CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201)

For IT leaders: Help desk tickets stall when frontline staff can't tell whether a failure is hardware, network, or configuration. This course gives new and junior support staff a shared troubleshooting baseline across device hardware, laptop components, mobile devices, networking fundamentals, printer setup, and drive and RAID issues. It is mapped to the CompTIA A+ 220-1201 exam.

• Role fit: Built for Help Desk Technicians, IT Support Specialists, and new hires moving into support roles. Experienced IT Practitioners can use it as a structured refresher before certifying.
• Time investment: About 37 hours across 38 skills, averaging about an hour per skill. That structure helps Training Managers and Team Leads assign focused training blocks without pulling staff away from the queue for days.
• Risk and process: The training reinforces habits that reduce self-inflicted outages and leave a clear record:
  • Get authorization before significant changes.
  • Follow change management.
  • Document every fix.
  • Escalate when needed.
  • Coach users not to enter credentials when certificate errors appear.
• Planning note: Core 1 is one of two exams for A+ certification. Pair it with CompTIA A+ Core 2 (220-1202) for a complete certification path.

Hands-on Virtual Labs let techs practice without touching production. Examples include configuring IPv4 addressing across a Windows client and router, and working with RAID. An included practice test helps Team Leads gauge exam readiness before scheduling.

IT teams use this training to resolve hardware, network, and device issues faster and more consistently. Instead of guessing, technicians work through realistic support scenarios involving common networking devices, drive troubleshooting, printer setup, and basic physical checks like verifying power connections. They also practice network validation tasks, such as confirming addressing, name resolution, and connectivity.

• Shorter time to resolution: Your team applies a structured troubleshooting methodology across endpoint hardware, drives and RAID, printers, mobile devices, and network-connected systems. Technicians test theories, rule out non-problems, and escalate when needed rather than stalling.
• Fewer self-inflicted outages: Technicians learn to get proper authorization and follow change management before significant changes, including scheduling downtime when a fix could temporarily make things worse.
• Reusable institutional knowledge: Your team builds the habit of documenting each resolution, so recurring problems get solved faster months later.
• Reduced security exposure: Your team reinforces security-minded troubleshooting for connected devices, certificate warnings, multifunction security appliances, and centralized log collection.

The result for an IT Director is a help desk that handles endpoint, printer, wireless, virtualization, and cloud support requests with confidence, which means fewer tickets escalated to senior staff.

Knowledge

• How the TCP/IP model organizes network functions, and how hosted services such as DNS, DHCP, web services, and centralized log servers support clients and servers
• Wi-Fi fundamentals for corporate networks, including how wireless controllers manage access points and non-overlapping frequencies, plus where smart cards and IoT fit
• Why IoT and legacy devices create security risk, and why devices that can't be updated or patched need extra precautions
• How PC components fit together, including CPU and motherboard compatibility, BIOS/UEFI, RAM, HDD and SSD storage, RAID, power supplies, cooling, displays, and connectors
• Virtualization requirements such as security, network access, and storage, along with cloud deployment models, service types, and trade-offs
• A structured troubleshooting methodology, including when to escalate and why change management and documentation matter in a business environment

Ability

• Configure IPv4 addressing, then verify name resolution and routing with tools such as ping
• Connect, manage, and synchronize mobile devices, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, captive portals, and mobile device management enrollment
• Install, configure, secure, share, and maintain printers, including unboxing and verifying included components before deployment
• Diagnose problems with the motherboard, CPU, RAM, GPU, and power supply, as well as drive and RAID failures and display or projector issues
• Troubleshoot network symptoms such as packet loss affecting real-time applications, and coach users not to enter credentials when they see certificate warnings
• Work customer scenarios from requirements to recommended technologies, get proper authorization before making changes, and document the fix for future use