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Exam Information
Official specifications published by Aruba
Exam Format
Registration
Skills this practice test covers
- Convert values between binary, decimal and hexadecimal by hand.
- Trace a message through OSI encapsulation and the TCP 3-way handshake.
- Explain how a switch fills its MAC address table and keeps VLANs apart.
- Route traffic between VLANs through a default gateway or a multilayer switch.
- Choose Wi-Fi channels and transmit power that limit interference between access points.
- Deploy a WLAN through the HPE Aruba Networking Central wizard.
Explore related topics
HPE3-U01 exam content
7 domains · 38 topics · 150 questions
Network Fundamentals9%13 questions
This domain starts at the beginning: what a network is, how a LAN differs from a WAN, and which media carry the signal. It also asks for conversions between number systems, a skill that IP addressing needs later.
Skills tested
- Define a LAN and a WAN and name the components of each.
- Compare copper twisted pair, fiber optic and wireless media.
- Tell unicast, multicast and broadcast delivery apart.
- Convert a decimal value to binary and to hexadecimal.
Questions by topic
- Explain Different Media type3
- Compare Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast3
- Convert Numbering Systems/ Numerical Conversion3
- Defining networking, LAN, WAN and their components4
Network Communications Model20%30 questions
This domain explains how two hosts talk to each other. Candidates name the OSI layers, follow headers through encapsulation and explain how TCP opens a connection. It also covers common services such as DHCP, DNS, SSH and LLDP.
Skills tested
- Name the seven OSI layers, the job of each, and the protocol data unit (PDU) at each layer.
- Describe how headers are added during encapsulation and removed during de-encapsulation.
- Explain the SYN, SYN-ACK and ACK steps of the TCP 3-way handshake.
- Match DHCP, DNS, HTTP, SSH, FTP, LLDP and ICMP to the work each one does.
Questions by topic
- Explain OSI model layers4
- Explain the TCP 3-way handshake5
- Common Networking Services- DHCP, DNS, HTTP, SSH, FTP, LLDP, ICMP12
- Describe how common L2 to L7 protocols works4
- Describe the encapsulation process and headers5
Networking Devices18%26 questions
This domain compares the devices that make up a network: switches, routers, multilayer switches, access points and wireless routers. It also covers the AOS-CX network operating system, with its CLI contexts, show commands and a basic configuration.
Skills tested
- Pick the right device for a need, such as a multilayer switch to route between VLANs.
- Move to the correct CLI context in AOS-CX before entering a command.
- Read show command output to check the state of a device.
- Apply a basic first-time configuration to a switch.
Questions by topic
- Routers5
- Networking OS-CX Network Operating System- CLI contexts, Show Commands9
- Multilayer switches3
- Basic config4
- Switches3
- AP2
L2 Switching12%18 questions
This domain explains how a switch forwards frames inside one network. Candidates read MAC address and ARP tables, split a network with VLANs, and explain how redundant links can create loops.
Skills tested
- Compare collision domains with broadcast domains.
- Explain how a switch learns MAC addresses and forwards frames from its MAC address table.
- Separate traffic with VLANs and describe 802.1Q tagging.
- Explain how redundant links cause L2 loops and how the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) stops them.
Questions by topic
- Compare and describe Collison and Broadcast domains3
- Explain MAC table-based switching3
- Describe MAC address and ARP forwarding tables4
- Explain and avoid L2 loops4
- Describe VLANs4
Internetwork Communication9%14 questions
This domain moves traffic from one network to another. Candidates explain IP addressing, the default gateway, routing between VLANs and the IPv6 address format.
Skills tested
- Work out IPv4 subnets and the host addresses inside them.
- Explain why a host sends traffic for other networks to its default gateway.
- Follow the inter-VLAN routing process on a multilayer switch.
- Describe the IPv6 address format and the main IPv6 address types.
Questions by topic
- Default Gateway3
- Inter-VLAN routing process3
- IPv6 address describe4
- IP Addressing2
- IP Routing2
WLAN Fundamentals23%34 questions
The largest domain covers Wi-Fi from the radio wave up. Candidates explain the 802.11 standards and amendments, how RF signals travel, and how channel choice causes or prevents interference. Antennas, transmit power, roaming and 802.11 frames complete it.
Skills tested
- Match 802.11 amendments to the Wi-Fi generations they define.
- Plan RF channels that limit adjacent channel and co-channel interference.
- Relate transmit power in dBm to the coverage of an access point.
- Explain how antennas shape the area that an RF signal covers.
- Describe client roaming and the jobs of management and control frames.
Questions by topic
- 801.11 standards and amendments4
- Interference ACI & CCI4
- RF transmit power levels4
- Management and control frames4
- WLAN Mobility and Roaming4
- Antenna usage and fundamentals5
- RF Channels4
- 802.11 Header3
- RF Communications – RF signal propagation2
Deploying WLANs with HPE Aruba Networking Central9%15 questions
This domain brings the wireless topics together in a cloud-managed network. Candidates separate the planes of a network device, compare local and server-based management, and follow the HPE Aruba Networking Central wizard that deploys a WLAN.
Skills tested
- Tell the management, control and data planes of a device apart.
- Compare local management with server-based and cloud-based management.
- List what an access point needs before it can communicate with HPE Aruba Networking Central.
- Put the stages of the Central WLAN wizard in order.
Questions by topic
- Network Device planes4
- HPE Aruba Networking Central requisites and communication to AP4
- Differentiate between local and server-based mgmt.3
- Stages of the HPE Aruba Networking Central wizard to deploy a WLAN4
Requirements
- No formal prerequisites: anyone can book the exam.
- Recommended: the Introduction to HPE Aruba Networking Solutions course.
About the HPE3-U01 exam
The HPE3-U01 exam checks the wired and wireless networking basics that a new network technician needs. Its topics run from binary numbers and the OSI model to a wireless LAN (WLAN) deployed from the cloud. HPE writes it for people with little to no experience with computer networking. WLAN Fundamentals is the largest domain, with 802.11 standards, RF channels, antennas and frames. Passing earns the HPE Aruba Networking Certified Network Technician (Aruba-ACNT) certification.
The PlanetCert practice test puts the most questions into WLAN Fundamentals, in line with its weight on the exam. Each explanation gives the reason behind the answer, such as why a switch floods a frame for an unknown MAC address to every port in its VLAN. Flashcard mode suits the protocol names and Wi-Fi terms that candidates must remember. Brainy AI Assistant can walk through a binary-to-hexadecimal conversion step by step, or explain how transmit power changes coverage.
How to earn the certification
- Earns
- HPE Aruba Networking Certified Network Technician (Aruba-ACNT)Technician (entry-level)
- After
- HPE6-A78 HPE Aruba Networking Certified Associate - Network Security
The associate level follows the technician level. This associate exam is about network security.
- HPE6-A78 HPE Aruba Networking Certified Associate - Network Security
How to prepare for HPE3-U01
- 1
Convert numbers until it is easy
Network Fundamentals asks for conversions between binary, decimal and hexadecimal. Convert a few IPv4 addresses each day, by hand and without a calculator.
- 2
Sketch the OSI layers from memory
Write each layer, its PDU name and one protocol that works there. Then trace a web request through encapsulation and the TCP 3-way handshake.
- 3
Try AOS-CX commands on a switch
Where a lab switch is available, move between CLI contexts, run show commands and enter a basic configuration. The Networking Devices domain expects this command-line view.
- 4
Spend the most time on Wi-Fi
WLAN Fundamentals is the largest domain. Study the 802.11 amendments, RF channels, dBm values, ACI and CCI, antennas and roaming, then the management and control frames.
- 5
Study by domain, then sit a full run
Work through the HPE3-U01 practice test one domain at a time in Study Mode, then take a full run in Timed Mode. Ask Brainy AI Assistant about any RF or Central question that went wrong.
Start a timed HPE3-U01run
HPE recommends the Introduction to HPE Aruba Networking Solutions course, offered as web-based, instructor-led or virtual instructor-led training.
Who HPE3-U01 is for
- People new to networking who want a first certification from HPE Aruba Networking.
- Help desk and field technicians who set up switches and access points on campus networks.
- Learners who plan to continue to the HPE Aruba Networking associate level.
Typical job titles: Network technician · IT support technician · Help desk technician · Wireless network technician · Junior network administrator
HPE3-U01 glossary
18 terms from the exam objectives and the vendor's official material, each defined in a sentence.
- 802.1Q
- The standard that adds a VLAN tag to Ethernet frames, so that one link can carry traffic for several VLANs.
- ACI
- Adjacent channel interference: signals on overlapping neighboring channels damage each other's frames.
- AOS-CX
- The HPE Aruba Networking operating system for its switches. Administrators work with it through CLI contexts and show commands.
- Broadcast domain
- The set of devices that receive each other's broadcasts. A router or a VLAN boundary marks its edge.
- CCI
- Co-channel interference: nearby access points on the same channel must take turns to transmit, which slows each of them down.
- Collision domain
- A network segment in which frames from two devices can collide. Each switch port is its own collision domain.
- Control plane
- The part of a network device that decides how traffic is forwarded, for example by running routing protocols.
- dBm
- A unit of radio power in decibels, measured against one milliwatt. A value of 0 dBm equals one milliwatt.
- Default gateway
- The router address that a host sends traffic to when the destination is on another network.
- Encapsulation
- The process in which each layer adds its own header to the data before it passes the data down to the next layer.
- HPE Aruba Networking Central
- HPE's cloud-based platform for managing network devices. It includes a wizard that deploys a WLAN in stages.
- LLDP
- The Link Layer Discovery Protocol, which lets directly connected devices tell each other their name, port and abilities.
- MAC address table
- The table in which a switch records which port leads to each MAC address, so that it can send a frame out of one port only.
- Multilayer switches
- Switches that can also route traffic between VLANs, so they do Layer 3 work as well as Layer 2 switching.
- OSI model
- A reference model with seven layers that describes each stage of network communication, from the physical signal to the application.
- STP
- The Spanning Tree Protocol, which blocks redundant switch links so that frames cannot loop through the network forever.
- TCP 3-way handshake
- The SYN, SYN-ACK and ACK messages that two hosts exchange to open a TCP connection.
- VLAN
- A virtual LAN: a group of switch ports that forms its own broadcast domain, even when it shares hardware with other groups.
Related practice tests
- HPE7-A01Aruba Campus Access Professional (Written)
- HPE6-A88HPE Aruba Networking ClearPass
- ACMP_6.4Aruba Certified Mobility Professional 6.4
- HPE6-A78HPE Aruba Networking Certified Associate - Network Security
- HPE7-A02HPE Aruba Networking Certified Network Security Professional