If you're serious about becoming a cloud networking expert, the AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty certification is one of the most respected and challenging credentials out there.
In this post, I’ll walk you through the exam, share the best study resources, and offer real-world insights from my work as a Senior Consultant at an AWS Premier Partner — where I’ve designed and deployed complex, large-scale AWS network architectures for multiple enterprise customers.
✅ Why This Certification?
This cert is perfect for:
- 🧠 Network Engineers working in hybrid or cloud-first environments
- ☁️ Cloud Architects designing scalable, secure connectivity
- 🔒 Security professionals focused on network governance
The exam dives deep into:
- VPC design
- Hybrid architectures (VPN, Direct Connect)
- Routing (BGP, Transit Gateway)
- DNS, Global Accelerator
- Network security and performance monitoring
🛠️ My Journey as a AWS Premire partner employee and AWS Community builder
As a Senior Cloud Consultant at an AWS Premier Partner, I’ve been fortunate to work with large-scale enterprises across sectors like finance, healthcare, and retail. Designing and deploying multi-account, hybrid AWS networking solutions with Transit Gateways, Direct Connect, BGP failover, and PrivateLink was part of my day-to-day work.
But equally important was my role as an AWS Community Builder — a space that provided deep technical discussions, beta access to upcoming features, and mentorship opportunities from AWS heroes and solutions architects.
This blend of hands-on consulting and community collaboration gave me an edge while preparing for the AWS Networking Specialty exam. It helped me approach exam scenarios like I would in a client engagement — not just answering questions, but thinking in terms of design trade-offs, scalability, and security posture.
💡 Being part of the AWS community isn’t just about giving back — it’s about leveling up your thinking alongside global professionals.
This isn’t just a paper exam — it's a real-world readiness test.
🧾 Exam Overview
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Code | ANS-C01 |
| Format | Multiple-choice & multiple-response |
| Duration | 170 minutes |
| Cost | $300 USD |
| Experience | 5+ years in networking, 2+ years with AWS |
| Main Domains | Design, Implementation, Operations, Security |
📚 Recommended Resources
1️⃣ Cloud Academy – Learning Path
Link: Cloud Academy Learning Path
- Structured modules with labs and quizzes
- Includes Cloud Playground for sandbox practice
2️⃣Udemy – Zeal Vora’s Course
Link: AWS Advanced Networking Specialty on Udemy
- 18+ hours of deep dives
- Diagrams + exam simulations
- Real customer scenarios
3️⃣ *Qwiklabs *
Link: Qwiklabs Networking Quests
- Labs on:
- Transit Gateway
- VPC Peering
- Direct Connect
- DNS Forwarding
- Real AWS console access (great for practical learning)
4️⃣ AWS Skill Builder & Whitepapers
- Skill Builder Jam Sessions
-
Whitepapers to read:
- Hybrid Connectivity Whitepaper
- AWS Transit Gateway Guide
- Well-Architected Framework: Networking Lens
🧪 My Study Plan (4-Week Sprint)
Week 1-2
- Watch full Udemy course
- Focus on VPC, Subnets, Security Groups, NACLs
- Draw diagrams after each topic
Week 3
- Dive into Direct Connect, VPNs, BGP
- Complete Qwiklabs quests
- Lab real-world scenarios I handled in my consulting role
Week 4
- Study Route 53, DNS resolution, Global Accelerator
- Practice failover and routing edge cases
- Review whitepapers + take practice tests
🔥 Pro Tips for the Exam
- ✍️ Draw your architectures — don’t just read them
- ⚙️ Know your route tables, route propagation, and how AWS handles overlapping CIDRs
- 🧱 Security Group + NACL logic shows up in tricky ways
- ⚙️ AWS Cloudwan and TGW with public & private VIF need to consider
- ☁️ Study hybrid connectivity failover deeply (VPN/Direct Connect redundancy)
🎯 Final Thoughts
This exam is tough — but extremely rewarding. It’s helped me become a better architect and has made my conversations with customers more impactful and design-driven.
If you're serious about AWS Networking, start building today.
Combine real-world labs, courses, and experience — and you’ll crush the exam.
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned:
“You don’t just pass this exam by memorizing facts — you need to understand how AWS networking behaves under real pressure.”
That’s why I highly recommend blending structured learning with hands-on labs. This certification tests not just your knowledge — but your ability to design under constraints, troubleshoot complex topologies, and communicate architecture clearly.
Got questions? Drop a comment! Happy to share more stories or help you plan your study path.
Top comments (6)
I want learn AWS from scratch please help me from where should i have to learn? Please share any resources, your experience how you started? Which basic knowledge we should have before starting AWS like Networking, etc. How to earn certificate means is there any tips to grab free certification voucher of cloud practioner certificate?
Hi Raj,
If you are a student, you can start with aws educate else you can start with aws skill builder which is partly free. AWS announces promitional offer sometimes 100% voucher but mostly 50% you will surely get, keep an eye on AWS Linkedin page
Okay thank you brother yes j am student and I'm also intrested in DevOps so what should i do first? Like i know first learning aws will meaningful but still want to hear from you like i am confused like in devops with python what libraries to learn and everything if possible will you help me to clear my doubts as guidance from experience person will helpful to clear doubts
Devops is vast field, you cann't learn devops properly without working for projects, but definitely you can start learning devops with git,jenkins,cicd pipelines etc .Also in devops there is two part devops infra which are the different devops tools and devops development part where you may need write code for lambda,cdk etc for aws eviorment
pretty cool seeing how much real experience actually shapes all this - you think grit or curiosity makes a bigger difference when pushing through the hard parts?
Yes, expereince matters but passing exam depends on mindset,hardwork n guidance etc.