Breaking into IT, one lab at a time
I'm Vance. I'm studying for the CompTIA A+ and building a real home lab to break into IT — learning by doing, breaking things on purpose, and sharing what works as I go. I built this site myself along the way.
Focus areas on the road to A+
The CompTIA A+ domains I'm working through — and I mean actually working through them, with hands-on practice instead of just hitting play on another video.
Hardware
Identifying, installing and troubleshooting the physical guts of a PC — CPUs, RAM, storage, power, and every cable and connector.
Operating Systems
Installing and configuring Windows and Linux, managing files and users, and getting comfortable in the command line.
Networking
IP addressing, subnets, DNS, ports and protocols — plus configuring and securing a small office / home network.
Security
Permissions, authentication, malware basics, firewalls and backups — the fundamentals of keeping systems and data safe.
Troubleshooting
The CompTIA methodology — identify, theorise, test, resolve, verify, document — applied to real broken systems in a safe lab.
Web Development
My background, and how I built this site — responsive, fast, search-ready front ends with HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
My CompTIA A+ home lab
The A+ really rewards people who've actually touched the hardware and the command line. So here's the lab I'm building at home, and an honest look at where I'm at.
Operating Systems in VMs
Clean installs of Windows 10/11 and Ubuntu Linux in VirtualBox, with snapshots for safe rollbacks. Covers partitioning, boot order, and dual-OS basics.
Command-Line Tools
Hands-on with ipconfig, ping, tracert, chkdsk, sfc, netstat and nslookup on Windows — plus ip, chmod, sudo and grep on Linux. Ran each, read the output, noted what it does.
Networking & SOHO Setup
Configuring static IPs, subnet masks, gateways and DNS by hand on a virtual network, then hardening a SOHO router — SSID, WPA2/WPA3, and port forwarding.
Hardware Teardown
Opening a real PC to identify every component, reseating and swapping RAM, and matching connectors — SATA, M.2, PCIe, and the USB family — by sight.
Troubleshooting & Security
Breaking things on purpose in a safe VM, then walking the CompTIA troubleshooting methodology. Practising permissions, firewall rules, and backup/restore.
Read the full lab guide
The step-by-step write-up of every lab above — how to build a free home lab that gets you hired.
Read the post
Hi, I'm Vance — and I'm switching into IT
I'm studying for the CompTIA A+ and making the move into IT for real. I learn by doing, not by half-watching videos — so I build a home lab, break things on purpose, and write down whatever I figure out along the way.
My start in tech was as a developer, so computers and the command line already feel like home. This site is part portfolio, part study journal — the running record of the work I'm putting in to land my first IT role.
How I got here
I didn't take the straight line into tech. Here's the actual path — restaurants, a first taste of building things, and now IT.
- ~10 years Hospitality
Restaurants & front of house
A decade of long shifts, dinner rushes, and looking after people on their worst days and their best. It taught me to stay calm under pressure, think on my feet, and actually talk to people — the side of IT support you can't cram for.
- Kept service running smoothly through the busiest rushes
- Trained and supported new team members on the floor
- Turned frustrated customers into regulars by listening first
- Learned to read a room and solve problems on the spot
- My way in Threedium
Metaverse Developer
Where a love of tech finally turned into real work — building interactive 3D experiences for the web. It got me genuinely comfortable with computers, code, and chipping away at a hard problem until it gives.
- Built interactive 3D experiences that ran in the browser
- Got comfortable reading and writing real production code
- Learned to debug methodically instead of guessing
- Saw how a product goes from idea to shipped
- Ongoing Self-taught
Web Developer
Building fast, responsive sites by hand with HTML, CSS and JavaScript — including this one. I currently manage and run over five live websites, which is where I learned to ship something real and keep it running.
- Manage and maintain 5+ live websites day to day
- Hand-code responsive front ends with HTML, CSS & JavaScript
- Handle hosting, domains, and keeping sites fast and online
- Learned that shipping is only half the job — upkeep is the rest
- Now Studying CompTIA A+
Aspiring IT Professional
Pointing all of it at IT. I'm working through the CompTIA A+, building a hands-on home lab, and documenting the whole thing here as I go.
- Working through CompTIA A+ Core 1 & 2
- Running a hands-on home lab — VMs, networking, hardware
- Documenting every lab and lesson on the blog
- Building the troubleshooting methodology into muscle memory
Notes on certs & careers
How to Build SEO From Scratch — and Earn Backlinks the Honest Way
A beginner-friendly, white-hat playbook for taking a brand-new site from zero — the foundation to get right first, and the easy, legitimate ways to earn your first backlinks.
Read article
CompTIA A+ Hands-On Labs (Build a Home Lab That Gets You Hired)
The hands-on labs that make A+ concepts stick for good — a free home lab you can build on any computer, mapped to the exam objectives and the PBQs.
Read article Everything You Need to Know About IP Addresses
A plain-English guide to IP addresses — IPv4 vs IPv6, public vs private, static vs dynamic, subnet masks, DNS, DHCP and NAT — the networking core every IT beginner has to know.
Read articleStudying for an IT cert yourself? Help yourself to my free, printable study plans & guides.
My toolkit, so far
The hands-on skills and tools I reach for — grouped the way I actually use them, and still growing.
Operating Systems
- Windows 10 / 11 installs
- macOS & iOS
- Linux basics
- Command line & scripting
Hardware
- PC builds & teardown
- Installing & swapping parts
- IDing parts & connectors
- Hardware troubleshooting
Networking & Security
- Static IP, subnet & DNS setup
- Firewall configuration
- Permissions & user accounts
Web Development
- HTML & CSS (hand-coded)
- JavaScript
- 3D / WebGL
- Shipping & running live sites
Tools
- VirtualBox / VMs
- Git & GitHub
- VS Code
- Astro & Next.js
- AI tools (Claude, Copilot)
Support & Communication
- Customer service (10 yrs)
- Clear, jargon-free explaining
- Staying calm under pressure
Let's
connect
Hiring in IT, on the same path, or just want to talk shop? Drop me a line — I read every message.
vpweb.dev.team@gmail.com