VLANs, and VPNs 10 min
14. SOHO Network Setup, Internet Connection Types, and Network Types 11 min
15. Networking Tools: Crimper, Stripper, Punchdown, Tester, Toner Probe, Loopback Plug, Wi-Fi Analyzer, and Tap 8 min

Every lesson, by unit

Flashcards

455 cards from the cheat sheet and glossary: 272 Acronyms; 8 The exam itself; 15 Network hardware and services; 17 IP addressing and configuration; 6 Internet connection and network types; 7 Displays; 7 Memory, storage, and RAID; 25 Motherboards, CPUs, firmware, and power; 7 Printers; 7 Mobile devices; 15 Virtualization and cloud; 57 Troubleshooting; 12 Networking and hardware tools. Flip, shuffle, mark what you know.

Drill the flashcards

Performance-based questions

10 interactive PBQs: A+ Core 1 PBQs, 220-1201 performance-based questions, A+ PBQ practice. Every task graded and explained, and the official-format test opens with 2 of them.

Try 3 PBQs here

Guides

• CompTIA A+ 220-1201 and 220-1202 Exam Guide
  Both A+ exams explained: format and passing scores, the domains of each, which to take first, and how the two courses split the work.

Questions people ask

How many questions are on the A+ Core 1 exam?

Up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, multiple choice and performance-based. The passing score is 675 on a scale of 100 to 900.

Do I need both A+ exams?

Yes. The A+ certification needs Core 1 (220-1201) and Core 2 (220-1202); this course covers Core 1 and its sister course covers Core 2.

How much does A+ cost?

See CompTIA's current voucher price for each exam; the course is free.

How does the course decide I am ready?

Three of your last five fifty-question practice tests at 80% or better, then one ninety-question test at the real passing score of 675 of 900.

What is on the CompTIA A+ Core 1 220-1201 exam?

Mobile Devices (13%), Networking (23%), Hardware (25%), Virtualization and Cloud Computing (11%), Hardware and Network Troubleshooting (28%). The course's units follow the same domains, and the practice tests draw on the same domain weights.