2005 CCNA exam...advice/opinions?

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benhart

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Aug 26, 2005
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All, Hey Im a n00b here so go easy on me ;-)

Ok like alot of people who've posted here I'm in the planning phase of the CCNA cert. I currently hold the following:
A+
Network+
MCP
MCSA:Win2k

Before OCT I will have upgraded my MCSA to Server '03

Ok so I had first thought that I'd buy the hardware...yeah right! Even on eBay 2900 switches and 2500 routers are higher than nuts on a giraffe. So I found this NetSim...It let's me configure a network on an unlimited number of routers and 1900/2950 switches...it seem pretty good.

but my question is geared towards the exam content... What is the contant on the 2005 exma..I think the number is 604-801??

Has it been updated this year or was it last year? I'm looking for reading material...specificall Sybex as I've had great luck with them in the past. can anyone tell me if the 2003 4th edition of the Sybex study guide would contain all the pertinent info for this exam nowadays? Or would I need their 5th and most recent edition? Opinion on study guides?

thanks all!!!
 
As with all "cert" exams you need to know THEIR answer. With your M$ test you need the M$ answer. With Cisco you need the Cisco answer. Just know your shit in the "Cisco" way and you'll do fine.
 
Wolf-R1 said:
As with all "cert" exams you need to know THEIR answer. With your M$ test you need the M$ answer. With Cisco you need the Cisco answer. Just know your shit in the "Cisco" way and you'll do fine.
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Definitely, that's righ out of the Sybex CCNA Study Guide.

Which I picked up today. Woo! Start class Monday.
 
unless you took a cisco course or two you'll probably be totally screwed. Unless you really know networking or something. their tests are mad hard.
 
You can get 2501,2513, or 1601R routers for about $30 on eBay.
 
Dallows said:
unless you took a cisco course or two you'll probably be totally screwed. Unless you really know networking or something. their tests are mad hard.
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This is bullshit. Step aside and let the others through
 
how is it bullshit? Please back up your claims with fact. It's a cisco test, thus you must know cisco's material and understand how cisco makes their tests and what kind of tests they are, and whats on them. Unless something's changed in the last year it's still the same basic test with altered questions here and there. And if it's bullshit then why have so many people who've taken it told me the same thing? You wouldn't be able to pass a windows test if you studied linux would you? If you're not going to take a cisco course, at least pick up a book of theirs and read it.
 
millhouse said:
This is bullshit. Step aside and let the others through
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Jesus, that's a condecending statement. And it's not bullshit -- if it is, please tell us why. While "screwed" is probably too strong of a word, reading a CCNA exam book is certainly better than not reading one at all.
 
Dallows said:
unless you took a cisco course or two you'll probably be totally screwed. Unless you really know networking or something. their tests are mad hard.
Click to expand...

I disagree (I won't be quite as harsh as the other guy :D ) I bought the Sybex book, got some NetSim software, and passed the CCNA with plenty of room to spare. It did however take some hard work, I studied for several months, a couple hours or so a day.

I think the classes are a waste of money for people who have an IT background (I just had a couple years at a helpdesk and outage support) and enough discipline to work at learning this stuff every day. It certainly is not easy, but it is not necessary to spend 3k on those Cisco acadedmy courses.
 
CCNA is a great cert, especially for a budding IT professional. Good choice.

But now the hard part, getting it done.

I promise you that you can pass the test if you study for 2 weeks. However, you will not know the material to the extent necessary to apply it in the work environment. Here's what you'll want to do in order to actually LEARN the subjects necessary to pass.

1) Download any study material you can find and organize it as best as possible. (Sybex, Cisco Text, Labs, Case Studies..etc)

2) Prioritize learning objectives and identify your weakest area. Due to the Cisco tests being adaptive, your weakest area WILL be tested harder than any other.

3)Once you feel you've got a good grasp of the basics, get some lab experience. OSPF/RIP will be your major protocols for the exam, but know EVERYTHING. From which modes to enter ('global' vs. 'exec' vs 'interface' vs 'protocol') commands to the formating of 'show' commands and what information is provided (and what format that information provided is in)

4) Now download TestKing/ActualTest and run through them once or twice. Do not attempt to memorize the questions, however, memorizing the explinations for the questions is incredibly beneficial. Due to the fact that the explinations reveal alot more about the subject material than just the answer. That one explination could help answer 10 problems alone. Watch out for the occasional wrong answer, but if you studied well enough you should catch it.

5) Take the test. Get a good nights sleep, eat something that has no risk of making you sick (no dairy, for the love of pete), and get to the test center alittle early. During the test identify your weakest area. (LAST DITCH EFFORT: Learn as much from the questions themselves as you possibly can about your weakest area). At the end of the test, you will receive a volley of questions related to your weakest subject, this will either kill you or make you extremely confident.

The lab: Should be pretty simple, look for subnets out of place and advertised routes not typed in correctly, you will not have to completely configure a setup, just troubleshoot something that is missing a few steps.

That's pretty much the process I went through passing the CCNA and learning the material thouroughly. Good luck to you!

Oh and relating to your actual question:

http://www.sadikhov.com/ - This website's forums can provide you with a valuable ammount of information (including the latest study guides) and the users tend to help each other through the tests even after they've already passed.
 
megabyte said:
2) Prioritize learning objectives and identify your weakest area. Due to the Cisco tests being adaptive, your weakest area WILL be tested harder than any other.
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I believe they actually stopped using adaptive testing with the latest CCNA.
 
Darkstar850 said:
I believe they actually stopped using adaptive testing with the latest CCNA.
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That would explain why I had 1 wireless question and 16 VLAN/VTP question...hmmm...nope it's still adaptive from what I can tell.
 
i was going to study for the ccna on my own, but my local community college has a really good cisco program and its very cheap, so i figured i could retain the information better by taking classes, to each there own really.
but i would definately reccomend looking at your local community college to see what they offer, but avoid cert schools, they charge an arm and a leg.

as far as the test being adaptive, i dont know if it is anymore or not, i just know i was told to not use shortcut commands because they deduct points for that.
 
Dallows said:
unless you took a cisco course or two you'll probably be totally screwed. Unless you really know networking or something. their tests are mad hard.
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Thats for the sure, but now you can take 2 tests covering 1-2, and 3-4 instead of one big one.
But i always look into the Cisco Network Sim software, its great to have
Also i would look into some test prep books and
certtalk.com
 
Yeah, all true what you guys are saying, either courses or studying on your own. Even over the 2 weeks of studying, it's a hell of a lot of studying. It's a lot of work and that was my point. You can't just pass the test, you need to know the material.
 
I will agreee with the previous posters that you definately need to know your shit. You can't just memorize answers like with Microsoft. You really have to be able to troubleshoot.

I missed my CCNA exam by 20 points and I retake it this coming friday. I've actually got a couple routers and switchs, lab sims, spent a week at a class, etc and I failed because I didn't study troubleshooting. Over half of my questions were troubleshooting RIP/EIGRP and VLANs. Only had one lab question and it was insane, nothing like the simple crap they have at the CCNA prep center on cisco.com.

I would recommend spending a bunch of time on the sims and study the troubleshooting.

Good luck.
 
one thing ive noticed is cisco practice tests are NOTHING like the real cisco tests.
the real tests are atleast 2x harder in my opinion.
the troubleshooting isnt really that hard, you just have to read the question very very carefully. because they like to use trick questions and multiple answers that could be right.
 
Just passed my CCNA on my second try last week with a score of 948. Thought I might give you guys some inputs.

Get your concepts right. Yes, study the book. If you feel that you dont get something, ask. Practice and more practice on subnetting. CCNA basically is lotsa subnetting.

Get some lab time. www.free-labs.com has free lab time but you gotta book 1-2 month in advance. Or you can go to www.thebryantadvantage.com and get yourself a free CCNA study guide and 3 days worth of lab time for only 20 bucks. Thats what I did. It really help me a lot especially when it comes to CCNA troubleshooting questions.

Dont focus too much on testking and actualtest. These guides should be just a check on how far you're progressing and not as your main study guide. I use them as a gauge for CCNA. But they're good in the sense that you get to know how to tackle cisco questions from different angles.
 
yeah subnetting is a HUGE focus, which always throws me off for some reason. but yah, labs are the best thing, if you cant access to the equipment yourself, try the lab simulator programs, ive heard they are far from perfect but its better than nothing at all.

To me the troubleshoot isnt hard, its usually a mistype in a static route, or leaving something out of an igrp statement, etc. i havent gotten into the second half of the test yet though.
 
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