Pearson VUE’s OnVUE platform lets you sit most major IT certification exams at home, but the proctoring rules decide your outcome as much as your study does. Sessions are ended every day for reasons that have nothing to do with wrong answers: a second monitor still plugged in, a roommate walking past the door, a VPN the candidate forgot was running. Online proctored exams through OnVUE demand at least 6 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload on a single display running Windows 10 or macOS 14, and any device or network that misses those marks can forfeit your fee before question one appears.
This checklist consolidates the requirements published by Pearson VUE and by CompTIA, the largest vendor delivering exams through OnVUE, into one exam-day sequence. If you cannot satisfy every item below, book a test center instead; the delivery choice is yours at registration, and switching later costs a reschedule.
What OnVUE Requires First
The technical floor is fixed and non-negotiable. Your machine must run Windows 10 or macOS 14 or higher, with no virtual machines, no beta operating systems and no Linux. You need one working webcam, one microphone and wired or built-in speakers; headphones and earbuds are banned on most programs, Bluetooth audio is banned everywhere, and a phone cannot serve as your webcam. Multi-monitor setups are not permitted: disconnect secondary displays and, if they cannot be removed, cover them. Touchscreen input is not allowed either.
The network matters as much as the hardware. The connection must sustain at least 6 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload, and Pearson VUE recommends wired ethernet over Wi-Fi. VPNs, proxies, corporate networks and public or shared networks are all prohibited because they break video streaming and the secure browser. Run the official system test about a week before your exam date on the exact device and connection you will use, then run it again two to three days out; background OS updates between runs are a classic cause of exam-day failures. Restart the computer before check-in and close every application except OnVUE.
The Check-In Window
Check-in is a scheduled procedure, not a courtesy. Follow it in this order:
- Log in to OnVUE up to 30 minutes before your appointment time and launch the secure browser.
- Complete the technology checks the application runs on camera, microphone and network.
- Photograph your government-issued photo ID; the name must exactly match your registration.
- Complete the 360-degree room scan with your webcam, showing the floor, desk surface, walls and ceiling corners.
- Wait for the greeter to review the scan, accept the monitoring consent notice and start the exam.
CompTIA opens check-in 30 minutes before the appointment, and candidates who are more than 15 minutes late cannot test at all. The ID rules trip people up: it must be a valid, undamaged, government-issued original with a recent recognizable photo, and expired, digital or photocopied IDs are rejected on sight. Candidates under 18 need a parent or guardian present with their own ID to consent to recording.
Accommodations such as extra time cannot be added once an exam has started; they must be requested through Pearson VUE before you schedule. The same pre-booking discipline applies to vendor-specific delivery quirks, like the standalone booking route described for OSCP+ without PEN-200, where scheduling mistakes carry direct financial consequences.
Desk and Room Rules
Once check-in finishes, the only writing surface you get is the digital whiteboard inside the exam, and physical notes, pens and paper are banned from the desk. The desk itself must be completely empty except for the testing computer, pre-approved comfort aids and one beverage in an unmarked container. Everything else goes out of arm’s reach and out of sight.
| Item | Status at your desk | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Phone, smartwatch, tablet | Prohibited | Power off, place out of reach and out of view; use only if the proctor permits |
| Second monitor or touchscreen | Prohibited | Disconnect and power down before the room scan |
| Paper, pens, books, whiteboards | Prohibited | Remove from the room; use the digital whiteboard instead |
| Beverage in unmarked container | Allowed | Keep it plain, label-free and on the desk |
| Headphones, earbuds, stylus | Prohibited | Remove entirely; use built-in or wired speakers |
The room has its own rule set. You need an enclosed, private space where nobody, including children, roommates or pets, can enter or pass through once the session starts. Bathrooms, offices, libraries, coffee shops and hotels are all prohibited or strongly discouraged testing environments. Clear whiteboards before check-in, position the screen so no window or glass partition reflects it, and stay seated in full camera view with your face and ears visible until the exam application is fully closed. Most programs offer no breaks at all, so use the restroom before check-in begins.
Violations That End Sessions
Enforcement is tiered but unforgiving. Minor issues usually draw a proctor warning first; continuing the behavior escalates to termination, and violations can end the session immediately, revoke the exam and forfeit the fee. The most common triggers are behavioral, not technical: leaving or leaning out of webcam view, reading questions aloud or mumbling, looking off-screen repeatedly, and a third person entering the room even briefly. Covering the webcam, covering your mouth, or communicating with anyone off-camera are treated as suspected cheating. Pearson VUE also records the entire session, photographs your testing space, and may use facial comparison technology against your ID, so treat every second after check-in as monitored.
Proctors have hard limits on what they can do for you: they cannot pause the exam, extend time, or troubleshoot your device or network. If the application freezes, close and relaunch OnVUE from your downloads folder, but know that lost time stays lost.
When to Choose a Test Center
OnVUE is the right route when you have a quiet private room, reliable personal hardware and a residential connection you control. Choose a physical test center when any of those fail: shared housing, corporate laptops with locked-down security software, unstable Wi-Fi, or a need for physical note-taking, which test centers support with erasable boards. Candidates who want the room-scan and recording experience explained in a broader career context may also find the certification sequencing discussion in this CEH-to-next-exam guide useful for planning what to book after the current exam. OnVUE delivery is also geographically restricted, so confirm availability for your country during registration rather than assuming it.
Sources
- Pearson VUE — Testing requirements for OnVUE online exams
- CompTIA — Online-Proctored Exam Guidelines
- Pearson VUE — CompTIA Online Exams with OnVUE