CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) — the full course

Every lesson and every lab is free to read, mapped one-to-one to CompTIA’s published exam objectives. The paid tier adds the 595-question exam simulator; nothing is taken away from the free course to make room for it.

45written lessons

62hands-on labs

60hours of lab work

595practice questions

Start with lesson 1 — Inside a laptop: what comes out, what does not, and the order it comes out in Exam simulator

Jump to a domain: 1. Mobile devices · 2. Networking · 3. Hardware · 4. Virtualization and cloud computing · 5. Hardware and network troubleshooting

What the exam weighs

Domain	Share of the exam	Lessons here
1. Mobile devices	13%	6
2. Networking	23%	10
3. Hardware	25%	11
4. Virtualization and cloud computing	11%	5
5. Hardware and network troubleshooting	28%	12

The curriculum

1. Mobile devices 13% of the exam

01 Inside a laptop: what comes out, what does not, and the order it comes out in objective 1.1 part single
- Read a service manual and write the disassembly order before touching anything short · 35 min
02 Displays, cameras and the antennas hidden in the lid objective 1.1 part single
- Build a lid fault decision table and test it against five described symptoms applied · 70 min
- Prove a backlight is alive with a torch, and map what runs through a hinge short · 30 min
03 USB, Bluetooth, NFC and docking: connecting a mobile device to everything else objective 1.2 part single
- Diagnose a dock by symptom, using a table you build from the four negotiations applied · 75 min
- Classify every cable you own by what it actually carries short · 40 min
04 Mobile connectivity: Wi-Fi, cellular data, tethering and hotspots objective 1.3 part single
- Run the three-question split against five real connectivity faults applied · 70 min
- Measure what each tethering method costs in battery and throughput short · 40 min
05 Accounts, mail and synchronisation, and what 'synced' actually means objective 1.3 part single
- Prove the difference between IMAP and POP3 by watching both short · 45 min
06 Mobile fault finding: separating hardware, software and account problems objective 1.4 part single
- Write the pre-wipe checklist and prove each item on your own device applied · 80 min
- Domain 1 capstone: a mobile triage runner that refuses to guess capstone · 120 min
- Find out what your own phone is actually spending battery and storage on short · 30 min

2. Networking 23% of the exam

01 The ports and protocols you have to know cold, and how to learn them once objective 2.1 part single
- Read your own machine's connections and name every service by its port short · 35 min
02 TCP, UDP, and what the transport layer decides for you objective 2.1 part single
- Make a connection refuse, and make another one hang, and time both short · 35 min
03 Wireless standards, frequencies and the channel plan nobody made objective 2.1 part single
- Survey the air around you and record numbers instead of bars short · 40 min
04 DNS, DHCP and the services a network cannot run without objective 2.1 part single
- Break name resolution five ways and find each one from the symptom applied · 80 min
- Watch a lease being taken, and read every field it hands over short · 40 min
05 IPv4 addressing, subnets, and why the mask matters more than the address objective 2.2 part single
- Decide twenty same-network questions by hand, then check every one short · 40 min
06 IPv6, APIPA, and choosing between static and dynamic addressing objective 2.2 part single
- Produce an APIPA address on purpose and read what it tells you short · 35 min
07 Setting up a small office network: the router, the wireless and the defaults objective 2.2 part single
- Build the network in a hypervisor and prove the isolation actually isolates applied · 90 min
- Write the build order and the addressing plan before touching a router short · 40 min
08 VPNs and remote access for the small office objective 2.2 part single
- Predict what a VPN changes, then verify each prediction short · 40 min
09 Copper, fibre, and terminating a cable that actually works objective 2.3 part single
- Terminate one cable correctly, one wrongly, and record what each proves short · 60 min
10 Network tools: what a tester, a toner and an analyser each actually prove objective 2.3 part single
- Choose the cheapest tool for ten stated symptoms and defend every choice applied · 80 min
- Domain 2 capstone: a connectivity runner that stops at the first failed layer capstone · 120 min
- Test both cables and record what the pass did not prove short · 45 min

3. Hardware 25% of the exam

01 CPUs: sockets, cores, and the thermal limit that decides real speed objective 3.1 part single
- Find your own processor's limits and watch it throttle short · 45 min
02 RAM: types, channels, and what actually fails objective 3.1 part single
- Read your own memory configuration and find out whether it is dual channel short · 40 min
03 Storage: spinning disks, solid state, and the interfaces they arrive on objective 3.1 part single
- Identify every drive you own by interface, protocol and form factor short · 40 min
04 RAID levels, and the array that is not a backup objective 3.1 part single
- Compute capacity and survival for twelve array configurations, then answer four outage questions applied · 80 min
05 Display connectors: HDMI, DisplayPort, and the adapter that will not work objective 3.2 part single
- Work out the bandwidth budget for three display configurations short · 40 min
06 USB, Thunderbolt, and cables that charge but do not carry data objective 3.2 part single
- Build the cable and port decision tree, and test it on the awkward cases applied · 75 min
- Measure what each USB port on your machine actually delivers short · 40 min
07 Printer types, and how each one actually puts ink on paper objective 3.3 part single
- Map twelve print quality symptoms onto the stage that produced them short · 40 min
08 Installing, sharing and securing a printer objective 3.3 part single
- Audit a networked printer as the computer it is applied · 70 min
- Clear a stuck queue properly and prove the order of operations matters short · 35 min
09 Scanners, input devices and the peripherals that arrive with them objective 3.3 part single
- Find the settings that change scan file size by a factor of sixteen short · 35 min
10 Motherboards: form factors, headers, and the firmware underneath objective 3.4 part single
- Document your own firmware settings before you ever need them short · 40 min
11 Power supplies, wattage, connectors and keeping the heat out objective 3.4 part single
- Measure the thermal effect of airflow you can change for nothing applied · 90 min
- Domain 3 capstone: a build sheet that refuses an incompatible combination capstone · 130 min
- Size a supply for a real build and compare against what is fitted short · 40 min

4. Virtualization and cloud computing 11% of the exam

01 Hypervisors: type 1, type 2, and what each one is for objective 4.1 part single
- Find out whether your own machine can virtualise, and fix it if not short · 35 min
02 Building a virtual machine that does not fight you objective 4.1 part single
- Prove each network mode isolates what it claims to isolate applied · 85 min
- Build one guest, size it deliberately, and measure what a snapshot costs short · 70 min
03 Virtual desktops, thin clients, and what the endpoint still needs objective 4.1 part single
04 Cloud service models, and who patches what objective 4.2 part single
- Write the responsibility matrix for one service and find what nobody owns applied · 80 min
- Classify twelve real services by what the customer still has to patch short · 40 min
05 Cloud characteristics and deployment models objective 4.2 part single
- Domain 4 capstone: a placement recommender that states what it cannot decide capstone · 120 min

5. Hardware and network troubleshooting 28% of the exam

01 The troubleshooting method, and why the order of the steps matters objective 5.1 part single
- Convert three user stories into symptoms, and find what the story left out short · 35 min
02 A machine that will not start: no power, no POST, no display objective 5.1 part single
- Separate no power, no POST and no display on a machine you can safely stop short · 45 min
03 Intermittent faults: heat, power, and the ones that come back objective 5.1 part single
- Force a thermal condition and instrument it so the evidence survives a reboot short · 60 min
04 Storage failures: reading the warning signs and getting the files off objective 5.1 part single
- Read every drive's health data and rehearse the copy-first order short · 45 min
05 Display problems, from the panel to the cable objective 5.1 part single
- Plant four display faults and time how long each takes to find short · 45 min
06 Printer faults you can diagnose without a service manual objective 5.1 part single
- Prove the self-test page divides the problem in one step short · 35 min
07 A network connection that is not working objective 5.1 part single
- Plant six connectivity faults and prove the sequence stops at the right layer applied · 90 min
- Run the outward sequence on a healthy machine and record what each step proved short · 40 min
08 Wireless problems: signal, interference and roaming objective 5.1 part single
- Map signal against throughput across your own space short · 50 min
09 The multimeter, and what a reading actually tells you objective 5.2 part single
- Prove the meter before you use it, then test a cable, a fuse and a switch short · 50 min
10 Testing a power supply without guessing objective 5.2 part single
- Measure the rails at idle and under load, and compare against tolerance short · 50 min
11 Cable testers, toners and loopback plugs objective 5.2 part single
- Prove a port with a loopback and distinguish it from the loopback address short · 40 min
12 Building a test kit, and knowing what each tool proves objective 5.2 part single
- Merge every table in the course into one symptom-to-tool map applied · 90 min
- Domain 5 capstone: a triage runner with four outcomes, proven on planted faults capstone · 150 min
- Assemble the kit, prove every spare, and label what has not been proven short · 45 min

Supplementary not examined — background reading

01 A bench you can actually build, and what it costs to prove each thing part single
- Inventory the bench you have, price the one you need, and write the safety card short · 45 min

The exam simulator

595 questions, every one mapped to an objective and to the lesson that teaches it. Timed full-length papers drawn to the real domain split, retakes weighted to your weak areas, and a readiness report from your own results.

Open the simulator

This is an independent study companion for CompTIA A+ Core 1 220-1201 and is not produced by or endorsed by CompTIA.