CCENT/CCNA [H] study group

[serpretetsky]

yes you are correct, i didn't show all of my commands. I did set to "ip ospf network broadcast". And yes, i'm pretty sure i could use inverse arp, but i'm following a lab and asked to set static maps for everything.

From what i read you can also leave the maps non broadcast, and the use "ip ospf network point-to-multipoint" and then manually specify the ip addresses of the neighbors.

edit: /usr/home, you're doing your ccna pretty soon too right? Does my switchport port security description look accurate?

 

[/usr/home]

yes you are correct, i didn't show all of my commands. I did set to "ip ospf network broadcast". And yes, i'm pretty sure i could use inverse arp, but i'm following a lab and asked to set static maps for everything.

From what i read you can also leave the maps non broadcast, and the use "ip ospf network point-to-multipoint" and then manually specify the ip addresses of the neighbors.

edit: /usr/home, you're doing your ccna pretty soon too right? Does my switchport port security description look accurate?

Yeah, I'm writing ICND2 in 4 weeks.

Yeah your description looks fine.

Multi-point needs to be in the same subnet, correct? I can't have a different subnet on each routers subinterface, can I? From what I've tried in PacketTracer, it won' t work.

 

[serpretetsky]

Well the way I understand it is I always think about which hosts and how many hosts are connected to form a network through the virtual circuits (identified by the DLCI's) created by frame relay.

With point to point each host has one outbound circuit and that network only has 2 hosts.
With multi point you can have multiple outbound circuits. Every multipoint interconnected to the same network with those virtual circuits should generally be on the same subnet.

But other than that each individual interface can have multiple subinterfaces and those subinterfaces can be on completely different subnets and networks
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I noticed that the subinterfaces themselves you must specify whether its point to point or multipoint right? But the main interface you don't specify.

Yet it seems you can accomplish the same tasks in the main interface as with either of the subinterface modes, is there a reason that with subinterfaces you have to specify point to point or multipoint? Or maybe the main interface is just always in multipoint mode?

Which then begs the question what advantage is there in setting point to point mode? Does it make something easier? I mean, you can just setup the same point to point network in multipoint mode can't you?

 

[/usr/home]

Well the way I understand it is I always think about which hosts and how many hosts are connected to form a network through the virtual circuits (identified by the DLCI's) created by frame relay.

With point to point each host has one outbound circuit and that network only has 2 hosts.
With multi point you can have multiple outbound circuits. Every multipoint interconnected to the same network with those virtual circuits should generally be on the same subnet.

But other than that each individual interface can have multiple subinterfaces and those subinterfaces can be on completely different subnets and networks
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I noticed that the subinterfaces themselves you must specify whether its point to point or multipoint right? But the main interface you don't specify.

Yet it seems you can accomplish the same tasks in the main interface as with either of the subinterface modes, is there a reason that with subinterfaces you have to specify point to point or multipoint? Or maybe the main interface is just always in multipoint mode?

Which then begs the question what advantage is there in setting point to point mode? Does it make something easier? I mean, you can just setup the same point to point network in multipoint mode can't you?

Dur I'm an idiot. The interfaces have to be in the same subnet lol.

Yeah you can do the same point to point config with multipoint (as far as I know). You want subinterfaces because then it's easy to add another Ptp DLCI to the router. I think multipoint introduces split horizon issues because its all on one interface whereas ptP has individual interfaces.

Someone with more experience needs to chime in here

 

[serpretetsky]

true that!
Having trouble setting up this ACL. I'm supposed to allow all telnet traffic from 10.10.10.0/25 be allowed into the int s 0/0 inbound of R1, so I did this:

ip access-list extended 100
permit tcp 10.10.10.0 0.0.0.127 eq telnet any
int s 0/0
ip access-group 100 in

its not working

NINJA EDIT: this isn't even a real edit, but mid typing that i think i might see a problem hopefully!

LOSER EDIT: yeah... lol... didn't work, anyways im still stuck here, i forgot to mention in the code segment that i did also add the access list to the interface, i'll add that now.

FACEPALM EDIT: heh... yeah.... telnet port 23 DESTINATION not SOURCE... heh... yeah...

ip access-list extended 100
permit tcp 10.10.10.0 0.0.0.127 any eq telnet
int s 0/0
ip access-group 100 in

there we go

 

[/usr/home]

Serial Broadcasts

Here's the setup, i was asked to create this setup and setup OSPF on it.
I was also asked to statically map the ip addresses to the DLCI interfaces.

here's what i did

 R1
frame map ip 10.0.0.2 102
frame map ip 10.0.0.3 103

R2
frame map ip 10.0.0.1 201
frame map ip 10.0.0.3 201

R3
frame map ip 10.0.0.1 301
frame map ip 10.0.0.2 301

You can see i didn't use the "broadcast" keyword at the end of all of those commands.

Naturally OSPF failed miserably and pings to 255.255.255.255 gave me nothing.

So next i redid all of the commands with the broadcast keyword.

Here is where i am confused. OSPF is working, but it's clearly not a true broadcast network as R2 and R3 can't see each other directly, but only through R1. A ping of 255.255.255.255 from either R2 or R3 showed replies only from R1, and 255.255.255.255 ping from R1 showed replies from both R2 and R3. Pinging the routers directly works fine though, no issues there.

Interestingly, pinging R3 from R2 shows 2 duplicate packets leaving R2 destined for 255.255.255.255 (since it has two broadcast maps) for each of the 4 attempts. But R1 accepts both of them for itself since it matches 255.255.255.255 and replies to both of them.

At this point I'm wondering what's the point of adding "broadcast" at the end of the network if its still clearly not a broadcast network. Is it simply because the ip stack defaults to not accepting 255.255.255.255 pings to a serial device and putting "broadcast" tells the ip stack to accept this ip address?

I've also noticed that the destination router doesn't forward the broadcast packet onwards to other devices on the same subnet. i guess it makes sense, i meant, it accepts the broadcast packet as destined to its own interface, why would it make a copy and forward it out on the same interface it recieved it on? Plus routers don't forward any type of broadcasts in general right?

I just did this in PacketTracer as well and am wondering how to get OSPF working.

It works if I manually add a route between the two using frame-relay map ip commands.

EDIT: Got it working. Had to redo my frame-relay map ip statements with "broadcast" on the end. Also disabled split-horizon on the main router.

 

[serpretetsky]

line [insert line here]
logging synchronous

most useful thing on earth.

 

[serpretetsky]

"The router disables Inverse ARP on a subinterface when the frame-relay map command is configured."

Doesn't appear to be true. Using the same topology in that frame-relaying mspaint image i setup the subinterfaces in multipoint mode using the same DLCI's and ip's in GNS3 emulator using c3600 router. I then let inverse arp do its thing and found that no map existed between R3 and R2, so i statically created one. Surprisingly R1 still had dynamic maps to both R2 and R3, i restarted the subinterface on R1 just in case, and it eventually learned the maps anyways.

 

[serpretetsky]

I just did this in PacketTracer as well and am wondering how to get OSPF working.

It works if I manually add a route between the two using frame-relay map ip commands.

EDIT: Got it working. Had to redo my frame-relay map ip statements with "broadcast" on the end. Also disabled split-horizon on the main router.

wait, why do you disable split-horizon for OSPF? OSPF is a link state routing protocol right? Each router has a full database of the network and shouldn't be confused by any type of loops that distance vector routers fall into.

 

[/usr/home]

wait, why do you disable split-horizon for OSPF? OSPF is a link state routing protocol right? Each router has a full database of the network and shouldn't be confused by any type of loops that distance vector routers fall into.

Yeah, I figured that out last night. Still trying to get all the protocols fully figured out.

 

[l3thal6]

Well, after talking with a few of the CCIE's at work I decided to ramp up my study plans. One of the CCIE's actually got his magic numbers at 25 years old ( I am 22) and he told me that I could get my CCIE just as quickly based on what he has seen so far.

So, I got motivated and pulled the trigger on my R&S reading list as well as moving the dates for ROUTE and TSHOOT closer. I will be taking the CCIE R&S written on April 25th, at this point I will have been close to a year of focused study since most of my CCNP curriculum is on the CCIE reading list.

The Lab is what has me truly worried and I understand that the written is about 10% of the effort required to get CCIE.

I decided that I might as well just keep my momentum up after I get CCNP. I came to a realization that now is the time for me to chase after my dreams!

Order Total: $444.90

BGP Design and Implementation
TcL Scripting for Cisco IOS (Networking Technology)
Cisco QOS Exam Certification Guide (IP Telephony Self-Study) (2nd Edition)
Routing TCP/IP, Volume II (CCIE Professional Development)
Internet Routing Architectures (2nd Edition)
MPLS Fundamentals
Routing TCP/IP, Volume 1 (2nd Edition)
CCIE Routing and Switching Certification Guide (4th Edition)

 

[/usr/home]

Well, after talking with a few of the CCIE's at work I decided to ramp up my study plans. One of the CCIE's actually got his magic numbers at 25 years old ( I am 22) and he told me that I could get my CCIE just as quickly based on what he has seen so far.

So, I got motivated and pulled the trigger on my R&S reading list as well as moving the dates for ROUTE and TSHOOT closer. I will be taking the CCIE R&S written on April 25th, at this point I will have been close to a year of focused study since most of my CCNP curriculum is on the CCIE reading list.

The Lab is what has me truly worried and I understand that the written is about 10% of the effort required to get CCIE.

I decided that I might as well just keep my momentum up after I get CCNP. I came to a realization that now is the time for me to chase after my dreams!

Order Total: $444.90

BGP Design and Implementation
TcL Scripting for Cisco IOS (Networking Technology)
Cisco QOS Exam Certification Guide (IP Telephony Self-Study) (2nd Edition)
Routing TCP/IP, Volume II (CCIE Professional Development)
Internet Routing Architectures (2nd Edition)
MPLS Fundamentals
Routing TCP/IP, Volume 1 (2nd Edition)
CCIE Routing and Switching Certification Guide (4th Edition)

All I can say is good luck! CCNP looks daunting enough to me, let alone CCIE. I would love to get Cisco hands-on experience other than my home lab, but I'm not in a position to at the moment.

 

[Langly]

So I just had a facepalm moment while working with my new serial cards for a frame relay lab.

I was following this guide here http://www.nish.com/2009/09/frame-relay-config/ to setup a frame relay switch. I had configured everything and i wasn't getting anything on my serial interfaces.

I sat playing around with things, redoing things and reloading to no avail. I decide, well lets do a simple point to point setup and do one router to another. Unplug all my cables except one, configure some IPs and clocking and nothing. Still down down... oh shit I'm stupid... I had my Serial 0/0 and 0/1 swapped around! I felt silly but its always layer 1 things like that! At least I learned to actually READ the label on the physical card.

Now to play with some frame relay and what i can do with it!

 

[/usr/home]

Sorry if this a noobish question and seem basic, but router's only deal with layer 3, correct? Ok, so encapsulation, once it's time to send the bits, it has a MAC address header on it, does it not? Does the router ignore the MAC address header and just look at the IP headers and forward it on according to it's IP (Layer 3) routes?

 

[AeonF1]

Sorry if this a noobish question and seem basic, but router's only deal with layer 3, correct? Ok, so encapsulation, once it's time to send the bits, it has a MAC address header on it, does it not? Does the router ignore the MAC address header and just look at the IP headers and forward it on according to it's IP (Layer 3) routes?

Well for ethernet and wireless, the MAC address is always used for layer 2 headers as every LAN host/router keeps an ARP table. So technically, a router is a layer 3, 2, and 1 device but people just like to call it layer 3 as that's the highest it goes.

For other data link encapsulations such as frame relay, PPP, or HDLC, that are done over serial connections, they have their own kinds of layer 2 headers.

 

[/usr/home]

Well for ethernet and wireless, the MAC address is always used for layer 2 headers as every LAN host/router keeps an ARP table. So technically, a router is a layer 3, 2, and 1 device but people just like to call it layer 3 as that's the highest it goes.

For other data link encapsulations such as frame relay, PPP, or HDLC, that are done over serial connections, they have their own kinds of layer 2 headers.

Routers forward traffic by IP though. They don't use the MAC address in the frame at all, do they? Routers don't keep a MAC address table (unless they have a built in switch). They only look at the IP and deal with accordingly. Is this thinking correct?

 

[silasbear]

Well, after talking with a few of the CCIE's at work I decided to ramp up my study plans. One of the CCIE's actually got his magic numbers at 25 years old ( I am 22) and he told me that I could get my CCIE just as quickly based on what he has seen so far.

So, I got motivated and pulled the trigger on my R&S reading list as well as moving the dates for ROUTE and TSHOOT closer. I will be taking the CCIE R&S written on April 25th, at this point I will have been close to a year of focused study since most of my CCNP curriculum is on the CCIE reading list.

The Lab is what has me truly worried and I understand that the written is about 10% of the effort required to get CCIE.

I decided that I might as well just keep my momentum up after I get CCNP. I came to a realization that now is the time for me to chase after my dreams!

Order Total: $444.90

BGP Design and Implementation
TcL Scripting for Cisco IOS (Networking Technology)
Cisco QOS Exam Certification Guide (IP Telephony Self-Study) (2nd Edition)
Routing TCP/IP, Volume II (CCIE Professional Development)
Internet Routing Architectures (2nd Edition)
MPLS Fundamentals
Routing TCP/IP, Volume 1 (2nd Edition)
CCIE Routing and Switching Certification Guide (4th Edition)

My co-worker scheduled his lab for next april. $1500 an attempt.

My old boss had both CCIE R&S and CCIE Security and he failed R&S lab twice before passing.

I hope to have at least attempted the lab before next June.

 

[serpretetsky]

Passed the ICND2. Gotta say i was NOT satisfied with this test.

Make sure you can quickly find and diagnose issues using various show commands.
If you're slow at subnetting, you better start learning some sort of shortcuts.

I barely finished 43 questions with 75minutes. 1 or 2 questions i completely guessed simply because i was running out of time and started panicking.

I'm not a fan of being time limited on a test with material that i am comfortable with. Some of the questions weren't worded very well either.

 

[AeonF1]

Passed the ICND2. Gotta say i was NOT satisfied with this test.

Make sure you can quickly find and diagnose issues using various show commands.
If you're slow at subnetting, you better start learning some sort of shortcuts.

I barely finished 43 questions with 75minutes. 1 or 2 questions i completely guessed simply because i was running out of time and started panicking.

I'm not a fan of being time limited on a test with material that i am comfortable with. Some of the questions weren't worded very well either.

Thanks for the heads up, and congrats on passing! I just passed ICND1 last Friday and planning to take ICND2 middle of next week. I breezed through ICND1 with like 15 minutes to spare although I went through the full Network Academy classroom route beforehand. ICND2 seems a lot more in depth. I'm no stranger to badly worded questions, my instructor says the CCNA Exploration finals are poorly worded compared to the real CCNA exams.

 

[AeonF1]

Routers forward traffic by IP though. They don't use the MAC address in the frame at all, do they? Routers don't keep a MAC address table (unless they have a built in switch). They only look at the IP and deal with accordingly. Is this thinking correct?

Routers still have to encapsulate and decapsulate through the OSI layers. When they receive a packet they must go through layer 1 and 2 before getting to layer 3. When its time to forward the packet, it must rebuild the layers which includes putting the appropriate headers depending on the type of data links it will be forwarding through. If its Ethernet, MAC addresses goes in. If its frame relay, DLCI numbers go in, etc.

You can view the router's MAC table by using the "show arp" command, but be sure you send some packets through it so it can learn some MAC addresses from PCs. When a router forwards a packet to a PC of a LAN with a L2 switch between it, it will include the MAC addresses in the L2 header in order for the switch to know which port to forward it to, otherwise the switch will be always be flooding all of it ports (except the inbound port) due to non-existent MAC address in the L2 header.

Now if you are really unsure, plug a PC directly into a router's Ethernet port with a crossover cable. Open up Wireshark, ping the router's Ethernet port, and view the incoming ICMP reply. You should see a source and destination MAC address in the L2 headers, which was created by the router.

 

[/usr/home]

Routers still have to encapsulate and decapsulate through the OSI layers. When they receive a packet they must go through layer 1 and 2 before getting to layer 3. When its time to forward the packet, it must rebuild the layers which includes putting the appropriate headers depending on the type of data links it will be forwarding through. If its Ethernet, MAC addresses goes in. If its frame relay, DLCI numbers go in, etc.

You can view the router's MAC table by using the "show arp" command, but be sure you send some packets through it so it can learn some MAC addresses from PCs. When a router forwards a packet to a PC of a LAN with a L2 switch between it, it will include the MAC addresses in the L2 header in order for the switch to know which port to forward it to, otherwise the switch will be always be flooding all of it ports (except the inbound port) due to non-existent MAC address in the L2 header.

Now if you are really unsure, plug a PC directly into a router's Ethernet port with a crossover cable. Open up Wireshark, ping the router's Ethernet port, and view the incoming ICMP reply. You should see a source and destination MAC address in the L2 headers, which was created by the router.

So say my computer is trying to browse google, it will create a frame with a tcp header, an IP header with the destination IP of Google and a source IP of itself, and a MAC address header with a source of itself and a destination MAC of the router. The router gets this frame, strips the source and destination MAC addresses and puts in the remote router's MAC in the destination and it's own MAC address in the source, but leaves the source and destination IP alone, correct? And it'll keep going router to router, not changing IP source or destination until the server receives BUT it will change source and destination MAC address at each hop, correct?

So the only reason it even uses Layer 3 is to lookup what interface and what route to use to forward the frame but it never changes the L3 information on the frame, correct?

Also, would you call it a frame or a packet? It contains L2 and L3 information so it would be a frame, would it not? or would it be a packet since a router is an L3 device?

Sorry for the stupid questions. I find I understand things a lot better when I try to explain the process to someone else.

 

[AeonF1]

So say my computer is trying to browse google, it will create a frame with a tcp header, an IP header with the destination IP of Google and a source IP of itself, and a MAC address header with a source of itself and a destination MAC of the router. The router gets this frame, strips the source and destination MAC addresses and puts in the remote router's MAC in the destination and it's own MAC address in the source, but leaves the source and destination IP alone, correct? And it'll keep going router to router, not changing IP source or destination until the server receives BUT it will change source and destination MAC address at each hop, correct?

So the only reason it even uses Layer 3 is to lookup what interface and what route to use to forward the frame but it never changes the L3 information on the frame, correct?

Also, would you call it a frame or a packet? It contains L2 and L3 information so it would be a frame, would it not? or would it be a packet since a router is an L3 device?

Sorry for the stupid questions. I find I understand things a lot better when I try to explain the process to someone else.

You are pretty accurate. People tend to have different definitions for a packet but the general consensus is if its encapsulated at L3 and not L2 or L1 yet, its a packet, if its at L2, it a frame, if its at L1, its just bits. Another term to call all of them is a PDU or protocol data unit.

Also, serial connections which are point-to-point connections used between routers, do not use MAC addressing. If you use Ethernet as a point-to-point connections between routers, it will have MAC addresses though.

 

[Blitzrommel]

Passed the ICND2. Gotta say i was NOT satisfied with this test.

Make sure you can quickly find and diagnose issues using various show commands.
If you're slow at subnetting, you better start learning some sort of shortcuts.

I barely finished 43 questions with 75minutes. 1 or 2 questions i completely guessed simply because i was running out of time and started panicking.

I'm not a fan of being time limited on a test with material that i am comfortable with. Some of the questions weren't worded very well either.

When I took the CCNA exam back in 2005, I must say I was rather dissatisfied with the test as well. I remember not even being able to backspace on my commands in the "lab" portion (I think they wrote that crap in Flash) and hitting enter wouldn't clear the command prompt. I just barely missed out that time due to technicalities that I felt shouldn't exist. I complained during the test to the proctors, but they weren't in a position to do anything about it. They were just there to facilitiate the test.

 

[serpretetsky]

So say my computer is trying to browse google, it will create a frame with a tcp header, an IP header with the destination IP of Google and a source IP of itself, and a MAC address header with a source of itself and a destination MAC of the router. The router gets this frame, strips the source and destination MAC addresses and puts in the remote router's MAC in the destination and it's own MAC address in the source, but leaves the source and destination IP alone, correct? And it'll keep going router to router, not changing IP source or destination until the server receives BUT it will change source and destination MAC address at each hop, correct?

So the only reason it even uses Layer 3 is to lookup what interface and what route to use to forward the frame but it never changes the L3 information on the frame, correct?

Also, would you call it a frame or a packet? It contains L2 and L3 information so it would be a frame, would it not? or would it be a packet since a router is an L3 device?

Sorry for the stupid questions. I find I understand things a lot better when I try to explain the process to someone else.

Don't forget Network Address Translation. Most of the time you are correct, L2 address is constantly changed each hop and L3 information is left intact. However, if there is network address translation the router WILL change source and/or destination ip addresses in the layer.

 

[/usr/home]

Don't forget Network Address Translation. Most of the time you are correct, L2 address is constantly changed each hop and L3 information is left intact. However, if there is network address translation the router WILL change source and/or destination ip addresses in the layer.

Good point.

 

[l3thal6]

Got all of my wisdom teeth torn out today, but I am using my extra time off and this weekend to spend a lot of time with BGP. Forcing myself to use minimal painkillers so I can keep my mind clear, plus a little pain helps me stay alert during some of my extended reading sessions.

 

[AeonF1]

Well, I passed ICND2 today two weeks after passing ICND1. Man that exam seemed a lot trickier, I got stuck on a simlet for the longest time but finished the exam with about 2 minutes to spare. I definitely wasn't feeling confident when I pressed the "End Exam" button but I was more in a relieved state than a celebratory one when It showed my passing score. But overall, these exams don't do a great job of seeing if a person is capable of configuring a device correctly or not. But it does kick your ass which is another way of saying that you need to study harder! Anyways, already signed up for the CCNP routing Academy class!

 

[serpretetsky]

congratz. I can relate to your "relieved state" rather than "celebratory one". It was a strange feeling i did not expect. I honestly wouldn't have been surprised when i pressed the end exam button if it had told me i had failed. The fact that you can't go back to previous questions doesn't make things any easier.

 

[l3thal6]

Congratulations!

Keep up the momentum and chase down CCNP!

 

[staticz]

I know a lot of guys have or are studying for their CCNA in this thread (obviously) so this looks like the best place to ask. Is getting a CCNA in 6 months a realistic goal? I've gotten a job offer that is conditional on me obtaining the cert in 6 months.

My Cisco background is limited to wireless deployments (WLC, WCS, 150+ APs) and configuring a few switches and ASAs as needed. Do you think 6 months would be a workable deadline?

 

[AeonF1]

180 days? Definitely possible since there are courses out there for the CCNA that are only a week long but I wouldn't recommend those if you have that much time. It doesn't take long to get through all the topics. Its just you have to spend some time doing labs and practice your subnetting to really reinforce what you've learned.

I would probably pick up the two certification books (ICND1 and ICND2), spend a month in each book, then use the remaining time to lab and study for each exam. Your experience should make things a lot easier too since the CCNA isn't very advanced compared to what you have done. The CBT Nuggets videos are also great because they are relatively short and really get to the point.

 

[staticz]

180 days? Definitely possible since there are courses out there for the CCNA that are only a week long but I wouldn't recommend those if you have that much time. It doesn't take long to get through all the topics. Its just you have to spend some time doing labs and practice your subnetting to really reinforce what you've learned.

I would probably pick up the two certification books (ICND1 and ICND2), spend a month in each book, then use the remaining time to lab and study for each exam. Your experience should make things a lot easier too since the CCNA isn't very advanced compared to what you have done. The CBT Nuggets videos are also great because they are relatively short and really get to the point.

Thanks for the info. Assuming everything works out, they have offered to pay for training, any equipment/books I request, plus the test fees. I'm going to go for it, as long as I put my head down and get after it I think I'll pass.

Reading the past 15 or so pages, it looks like most guys opt for the separate test instead of the aggregate. I think I'll take the same route as it will allow me to focus on the material

 

[serpretetsky]

I know a lot of guys have or are studying for their CCNA in this thread (obviously) so this looks like the best place to ask. Is getting a CCNA in 6 months a realistic goal? I've gotten a job offer that is conditional on me obtaining the cert in 6 months.

My Cisco background is limited to wireless deployments (WLC, WCS, 150+ APs) and configuring a few switches and ASAs as needed. Do you think 6 months would be a workable deadline?

very doable. Sounds like you already have a good foundation on top of that. Good luck!

 

[Karandras]

Trying to get CCENT:

So yeah, trying to get back into the work place and going for my CCENT. However, after going through Odom ICND1, then the questions in the beginning of each chapter my score was only 86/147 .... sigh ... After going through that it feels like I've gone into a slump because of a score so blah and I thought I knew it all answering all the questions. Anyone run into that before?

Other than reading through the book, practicing subnetting, more and more subnetting reading the book again, what is the next best course of action that I can take?

Thanks, oh and congrats to all the peeps I saw that got their CCENT and CCNA plus all you super smarts that gots the CCNP ;-)

 

[Langly]

Trying to get CCENT:

So yeah, trying to get back into the work place and going for my CCENT. However, after going through Odom ICND1, then the questions in the beginning of each chapter my score was only 86/147 .... sigh ... After going through that it feels like I've gone into a slump because of a score so blah and I thought I knew it all answering all the questions. Anyone run into that before?

Other than reading through the book, practicing subnetting, more and more subnetting reading the book again, what is the next best course of action that I can take?

Thanks, oh and congrats to all the peeps I saw that got their CCENT and CCNA plus all you super smarts that gots the CCNP ;-)

I would go to Cisco's website and grab the CCENT requirements list for what they want you to know. Then take each bullet point Cisco says the CCENT cert is covering and start studying each point. Write/type out what each bullet point encompasses and things like the little details for RIP or how to subnet in certain ways. Todd Lammles book may be another study resource that would help you out. His writing style appeals to some people better than Odom's drier writing style.

http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Certifi...1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347425152&sr=8-1&keywords=ccna

Hope that helps! Keep asking questions here and we can help you out too

 

[AeonF1]

Trying to get CCENT:

So yeah, trying to get back into the work place and going for my CCENT. However, after going through Odom ICND1, then the questions in the beginning of each chapter my score was only 86/147 .... sigh ... After going through that it feels like I've gone into a slump because of a score so blah and I thought I knew it all answering all the questions. Anyone run into that before?

Other than reading through the book, practicing subnetting, more and more subnetting reading the book again, what is the next best course of action that I can take?

Thanks, oh and congrats to all the peeps I saw that got their CCENT and CCNA plus all you super smarts that gots the CCNP ;-)

Oh don't worry too much about those "Do you already know this?" quizzes. I was missing 2-4 questions every time I was taking them. Just figure out why you were missing them and review a bit. The actual exam is a bit less trickier since they actually tell you how many correct answers there are.

Next thing you should be doing is practicing configuring devices, whether real equipment or some simulator like Packet Tracer or GNS3. Going through some lab material will be very helpful in reinforcing what you have learned and actually get to see some stuff in action.

 

[/usr/home]

ICND 2 tomorrow morning. A bit nervouse, but mainly excited. Any last minute tips for ICND2? Any suggestions on what to cram last minute for? I have IPv6 to do a quick review in the morning.

 

[mikey71497]

Brush up on your frame-relay for simulation purposes. How to configure it and troubleshoot it. Know VLANs, how they work and what they do for you in a flat network. VTP, STP, and v6. Security as well....You will do fine....skim the chapters, and be prepared for any SIM that comes up. I found the hardest part of ICND2 was trying to understand what the SIM(s) were actually asking me to do. nerve racking to say the least. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

I am just getting off a 6 month break from Cisco and now am 3/4 done with CCDA book. I plan to sit the CCDA next month before going on to CCNP.

 

[mikey71497]

I know a lot of guys have or are studying for their CCNA in this thread (obviously) so this looks like the best place to ask. Is getting a CCNA in 6 months a realistic goal? I've gotten a job offer that is conditional on me obtaining the cert in 6 months.

My Cisco background is limited to wireless deployments (WLC, WCS, 150+ APs) and configuring a few switches and ASAs as needed. Do you think 6 months would be a workable deadline?

It really depends on the individual and their experience in networking. I did the CCNA, two test route, in 28 days. To each their own. Study hard and best of luck!

 

[saedrin]

What's the generally accepted best training material/method? I just finished setting up my lab and I'm looking into the actual educational aspect now.