Cisco CCST Networking Certification FAQs

CCST Networking exam is 50 minutes in duration with approximately 40-50 questions. This is an entry-level networking certification and gateway to CCNA exam. Students have the option of either in-person or online testing.

Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) Networking certification prepares you for entry-level roles such as Network Support Technician, Entry-level Help Desk Technician, or IT Support Specialist. You will learn how networks operate, including the devices, media, and protocols that enable network communication.

Develop key skills so you can perform basic troubleshooting, using effective methodologies and help desk best practices. This certification is well-suited for non-technical roles as well such as IT Project Managers. Learn the networking lingo for data center and cloud implementation.

Cisco Exam NumberCCST 100-150
Number of Questions40-50
Duration50 minutes
Pass Score70%
Cost125 USD
Types of Questionmultiple choice, drag and drop

1.0 Standards and Concepts

    • 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, FTP, SFTP, TFTP, HTTP, HTTPS, DHCP, DNS, ICMP, NTP

    2.0 Addressing and Subnet Formats

      • 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

      3.0 Endpoints and Media Types

        • Identify cables and connectors commonly used in local area networks.
          Cable types: fiber, copper, twisted pair; Connector types: coax, RJ-45, RJ-11, fiber
        • 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
          Networking utilities on Windows, Linux
          Run troubleshooting commands; wireless client settings (SSID, authentication, WPA mode)

        4.0 Infrastructure

          • 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, ARP
          • Explain basic switching concepts.
            MAC address tables, MAC address filtering, VLAN

          5.0 Diagnosing Problems

            • 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; how firewalls 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 status; privilege levels; command help and auto-complete

            6.0 Security

              • 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 (WPA).
                WPA, WPA2, WPA3; Personal and Enterprise; wireless security concepts