Subnetting, my weakness in IT/CCENT Studies

Nafe92014Nafe92014 Member Posts: 279 ■■■□□□□□□□
in CCNA & CCENT
Hello all,

So I am about 2 weeks into studying for my CCENT. However, I am reading on subnetting (insert groan here). I get the math but being able to do it in my head is both nerve racking and makes me anxious. Subnetting was the #1 reason why I failed the CCNA Exploration cirriculum TWICE when I went to college. I'm hoping to somehow make it stick to me so when I go any retake the college courses, I can do it quickly. Any feedback on suggested materials is appreciated. :).
Certification Goals 2020: CCNA, Security+

"You have enemies? Good, that means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." ~Winston S. Churchill
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  • aftereffectoraftereffector Member Posts: 525 ■■■■□□□□□□
    You don't really have to do it in your head on the CCENT - you will get some scratch paper or a dry-erase board to work with. I always just wrote out a table with the number of subnets and number of hosts for each subnet mask and used that for any subnetting questions I encountered.

    But to get faster at it, you really just have to practice a lot!
    CCIE Security - this one might take a while...
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  • Nafe92014Nafe92014 Member Posts: 279 ■■■□□□□□□□
    I find VLSM to be alot harder. Wish there were some subnetting books I could acquire to go along with my studies.
    Certification Goals 2020: CCNA, Security+

    "You have enemies? Good, that means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." ~Winston S. Churchill
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  • BerkshireHerdBerkshireHerd Member Posts: 185
    It;s all about repetition and learning what your #hosts based on the cidr notation. Eventually you'll be able to see a /28 and instantly know that your interesting number is 16. Same with /20

    Here the tip that helped me the MOST.

    /28 = 240, 256 - 240 = 16 hosts - 2 = 14 usable hosts

    another one

    /26 =192, 256-192 = 64 - 2 = 62 usable hosts

    Hope this helps
    Identity & Access Manager // B.A - Marshall University 2005
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  • --chris----chris-- Member Posts: 1,518 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Subnetting Practice Questions

    The single biggest factor in my subnetting success.
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  • Jon_CiscoJon_Cisco Member Posts: 1,772 ■■■■■■■■□□
    You can't beat subnetting.net
    It seems overwhelming at first but after a couple months you do it without thinking. Spend 15 minutes a day doing the practice examples and you will catch on. Also don't try to rush your thinking. The extra second it takes to do it right won't hurt you in the long run.

    Good Luck!
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  • --chris----chris-- Member Posts: 1,518 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Jon_Cisco wrote: »
    You can't beat subnetting.net
    It seems overwhelming at first but after a couple months you do it without thinking. Spend 15 minutes a day doing the practice examples and you will catch on. Also don't try to rush your thinking. The extra second it takes to do it right won't hurt you in the long run.

    Good Luck!

    This is exactly what I did. 10 minutes a day minimum, everyday. Subnetting.net has a great feature that lets you stay on one type of question. I used that feature to get "stuck" on the questions that I had the hardest time with. Once you tackle the tough stuff you struggle with, everything else is a piece of cake.

    Even if you spend 10 minutes and don't solve a single problem, that is progress!
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  • HeeroHeero Member Posts: 486
    Honestly man when you struggle with something like that, you need to adopt the mental approach that you will master subnetting and make it your strongest topic. There are plenty of resources to learn and practice subnetting. Dedicate 30 minutes a day toward hammering away at subnetting until you feel that you have it 100% mastered.
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  • EdificerEdificer Member Posts: 187 ■■■□□□□□□□
    I thought the exact same thing when I started studying for my CCENT last year. Use subnetting.net tutorial and do 50 questions a day until answering a subnet question becomes as easy as breathing.
    “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Confucius
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  • Nafe92014Nafe92014 Member Posts: 279 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Thank you all for the advice. It has bought me a new ray of light in my Cisco Journey. :)
    Certification Goals 2020: CCNA, Security+

    "You have enemies? Good, that means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." ~Winston S. Churchill
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  • colemiccolemic Member Posts: 1,569 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Sometimes a different perspective makes it click... this book really helped me. http://www.amazon.com/Subnetting-made-Easy-understanding-subnetting-ebook/dp/B0040NO6ZS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1414076887&sr=8-5&keywords=subnetting+kindle
    Working on: staying alive and staying employed
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  • snosno Member Posts: 8 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Start by doing a few practice questions then go read up on different ways to subnet. Practice some more. Find a different way to subnet. Eventually you will find a way that works for you. Some people like powers of two, some people like converting to binary. The most important thing is once you find a method that makes sense to you is to just keep doing it until the steps become second nature. Eventually you will memorize the common subnet numbers and it will be even quicker.
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  • goldenlightgoldenlight Member Posts: 378 ■■□□□□□□□□
    google the magic number trick and your fear of subnetting disappears..


    google magic number and dans cources and bam...


    Making a subnet chart while pretending to read the ccna exam instructions is what I did. With the chart I am able to answer any subnetting question thrown at me. Also download the subnetting calculator from this site. This will help you make sure you are doing it right
    “The Only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it keep looking. Don't settle” - Steve Jobs
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