Learn computer networking through lessons, quizzes, hands-on labs and spaced repetition

How every topic is taught

Four modalities, used together. A topic is only described as fully covered when all of the first three are present.

Coverage by topic

How deeply each topic is covered, and by which modalities. Topic coverage and hands-on lab coverage are separate columns: 9 topics of 18 topics have labs, and the rest are taught and assessed without one - sometimes because no lab is written yet, and sometimes because this environment cannot stage one.

Full

Taught, assessed and practised in a lab.

Partial

Two of the three: taught, assessed, or practised.

Conceptual

Taught and assessed, but not practised here.

Not simulated

Subnetica's environment cannot reproduce this.

Showing all 18 topics. Pick an exam to see how many of its objectives each topic covers.

Certification coverage

Subnetica is a networking platform first; certification blueprints are a useful external check on how broad the curriculum actually is. Coverage is computed by mapping lessons, quizzes and labs onto published objectives - never asserted.

What Subnetica cannot simulate

Subnetica runs real routing software on virtual networks in the browser. That is what makes the labs cheap enough to regenerate on every attempt, and it is also a hard ceiling: 17 objectivesacross the two blueprints describe hardware, radio, or physical media that a virtual network has nothing to bind to. They are listed here rather than quietly omitted, because a candidate needs to know where to study something else.

Wireless networking

Subnetica's networks are wired. There is no radio to configure, no access point or controller to manage, and no signal behaviour to observe, so wireless is not taught here - study it elsewhere.

Affected objectives

• 1.11 Describe wireless principles (Cisco CCNA)
• 2.6 Describe Cisco Wireless Architectures and AP modes (Cisco CCNA)
• 2.7 Describe physical infrastructure connections of WLAN components (Cisco CCNA)
• 2.8 Describe AP and WLC management access connections (Cisco CCNA)
• 2.9 Interpret the wireless LAN GUI configuration for client connectivity (Cisco CCNA)
• 5.9 Describe wireless security protocols (WPA, WPA2, WPA3) (Cisco CCNA)
• 5.10 Configure and verify WLAN within the GUI using WPA2 PSK (Cisco CCNA)
• 2.3 Given a scenario, select and configure wireless devices and technologies (CompTIA Network+)

Physical media and cabling

Cabling, connectors and transceivers are physical, and Subnetica's networks are not. Faults that live in the wire - duplex and speed mismatches, errors, collisions - cannot be staged here. Cabling concepts are taught in a lesson; the hands-on half needs real hardware.

Affected objectives

• 1.4 Identify interface and cable issues (collisions, errors, duplex/speed) (Cisco CCNA)
• 5.2 Given a scenario, troubleshoot common cabling and physical interface issues (CompTIA Network+)

Link aggregation

Bundling several links into one logical connection is not something Subnetica's networks can currently express.

Affected objectives

• 2.4 Configure and verify Layer 2/Layer 3 EtherChannel (LACP) (Cisco CCNA)

Time synchronisation

Every device in a Subnetica lab already agrees on the time, so there is no clock drift to correct and nothing an NTP exercise could meaningfully fix.

Affected objectives

• 4.2 Configure and verify NTP operating in client and server mode (Cisco CCNA)

Quality of service

Subnetica's networks do not carry enough traffic to congest, so prioritising one kind of traffic over another has no observable effect to configure against or verify.

Affected objectives

• 4.7 Explain the forwarding per-hop behavior (PHB) for QoS (Cisco CCNA)

VPNs and encrypted tunnels

Site-to-site and remote-access VPNs cannot be built or verified in Subnetica's environment.

Affected objectives

• 5.5 Describe IPsec remote access and site-to-site VPNs (Cisco CCNA)

Switch port security features

Port security, DHCP snooping and dynamic ARP inspection are features of switch hardware. Subnetica's switches do not implement them, so there is nothing to enable or to violate.

Affected objectives

• 5.7 Configure and verify Layer 2 security features (DHCP snooping, dynamic ARP inspection, port security) (Cisco CCNA)

Centralised authentication

There is no RADIUS or TACACS+ server in a Subnetica lab, so centralised authentication, authorisation and accounting cannot be configured against one.

Affected objectives

• 5.8 Compare authentication, authorization, and accounting concepts (Cisco CCNA)

Monitoring and telemetry

SNMP polling and flow export are not available in Subnetica's environment, and the devices do not generate a steady enough stream of events for a monitoring exercise to grade fairly. Monitoring is covered as a concept in a lesson instead.

Affected objectives

• 3.2 Given a scenario, use network monitoring technologies (CompTIA Network+)

Excluding those, Subnetica covers 100% of Cisco Certified Network Associate and 100% of CompTIA Network+ - every objective in either blueprint that this environment can teach honestly.

Where to start

The learning paths sequence this material - lessons, quizzes and labs in the order that builds on itself. You do not need a certification goal to use them.