What is the Nokia NRS I exam?
The Nokia Network Routing Specialist I (NRS I) is the first certification in Nokia's Service Routing Certification program - Nokia's premier training and certification track for IP networking and technical-support professionals supporting business VPNs, residential broadband, mobile backhaul, mobile core, and cloud-optimized networks. One written exam earns it: Nokia IP Networks and Services Fundamentals, exam code 4A0-100.
The format is published on Nokia's exam page, and this guide repeats it exactly: The Nokia IP Networks and Services Fundamentals exam (4A0-100) runs 40 questions in 90 minutes, costs US$125 per attempt, is offered in English only, and carries no mandatory prerequisites.
Delivery is stated word-for-word on Nokia's SRC exams page: Nokia written exams are delivered through Pearson VUE. Exams are offered online and at global test sites in a secure and proctored environment.
What is the 4A0-100 exam format?
Forty questions in 90 minutes, on an appointment booked as 110 minutes. Nokia's exam page publishes the exact block: exam duration 90 minutes, and an exam appointment duration of 110 minutes because the sitting adds a 20-minute introductory survey on top of the exam clock. Plan your day around the 110.
The administrative facts sit in the same block: exam number 4A0-100, language English, price US$125, mandatory prerequisites none, and credit toward the Nokia Network Routing Specialist (NRS I) certification. Nokia does not publish a passing score for the exam - the result you receive is the pass or fail posted to your Student Portal, and Nokia publishes that it can take up to five business days to receive your result from the delivery partner.
The retake rule is the most forgiving published anywhere in the certification market: Nokia's SRC exams page states there is no waiting period required before retaking a failed written exam and no limit on how many times an exam can be rewritten. Every attempt pays the full US$125 fee.
What topics does the Nokia NRS I exam cover?
Nokia publishes the candidate topic list through the course outline for Nokia IP Networks and Services Fundamentals rather than as a weighted domain table - the exam page points candidates to the course objectives and modules for the full list. The scope is the fundamentals of IP networking and VPN service routing on Nokia's Service Router portfolio.
The announced refresh defines exactly what changes. Per Nokia's 2026/27 program update, roughly 25% of the content is refreshed: OSPF is replaced with IS-IS, and a new introduction to Segment Routing and EVPN services is added. The certification stays a single written exam, and a new SR Linux track joins the traditional SR OS track so you can certify on the platform you actually work with - IP Networks and Services Fundamentals with SR OS (4A0-100) or with SR Linux (4A0-S01), either earning the same NRS I.
The practical read for a 2026-2027 candidate: book before February 8, 2027 and you face the current OSPF-based exam; book from March 9, 2027 and you face the refreshed IS-IS, Segment Routing, and EVPN content on your choice of platform. Your preparation material has to match the same side of that line as your booking.
Who is the Nokia NRS I exam for?
There are no mandatory prerequisites - Nokia's exam page states none, which makes 4A0-100 the open entry point to the entire Service Routing Certification program. Nokia positions the SRC program for professionals supporting business VPNs, residential broadband, mobile backhaul, mobile core, and evolving cloud-optimized networks and services.
The path above it is defined: the Nokia Network Routing Specialist II (NRS II) follows with four multiple-choice written exams - or the single composite exam - plus a 3.5-hour practical lab, and the Nokia Service Routing Architect (SRA) sits at the top. Nokia's program update streamlined the SRA effective September 8, 2026, reducing its required written exams from eight to five.
Recertification has a published route as well: Nokia's program update states you can recertify by retaking the NRS I exam on either platform or by passing any other active SRC exam - and during the February 9 to March 8, 2027 blackout, when the NRS I exam itself is unavailable, any other active SRC exam still counts.
What does the Nokia NRS I exam cost?
The fee is US$125 per attempt - Nokia's SRC exams page publishes one flat price for every written exam in the program, and the 4A0-100 exam page confirms the same figure. Scheduling, rescheduling, and cancelling all run through Nokia's Student Portal login, which Pearson VUE's Nokia program page describes as the single portal for managing exams online.
The retake math is simple because there is no penalty structure: no waiting period, no rewrite limit, full US$125 each attempt. A second-attempt pass totals US$250 in exam fees; a third-attempt pass totals US$375. Budget separately for the five-business-day results window - Nokia publishes that it can take up to five business days to receive a result before it posts to your Student Portal.
The full program fee table - US$125 written exams, US$375 NRS II composites, the US$400 SRA composite, and the euro-priced lab exams at EUR650 and EUR1150 - sits in the Nokia SRC certification cost explainer. And if the binding constraint is the calendar rather than the content, Exam Assist handles the Nokia NRS I sitting end to end and you pay only after the pass posts - that commercial path is the take-my Nokia NRS I service page.
Can you take the Nokia NRS I exam online from home?
Yes. Nokia's SRC exams page states it word-for-word: Nokia written exams are delivered through Pearson VUE. Exams are offered online and at global test sites in a secure and proctored environment. Pearson VUE runs a dedicated Nokia OnVUE page with account login through the Student Portal and the System Test.
The published minimums: Windows 10 or macOS 14 or higher; working webcam, microphone, and speaker with no headphones or headsets; one display screen only - multi-monitor setups are not permitted; a stable connection at 6 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload or better; every application except OnVUE closed. Prohibited: virtual machines and beta operating systems, phones, tablets, headphones, earbuds, styluses and watches, smart or connected devices with recording or AI features, secondary or touchscreen displays, and VPN, corporate, or public or shared networks.
The testing space rules: a completely empty desk - a beverage in an unmarked container is the listed exception - and a room scan at check-in. Pearson instructs you to run and pass the System Test on the same device and network you will use on exam day, and warns that failing to meet the minimums on exam day can result in immediate exam cancellation and forfeiture of the exam fee.
How hard is the Nokia NRS I exam, honestly?
The honest answer is that entry level still punishes drift. Forty questions across the IP-fundamentals surface leaves barely two minutes per question, and Nokia does not publish the passing score, so there is no published margin to plan against. Candidates who work daily on Nokia Service Routers still meet addressing and service-routing theory they have not touched since training.
The transition calendar adds a difficulty money cannot fix: the version trap. Book on the wrong side of February 8, 2027 with mismatched prep material and you study OSPF for an IS-IS exam, or the reverse. The blackout from February 9 to March 8, 2027 removes the exam entirely for a month, which compresses bookings into the weeks on either side.
The logistical layer carries its own risk: an unmet OnVUE minimum can mean immediate cancellation and a forfeited US$125 before the first question, and the 20-minute introductory survey inside the 110-minute appointment surprises candidates who planned around 90. Planning the sitting matters as much as knowing the content.
The Nokia Network Routing Specialist I Exam, Summed Up
The Nokia IP Networks and Services Fundamentals exam (4A0-100) runs 40 questions in 90 minutes, costs US$125 per attempt, is offered in English only, and carries no mandatory prerequisites. Delivery runs online from home through Pearson OnVUE or at a Pearson VUE test center, the retake rule has no waiting period and no rewrite limit, and the current version retires February 8, 2027 ahead of the refreshed exams opening March 9, 2027.
If you want the credential without the preparation risk, Exam Assist handles the Nokia NRS I sitting end to end, and the service fee is due only after the agreed result posts - no pass, no fee. Send your role, your window, and your deadline for a straight feasibility answer.