Google Cloud Network Engineer vs. AWS Advanced Networking
If you run networks in more than one cloud, the question usually is not "which cert is better" but "which one matches the work in front of me?" This post looks at the Google Cloud Professional Cloud Network Engineer (PCNE) alongside the AWS Advanced Networking Specialty, then focuses on what we can verify about the Google exam so you can prepare without guessing.
Both exams sit at the same career stage: you already design and operate cloud networks, and you want a specialty credential that proves it. The AWS Advanced Networking Specialty (exam code ANS-C01) leans toward hybrid connectivity, Direct Connect, Transit Gateway, and DNS at scale. The PCNE covers the equivalent Google Cloud territory. The GCP PCNE vs AWS ANS-C01 decision often comes down to which platform you deploy on day to day, since the deepest study payoff is on the cloud you already touch.
How the Google Cloud PCNE exam is structured
Here are the details Google publishes for the PCNE, verified on 24 August 2026. The exam has 60 questions and a 120-minute time limit, which works out to roughly 120 seconds per question. Delivery is linear, so you move through the questions in order. Notably, Google does not publish a pass score or a scoring scale for this exam, which matters for how you interpret any practice result.
The exam is weighted across six sections. When you look at the vendor's official exam guide, these weights tell you where to spend your study hours.
| Section | Weight |
|---|---|
| Designing and planning a Google Cloud VPC network | 21% |
| Implementing a VPC network | 20% |
| Configuring managed network services | 16% |
| Configuring and implementing hybrid and multicloud network interconnectivity | 16% |
| Managing, monitoring, and troubleshooting network operations | 14% |
| Configuring, implementing and managing a cloud network security solution | 13% |
The two design and implementation sections together account for the largest share, so VPC design and build should anchor your plan. Hybrid and multicloud interconnectivity is where the AWS and Google worlds start to rhyme: if you already know Direct Connect, Cloud Interconnect and VPN will feel familiar in shape even though the details differ.
Practising for the exam honestly
The most useful preparation is a mock test pack that mirrors the real format rather than a generic quiz. Our cloud networking mock test for the PCNE is built to match the published structure. Being upfront about how it differs from the live paper matters, so here is the fidelity note in plain terms.
The mock is multiple-choice and multiple-response, which is the format of the real exam. It covers every section at Google's published weighting and matches the 120-minute limit. Because Google publishes no question count and no pass score, this mock reports proficiency per section rather than a single score. A pass/fail number would be invented, and we will not fabricate one. Instead you see where you are strong and where you are thin across the six domains, which is what actually guides your next study session.
That per-section read is more honest than a made-up percentage, and it happens to be more useful. If your VPC design and implementation sections are solid but hybrid interconnectivity is weak, you know exactly where the next hour goes. Use the full Google Cloud Professional Cloud Network Engineer mock test to rehearse the 120-minute pace, then drill the weakest section on its own.
Which one should you sit?
If your production estate is mostly Google Cloud, the PCNE is the direct fit and the exam you can prepare for most concretely today. If you live in AWS, the Advanced Networking Specialty is the closer match, and you would study its own published guide the same way. Many multicloud engineers eventually take both, using each specialty to formalise skills they already use.
Whichever you choose, timed rehearsal against the real structure is what moves the needle. A focused practise exam under the clock exposes the gaps a reading list hides. When you are ready, get a mock test pack for the PCNE and start with a full-length attempt to set your baseline.