101-105 ICND1 Failed -Advice Needed

Hi everyone,

I've been studying for my ICND1 101-105 on and off for the past year, and very seriously for the past 3 months or so. I would say I've been putting in roughly 15 hours a week studying the past 3 months. Today I took the exam and unfortunately failed with a 790 (832 Needed). Prior to the exam I was using Pearson practice exams and scoring around a 90% regularly. I can't say I was surprised I failed, as going in I had a feeling the Pearson practice exams would be easier than the real thing as the actual exam has simulation questions. It was in fact the simulation questions that I feel stumped me. I was doing relatively well on the test until the first simulation, which I would say I spent 20 min on and I felt unsure of my answers. This left me in scramble mode for the rest of the test including a second simulation question.

My question is, does anyone have any recommended training materials that they felt were particularly useful and indispensable to passing?

Here is what I am currently using:
Odom- Official Cert Guide (Read front to back twice)
CBT Nuggets- Used a mix of both 101-101 and 101-105 videos
Pearson Practice Exams
Pearson Network Simulator

And what I scored:
83% Network Fundamentals
75% LAN Switching Fundamentals
67% Routing Fundamentals
67% Infrastructure Services
50% Infrastructure Maintenance (Studied this a lot prior and scored very high on pearson practice exam

???)

I am considering maybe just biting the bullet and paying for the Boson practice exams.

*Update 1-23-17 I passed with an 860! See below.

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Comments

dontstop

Yet to take the exam myself but I've been using for lab practice:

* Boson NetSim
* ITPro.TV Labs powered by practice-labs.com

To be honest I don't really feel these alone will adequately prepare me for the exam so I've also invested in Boson's Ex-Sim Max practice exams and will be doing a fair bit more labbing (build/break/playing). I get a strong feeling that the exams are going to expect you to be fluent enough that any problems should be second nature to detect & fix.

rob42

It seems to me that you've kind of answered your own questions here, and I hope this comes across as 'constructive', as is my intention.

With the practice questions/exam, I'd not be happy with anything less than 100%, because, as you say, the practice exam will most likely be easier than the real thing. I'd also suggest (with respect) that you scored very low on the 'Fundamentals'. As for the 'Infrastructure Service', maybe more in the way of labs? This is also reflected in your comments about the sim questions.

I've just started to complement my studies (which have so far been reading the Odom books, doing labs in CPT, and reading and answering questions on this site, as well as a few YouTube vids. I'm now 4 months in.) with an eLeaning Course and I'm surprised at just how much of the fundamentals I'm having to go over again. I thought I knew stuff that I'm now (having taken the 1st test in my eLeaning Course) having to reevaluate. And it's all the stuff that I read about in the beginning.

It's brave of you (and of anyone) to come on here and say 'I've fail my exam'. But, in doing so, you've analysed the situation and you know where you've slipped up. Plus you've helped others in the process.

Apply what you've learned, and work on the areas in which you know let you down.

You'll get there; never give up!

All the best with your studies.

WastedHat

If you used only the Pearson Network Simulator I would recommend trying a few others, you can get Packet Tracer and GNS3 for free. I also used the Pearson sim for ICND1 and felt it was good for breaking you in and teaching you commands step by step but it also made it long winded and quite restrictive.

I thought the Boson sim questions weren't well authored, for example the "show" commands didn't give you enough information and when I revealed the answer it said "use show run" which wasn't available in the sim. That was half a year ago, hopefully they've updated it now. It's a good set of practice exams and more realistic than the Pearson questions but if you decide to save your money just do as much labbing as possible before the resit. Good luck!

Node Man

For me, the problem with practice tests is that I end up memorizing the answers. Memorizing is useful, but not good enough to pass Cisco tests. We must be able to read carefully and quickly understand what the question or simplet is asking for. Valuable time is chewed up trying to figure out what a question is really asking.

MAC_Addy

To be honest, you had a rather high score. You may have only missed a couple of questions. I wouldn't take it too personally, just hit the books again and re-take as soon as possible! I actually failed the ICND1 back in 2010 with almost a similar score to yours. What I had done for myself was re-read the entire book (or books), don't even bother with practice exams - I usually just use the stuff that comes in the books. Then I took the test a month later and passed it with a pretty decent score. For many people, Cisco exams have a good way of confusing you on how they ask the questions. Once you figure out that, then you'll be set.

dontstop

For many people, Cisco exams have a good way of confusing you on how they ask the questions. Once you figure out that, then you'll be set.

My biggest worry on the exam is purely question wording. I've got a bad habit from school of not reading the question thoroughly when doing multiple choice.

MAC_Addy

Yeah, you have to be very good at understanding what they're actually asking. Though, Cisco exams are definitely not as bad as CompTIA. Cisco is usually pretty cut and dry, for the most part

emek

Happy to say that I finally passed my CCENT exam with a score of 860! After my fail I went back and reviewed all the topics I scored poorly on and took detailed notes. I also ran through a number of packet tracer labs I found online, which helped greatly. I did end up buying the Boson exams, which I would highly recommend! After I failed the actual exam with a 790, I took the Boson practice exam a couple of days later and scored a 620. Needless to say the Boson exams are MUCH harder. They really helped me to fill in my gaps of knowledge. Now I rest for a couple of days and start hitting the books again for ICND2. I've been talking about getting my CCNA for at least 5 years, and now if finally feels within my grasp.

FullofBit

Way to stick with it! Congrats!

MitM

congrats! I highly recommend checking out INE's videos for CCNA, not that there's anything wrong with CBTNuggets

nisti2

Congrats!!

p@r0tuXus

Congrats!

7255carl

congrats and good luck with your ICND2 studies

Carl

Node Man

Good Job!!

greg9891

Congrats excellent news! Thats Some great determination you showed. Made us I.T. GUYS Proud.

Mike R

I agree Boson is harder than the actual test. But it makes you think and if you get it wrong they have detailed notes on what/why the correct answer is what it is.

Congrats also, I go back in Feb to retake the ccent. I failed it back in august and work hasn't let me get back to it since.

YuukuS13

Congrats! Your story is an inspiration to me!

Anthropos

Congratulations!

I live in Bosnia and Herzegovina,and I'm preparing for ICND1 too,and I would like to ask which materials I need,to be sure that I prepared well for exam?Now,I have CCENT/CCNA ICND1 100-105 Official Cert Guide by Wendell Odom,GNS3 installed on PC,and I will buy Pearson Network Simulator for ICND1,but is there something else that I need?Some others books?

Thanks in advance.

TechGromit

emek wrote: »

After I failed the actual exam with a 790, I took the Boson practice exam a couple of days later and scored a 620. Needless to say the Boson exams are MUCH harder.

That's actually nice to hear, I took two of my three Boson practice exams and haven't been able to do better then the mid. 500's. I'm trying to take the quizzes at the end of every chapter in two of my study books before attempting my last Boson test. While my scores may not be good enough to pass the real exam yet, it's nice to know I'm probably not too far from getting a passing grade on the exam. I was getting very discouraged, your post is inspiring to me.

Congratulations on the pass.

emek

@Anthropos
That should be enough to pass, but you may also want to use some videos as well for variation. I used the CBT Nuggets videos, which I did not like initially. I found that watching them at 1.5 speed made them so much more useful and practical for me. I was able to blow through the videos and stay more engaged when watching them at a faster speed.

@TechGromit

Don't give up! Just power through! You are probably retaining more than you think. The highest I scored organically without seeing questions twice on the Boson exams was around an 80%. This translated to an 86% on the actual exam.

Anthropos

emek wrote: »

@Anthropos
That should be enough to pass, but you may also want to use some videos as well for variation. I used the CBT Nuggets videos, which I did not like initially. I found that watching them at 1.5 speed made them so much more useful and practical for me. I was able to blow through the videos and stay more engaged when watching them at a faster speed.

Ok.Thanks for replay.

nisti2

Congrats!! Great job!!

adfeddon

Thank you for posting this. I just failed my first cert test today by getting a 709 on the CCENT. I'm going to give myself another 2 months of studying and hit it again.

CiscoNet Solutions

the glass is almost full. you got 790 and around 810 is pass score.

routing is worth alot with CCNA points. you should go over routing concepts and do the routing configuration and troubleshooting labs.

emek

@Cisconet

I did indeed power through, and passed both the ICND1 and ICND2, and have since become CCNA certified. Now if I could just find an entry level networking position...

--chris--

emek wrote: »

@Cisconet

I did indeed power through, and passed both the ICND1 and ICND2, and have since become CCNA certified. Now if I could just find an entry level networking position...

Keep going! I wish I would have when I passed CCNA!

The level of carry over from CCNA RS to CCNP RS is strong. The topics you learned the fundamentals of in NA take a deeper dive in NP. Not having to relearn the fundamentals again would have been great when I started on NP studies.

emek

--chris-- wrote: »

Keep going! I wish I would have when I passed CCNA!

The level of carry over from CCNA RS to CCNP RS is strong. The topics you learned the fundamentals of in NA take a deeper dive in NP. Not having to relearn the fundamentals again would have been great when I started on NP studies.

Thank you for the advise Chris. I have really been struggling with what road to take now that I have passed the CCNA. I've considered everything from the CCNA Security, to the MCSA, linux certs, etc. I even started reading this book "Network Warrior", to keep my CCNA topics sharp.

Alot of people on here have said not to pursue the CCNP until you have experience, otherwise you will be a paper CCNP. But like you said, I already feel like I HAVE to jump into the CCNP just to retain/build on my CCNA level knowledge. At the least, I think I will start studying for the CCNP and maybe I will get lucky and find an entry level networking position in the meanwhile.

kas4shizzi

Hi Emek, i need your help with the Boson practice test you used to pass your exams, i sat for my ICND 1 exam last week and i failed the pass mark was 832 and i got a score of 825. i am planning to re-write the exam this November. any help with material will be much appreciated.

--chris--

kas4shizzi wrote: »

Hi Emek, i need your help with the Boson practice test you used to pass your exams, i sat for my ICND 1 exam last week and i failed the pass mark was 832 and i got a score of 825. i am planning to re-write the exam this November. any help with material will be much appreciated.

Advice:

#1 Don't wait till November, wait a few weeks and try again
#2 You should have a report of your weak areas, hit those hard and seek alternate sources for info as needed (google)

Your close, REALLY close.

lantech

Don't wait to retake the exam as Chris said. You're almost there and if you wait you'll end up regretting it.