ccna study time?

Phillies8607

I know this may have been posted before but I did a quick search and didn't find many posts. So, my question is for those of you that have recently passed the ccna exam, how long did were you studying for before you took the exam? I just passed the Netplus exam the other week and I studied a month straight for that. I used all my spare time to study before work, after work, and on the weekends. I'm just trying to get a guesstimate as to how long I think I need to study and when I should plan the exam for. I ordered Todd Lamle's study guide and Wendell Odom's as well. They both arrived today, man I opened them up like a kid on Xmas morning. I can't wait to start studying haha. Anyways, any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance

JoJoCal19

Are you going the two exam route or single exam route? That would be the first thing in determining how long. If you plan on doing what you did for the Net+ and studying mornings, evenings and weekends, you should be able to clear ICND1 in 4 weeks, 6 weeks tops. I'd venture to say similar for ICND2 with that much studying per week.

fmitawaps

I'm doing the 2 test route to CCNA, and ICND2 is quite a bit more detailed than ICND1 was. Routing protocols, switching methods, intervlan routing, router on a stick, etc. ICND1 didn't cover most of what's in ICND2.

This issue here is not "how fast can I get it", the issue should be LEARNING it and getting it right. And you still need work experience to be a full CCNA.

At $150 per exam on the 2 test route, you don't want to rush in there and fail the test and blow $150.

OctalDump

I covered the whole CCNA R+S course in 2x 13 weeks part time (maybe 5-10 hours/week). I did CCNA Security (just one exam) in maybe a month of half time study.

I think the official courses are about 40 hours for each of ICDN1 and ICDN2.

So, yeah, "how long's a piece of string?"

It might take you 2 weeks, or it might take you 6 months. It depends on where you are starting from, how quickly you learn, how much time you can dedicate to it.

Phillies8607

Thanks guys. All great advice. Im gonna do the exam in 2 parts and I don't plan on studying as intensely as I did for the netplus. So I think a solid 2 months per exam to study should be plenty. But if all goes well and I am running ahead of schedule I can always push the date of the exam up right? And yeah I totally agree that my focus should be on learning the material instead of trying to cram and just pass the exam. I want to make sure I fully understand the material instead of just cramming to pass the exam

Mooseboost

If you are coming in with the N+, INCD1 won't be as much as a stretch for you versus someone who is starting from scratch. If you already know networking, ICND2 will be more difficult for you than ICND1 - whereas someone with no background might struggle more with ICND1, simply because of new concepts like subnets.

My overall study time for the CCNA was around 12 weeks, but I had a basic understanding of networking before I went in and I studied my rear end off. I think as long as you have a solid understanding of the study material you will be good. The time frame for that depends entirely on you and how much material you can take in. The CCNA covers a lot more than the N+ in both breadth of information and difficulty. It is always better to wait a little bit longer and pass than rush and fail (unless of course it is company paid for!)

stunnedsoup

I did the 2 exam route.

ICND1 took me about 14 weeks. Realistically, I should have had it in about 10-12 because I got violently ill for about 2 weeks toward the end of my studying and had to take a hiatus. I also took over a week off halfway through because of another illness.

ICND2 took me 9 weeks. I started immediately after passing the ICND1. Everything was fresh in my head (basic commands, familiarity with routing protocols, etc) so I had an easier time studying. This is not to be confused with thinking the material or the exam was easy. Studying was easier because I knew what to look for and how to approach the exams (unlike ICND1 where it was my 1st ever).

Phillies8607

Yes I'm hoping I can apply some of what I learned from netplus to make ICND1 easier that would be nice. And yes I'm not taking this exam lightly. I know it's alotttt harder than the N+

Phillies8607

Haha the same thing happened to me! I got sick 3 days before my netplus exam and was still sick when I went to take the exam. Thank god I went to the doctor when I did. I felt a lot better the day of the exam from the antibiotics he prescribed me. Yeah I'm hoping studying for this will be a little bit easier since the exam objectives for the net plus we're very extensive and only a small portion of what I studied for was on the exam. The exam objectives for the CCNA exam are far less, which is great. But I'm hoping Cisco follows their exam objectives a lot closer than CompTIA does