How to Network

How to Network (howtonetwork.com) is a membership site for IT certification training, aimed at people trying to get a first IT job, move up, or go freelance. Its home page puts it plainly: "Whether you are trying to get your first job, get promoted, or start your own IT business, we have a course for you." One membership opens the whole catalog of video courses, labs and practice exams, with networking and cybersecurity at its core and Linux, cloud, programming and project management alongside. The reader it serves is the individual learner preparing for a vendor exam, from complete beginner to advanced level.

What members get

Every plan lists the same features: unlimited IT certification courses, video lessons, exam brain training drills, end-of-lesson exams, instructor-led hands-on labs, end-of-course certificates, a forum supported by experts, "Exam Prep PBQs" (performance-based questions, which the pricing table values at $297), discounts on products and websites, live Linux VMs 24/7 and live Cisco rack access 24/7. The CCNA study guide page sums up the format as video theory lessons, follow-along labs, performance-based questions, practice exams and live Cisco rack access, under the line "Stop Watching. Start Doing."

The live rack access is the distinctive part for networking students: members can practice on real Cisco equipment around the clock rather than only in a simulator, and the CCNA course description says "Live Cisco equipment included and practice exams." The home page counters list 80000 students taught, 300 video lessons and 40 practice exams.

The course catalog

The catalog is organized by vendor and topic, each course tagged by level (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and showing a rating and student count:

• Cisco: CCNA Primer, CCNA, CCNA Exam Coaching, CCNA Cybersecurity, CCST Networking, DevNet Associate, and CCNP Enterprise courses for ENCOR and ENARSI.
• CompTIA: Network+, Security+, SecurityX, CySA+, PenTest+, Linux+, Cloud+, Cloud Essentials, Data+ and Project+.
• Security: ISC2 CC, CISSP and SSCP; ISACA CISA; EC Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH v13).
• Linux: LPI Linux Essentials, LPIC-1, LPIC-2, LPIC-3 Security and Red Hat RHCSA.
• Juniper: JNCIA-Junos, JNCIA-SEC, JNCIS-ENT and JNCIS-SEC.
• Cloud: AWS Solutions Architect and SysOps Associate, Google Cloud Architect, Azure Fundamentals, Azure AI Fundamentals and Azure Developer.
• Networking and wireless: IP Subnetting, a three-level IPv6 track, CWNA, CWSP and Wireshark WCNA.
• Coding Academy: Python courses for the PCEP and PCAP exams, Introduction to Programming Using Python, Web Development Essentials, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and MySQL fundamentals, plus Docker and DevOps Foundations.
• Project management: PMI CAPM and ITIL Foundation.

Some of the most-taken courses by student count are Learn Docker From Scratch (34.6K), CompTIA Linux+ and LPIC-1 (34.5K), CompTIA PenTest+ (33.4K) and IP Subnetting, Zero to Guru (48.5K). Course counts vary by page: the home page counter shows 20 certification courses, while the CCNA guide page advertises "40+ IT Certifications · One Membership."

Career courses sit beside the technical ones. How to Land an Entry Level IT Job offers what the site calls a "proven job hunting system," Freelance IT Jobs covers contract work, and Ace Your IT Exams teaches exam strategy built, in the instructor's words, from "coaching thousands of students." CCNA Exam Coaching sets daily study tasks, exams, labs and strategies aimed at passing first time.

Free resources

Outside the paid membership, the site publishes a free CCNA study guide, which it describes as "the entire 560 page book students have been using since 2004 to pass their CCNA exam," now in its 6th edition. The page says it covers the CCNA 200-301 syllabus, includes 45 mini-labs and 32 full hands-on labs with solutions, and was "Written and edited by three CCIEs." It suggests around two hours of study per day for roughly two months to become exam-ready. The book runs in seven parts, from network fundamentals, network access and IP connectivity through IP services, security fundamentals and network automation to troubleshooting, with chapters on OSPF, EIGRP, VLANs, STP, NAT, access control lists and Cisco DNA Center. Further free material includes study guides for CCNA Security, Network+ and Security+, a network design workbook, free IT webinars, free IT exams and a newsletter with weekly exam tips. The paperback version of the CCNA guide is sold on Amazon.

Plans and pricing

The pricing table lists three plans, all with the same features:

• Access All Areas, Monthly: $29 per month after a 7 day trial for $1. The site explains: "The join fee is $1 one off payment and then after 7 days, $29 per month every month until you cancel," using the coupon code 7days.
• Access All Areas, Yearly: $199 per year, billed annually until canceled, described as "5.1 months free! One Free book!"
• Access All Areas, Lifetime: $497, "One payment, no renewals. Three free books!"

Members can cancel the monthly and yearly plans at any time from their member dashboard. Payments are taken in US dollars through Stripe, which holds the card details, and the site notes it cannot accept UK Solo or Electron cards. The membership page promises "Cancel anytime. No contracts. Instant access on signup." The paid plans begin with that $1 trial week rather than a free plan.

Member case studies

The home page carries case studies from members. Eric Hahn, a former corrections sergeant with no IT experience, writes that he went "from no experience whatsoever to Networking Engineer in less than 11 months." James Hull reports earning his CCENT and CCNA within two months and being hired as a network engineer. Dale McKay describes earning his CCNP, MCSA and CTT+ in one year while working as a corporate trainer for Dell. Brian Williams credits three certifications (A+, Network+, VCA-DCV) with an 8% raise and a 6% bonus. These are individual members' accounts on the company's site.

Who it suits

How to Network suits self-directed learners working toward Cisco, CompTIA, Linux or security certifications who want lab practice on real Cisco equipment and practice exams in one low monthly fee, and career changers who want job-hunting guidance alongside the technical courses. Someone planning several certifications over years can lock in the lifetime plan; someone testing a path can start with the $1 trial week.

It suits teams and schools less well, since the pages describe an individual membership and no admin or reporting tools, and learners who want live classes with a teacher will find the courses are self-paced video and labs.