CCENT/CCNA [H] study group

AMD_Gamer

Fully [H]
Joined
Jan 20, 2002
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Anyone want to start a CCNA./CCENT study group?

We could post in this thread or meet in some kind of chat and exchange our learning material and quiz each other etc...not entirely sure how it would work.

I am currently going for my CCENT.
 
I am down. I have been studying on and off now for my CCNA as well, I really need to get in gear with it.
 
I'm not studying Cisco right now, I'm doing N+ and MCP, but it would be really cool if this could be a regular thing. Call it [H] Study perhaps.
 
I'm not studying Cisco right now, I'm doing N+ and MCP, but it would be really cool if this could be a regular thing. Call it [H] Study perhaps.

Expand this a little further and just make an overall [H] study group. Not just limited to cisco things but anything in enterprise level technology
 
I just finished my lab and have gone through half of the studying at the local cc. Doing the switch side on my own. Count me in.
 
I think this is an awesome idea since I am currently going through the Cisco courses at my college. I will be taking Cisco 4 (wan) over the summer and plan on taking my CCNA in August.
 
Currently studying for my MCITP. I am about ready for the first of three exams, 70-640.

After MCITP I would like to move on to either an Apple cert or CCNA.
 
I think a sub-forum would be great to consolidate education talk from the regular N&S talk and it's users. Stickies could be made for Cert FAQs and maybe resume and job search talk.
 
I think a sub-forum would be great to consolidate education talk from the regular N&S talk and it's users. Stickies could be made for Cert FAQs and maybe resume and job search talk.

I'm liking this idea. ^^

That aside, a general study group sounds pretty good. I'm currently aiming for MCITP as well, following up with the SharePoint exam.
 
I'm liking this idea. ^^

That aside, a general study group sounds pretty good. I'm currently aiming for MCITP as well, following up with the SharePoint exam.

+2 on this, a sub forum would be great. I am playing with all different sorts of Microsoft apps that I would like to get my certs on, and having something like this and working with others would really keep me going on my goal since I have ADD with studying.

For the CCNA, where would we start? Considering all of us are prob at different sections, start from the start so its a refresher for some and new for others? Same goes for the other certs as well.
 
I'm in, will be writing for CCNA shortly, was prepared for it last year and jsut never booked the test, gotta get that over with, need to refresh my memoery on a lot of stuff, been working with all Juniper and HP stuff.
 
I just started taking a CCNA Exploration I course at a Cisco Networking Academy. Pretty common knowledge stuff so far, Packet Tracer is a pretty neat tool but I also have access to two other methods of doing the labs (using the school's lab; in person or remotely, I was amazed you can reserve a time slot and remotely turn on all their equipment and do the labs from home.) I'll probably do the labs through emulation anyways but I was told I can buy my own equipment for the course for about 100 bucks which is really tempting.
 
I just started taking a CCNA Exploration I course at a Cisco Networking Academy. Pretty common knowledge stuff so far, Packet Tracer is a pretty neat tool but I also have access to two other methods of doing the labs (using the school's lab; in person or remotely, I was amazed you can reserve a time slot and remotely turn on all their equipment and do the labs from home.) I'll probably do the labs through emulation anyways but I was told I can buy my own equipment for the course for about 100 bucks which is really tempting.

FYI, buying your own equipment is ADDICTING! :D
 
For the CCNA, where would we start? Considering all of us are prob at different sections, start from the start so its a refresher for some and new for others? Same goes for the other certs as well.

I'd suggest one of the two below:

1. Everyone take a look where they currently stand in relation to the actual exam topics.
http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/current_exams/640-802.html
Persons at certain levels of the syllabus (such as "Describe how a network works") can form a group and begin working with their section of the exam syllabus.

It allows for stress-free separation of questions and answers (in case you want to answer "What is OSI?" when you're discussing VLANs).

It's also useful for persons making progressive movement up the ladder of topics (having information already available). And can come in quite handy for persons who have are getting closer to writing the exams and want to review certain sections of the exam syllabus.


2. The much more difficult but not impossible option is having everyone in a single group.
Depending on the group size, you pick persons to manage the listing of topics. Their role in addition to management and learning will be to keep the discussion relatively on-topic, similar to an executive board. I'd advise on of these 'managers' for every five persons in the group.

The difficulties are most likely to come in with persons of different knowledge levels. Some persons may not want to revert to going over the basics, or some may not feel like they are moving at a comfortable or maintainable pace.


----

A personal thought I'd like to throw in though:
Smaller groups tend to be more effective groups. A good practice as well is to keep really good documentation and exchange the knowledge gained. But, that's another topic :p

Sorry about the long winded post!
 
I'm up for it. I have it already, but it's been a year since I touched Cisco branded stuff, I could stand for a refresher. I have a GNS3 server that people can telnet into from anywhere, I have a few switches lying around as well.

Just have 2-3 hours a night or two a week where we'd all meet up in Ventrilo doing labs and whatnot. We could follow the official CCNA books if you'd like.
 
heh kinda depressed now, seems like a lot of people getting into networking.
 
heh kinda depressed now, seems like a lot of people getting into networking.

I was a little depressed as well. But there seems to be a HUGE divide in the quality of people entering the field. You'll see there is still plenty of room.

Just to give you an idea, I took formal ccna classes. If anything these classes taught me how to study for cert tests. We started out with 38 people, and by the time the last class came around, 9 people were left, 4 of which actually got their CCNA. Of those 4, I'd say only two of us could land and keep a job. That was two years ago, and I have kept in touch. The people that didn't get their CCNA then still don't have it. And of the people that did get it, 3 of us have jobs related to networking.

The CCNP classes I took seemed to have slightly better odd's but only 9 people were in it, 4 of which I knew from the ccna classes. And I only know of one of us that actually got the CCNP. I was pulled away to other work and school work, one of these days I'll study up and jump in, but a refresher in CCNA stuff would get me off to a running start again.
 
I was a little depressed as well. But there seems to be a HUGE divide in the quality of people entering the field. You'll see there is still plenty of room.

Just to give you an idea, I took formal ccna classes. If anything these classes taught me how to study for cert tests. We started out with 38 people, and by the time the last class came around, 9 people were left, 4 of which actually got their CCNA. Of those 4, I'd say only two of us could land and keep a job. That was two years ago, and I have kept in touch. The people that didn't get their CCNA then still don't have it. And of the people that did get it, 3 of us have jobs related to networking.

The CCNP classes I took seemed to have slightly better odd's but only 9 people were in it, 4 of which I knew from the ccna classes. And I only know of one of us that actually got the CCNP. I was pulled away to other work and school work, one of these days I'll study up and jump in, but a refresher in CCNA stuff would get me off to a running start again.

It's interesting that you mention this because I've seen a similar trend throughout most certification/educational endeavours.
Half of the logic that drive persons these days is that "Oh, this looks like it'll be good on my resume" or "Everyone else is doing it, why can't I?". :rolleyes:

But, when the pressure kicks in and they realize that it's too difficult to pursue or entirely different from their overall goal, they drop out. I've seen CompTIA and even full university DB classes dwindle down like if there's some infectious disease in the classroom :p
 
Well now we just need the help of the Mods to maybe get a sub forum setup so we can start this.
 
Should we ask Kyle or the mod of this forum?

it could be a Cert forum in general?

Maybe we should ask marley1 - I would say we might want to keep the certs under Networking & Security so the forum does not get too flooded with other certs not pertaining to what we have (and our field has a lllllllllllllllloooot lol).
 
heh kinda depressed now, seems like a lot of people getting into networking.

Yes there are...but also many of them don't know what they're doing. Reading a book and taking a test doesn't come close to real world experience. I have an MBA in Management and lots of self-taught IT/computer experience and I beat out multiple CCNA's for a position just because of the environments I've been in and could prove I knew what I was doing. Real world experience is a must in this field and the more you have, the more you're likely to get a job over someone else. Practicing and doing the labs will help you out a great deal
 
Agree with most others here. It is all about passion. Working in it and continuing with it are key. Yes, there are boring days but most of the problems are fun to work out. Figuring out that "Ah-ha!" moment is priceless and is almost like a high.

I want MOAR. Anyway, off to sit my MCITP:SA exam, wish me luck. ;)
 
I am starting a CCNA class today.

I have already read ICND1 by Wendell Odom

I have the ICND1 (CCENT) exam scheduled for June 27th 2011

For SIMs and Emulators I have been using GNS3 and a Sybex Sim.

I also have watched Trainsignals CCNA Disk1 (ICND1)
 
Agree with most others here. It is all about passion. Working in it and continuing with it are key. Yes, there are boring days but most of the problems are fun to work out. Figuring out that "Ah-ha!" moment is priceless and is almost like a high.

I want MOAR. Anyway, off to sit my MCITP:SA exam, wish me luck. ;)

Which of the three did you do today?

I definitely second the passion part.. in work and especially in school you can have some bad days. Knowing what you want to do in life definitely pushes you through it. That's why I don't discredit someone who switches programs or drops out, you need to find what you want to do.

Also on the topic of passion, I'm not crazy about my career field always being in a top X list of hot jobs or high paying jobs or (the worst) cushy "easy" jobs. I don't want my classmates to just be chasing a buck. They'll just lead to the poorly designed systems and careless technical support you see nowadays.
 
I'd be glad to help support a certification forum for the [H]. It seems like most of the ones out on the net are plagued by spammers and brain dump scammers posting their 990/1000 test scores because they sell test answers :mad:
 
I'd be glad to help support a certification forum for the [H]. It seems like most of the ones out on the net are plagued by spammers and brain dump scammers posting their 990/1000 test scores because they sell test answers :mad:

techexams.net is good.
 
Know your subnetting. Read the objectives on Cisco's website and learn everything they list there that is covered by the CCENT. Its all fair game. Thats about as much as I can say without breaking the NDA
 
Subnetting is fun. When I learned the 3 step process off of cbtnuggets, I was so involved in it I was literally subnetting IPs in my head, even at college in classes such as history... I was subnetting lol.
 
oh man im totally down for this... im also just starting my CCNA...

ps... amd_gamer don't get depressed about a lot of people doing this type of stuff... walk into any business and just think they have a network most likely have someone that manages it, that means there is lots of jobs for this type of stuff around

i cant think of a single business that doesn't have some form of network (might be small but its got a network of some kind) and im sure a lot of the larger ones use cisco stuff

side note to that... im sure the start/quit ratio is high, network stuff can at sometimes get a little dull lol

i know i fit this category i started in school a long time ago in networking... got bored and did graphic design.... 5-6 years later im not doing a single thing with graphic design and actually going back to school to work toward a masters in IT Networking/Security/Voice
 
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