Hey TE,
Finally got my CCNA: R&S! I passed the ICND2 200-101 this morning with an 881, and am glad to have it in the rear view mirror. I studied for a month and 10ish days after passing the ICND1, studying 3 hours a night on weekdays, and using spare time at work. A word of warning for those planning on taking this version of the test before September: in my estimation, it was waaaay harder than ICND1. It was somewhat of a rude awakening about 10 questions into the test, but I made it somehow (think the labs saved me).
Also, similar to the other exam, I felt that I didn't see a lot of what I was expecting in various testable areas.
Resources Utilized:
-OCG Guide w/ Wendell Odom
-CCNA Review Guide w/ Todd Lammle
-Chris Bryant Udemy CCNP Course (Hammering home STP, OSPF, EIGRP concepts)
Labs:
-Testout CCNA Course
-Packet Tracer
-Boson LabSim
Tests:
-Boson Exams***These were ESSENTIAL to exam success. If you have limited resources, get this over everything else. I believe they were more difficult than the real thing, but also really made a lot of concepts sink in. I was hitting 75-80% on the practice tests when I went in for the exam. I would've studied for another month but my time was cut short.
-Practice Exam w/ Cisco OCG Guide (Less useful)
Whats Next:
A nice month long break.
After that I think I'm going to leisurely start pursuing the CCNP:R&S.
Cheers!
