Third time is not a charm

This time 787.

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I'm thinking of trying the 2 exam option. Any thoughts?

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Alien

What are you using for preparation if i may ask?

Remember this is not an easy exam though and very few people pass it easily. Just change your strategy and hang in there. You are not far off. Think of it as the glass being half full.

camalone

Thanks for the vote of confidence. It's funny. I concentrated on my two weakest areas from the last try and did well on those but, I fell off on the other two.

- I went to a Global Knowledge CCNA Boot Camp
- SelfTest software www.selftest.com
- Global Knowledge remote labs
- cisco/go/prepcenter

Per my log, I've put in ~60 study hours over the last couple of months to prep.

Any recommendations?

I'm thinking I might try the INTRO and ICND exams separately.

[/list]

Humper

camalone wrote:

Thanks for the vote of confidence. It's funny. I concentrated on my two weakest areas from the last try and did well on those but, I fell off on the other two.

- I went to a Global Knowledge CCNA Boot Camp
- SelfTest software www.selftest.com
- Global Knowledge remote labs
- cisco/go/prepcenter

Per my log, I've put in ~60 study hours over the last couple of months to prep.

Any recommendations?

I'm thinking I might try the INTRO and ICND exams separately.

[/list]

Then you have to read two books which if you buy the Cisco Press books its about 600 pages a book $:\$ ....

I'll tell you my strategy at the moment for passing the 640-801:

1) I've completely read Tom Lammle's book (Sybex 5th edition)
2) With the Cisco Press CCNA Certification Pack I got it has 400 questions (with the format that's on the tests). If I dont understand one of the questions I am going to refer back to my text books until I understand it completely.
3) Review review, and review! Lot's of lab's too!

Alien

I think you really need to get the following items if you want to kick CCNA in the butt.

Books

* CCNA Study guide by Todd Lammle 5th edition (Must have)
- ICND Study guide by Wendel Odom

Extras

* Boson router simulator (highly recomended)
- Plenty of hands on practice

The book by Todd Lammle should be sufficient given that you have already covered most of the stuff and just need to brushen up. There are a few topic on NAT that were not covered in the 4th edition but you can always look them up thru a third resource.

I noticed you have access to a remote lab which is good since nothing comes close to using the real routers and switches. I just thought you might wanna get the boson sim since you can install it in a notebook and practice the labs anywhere.

Best of luck in your preparation and incase you need any more help, you'll be surprised by the number of highly qualified engineers on this site who are always willing to offer help and clear things up.Cheers.

camalone

Thanks guys! This site is 'da bomb. (I hope there aren't any DHS folks listening in ... just kidding guys!)

mikej412

Hum.... was the sun in your eyes? Mouse sticking and in need of cleaning? Noisey power supply fan? Spicy lunch?

Lets see -- you can take one hard test.... or try the 2 test option of one easier test and one harder test.... I took the single test option because I assumed the ICND exam was nothing but the "hard stuff" -- and more of it.

How do you think you did on the Sims/Simlet? Those are some major points.

For the hands on practice, did you do the labs in the Sybex book?

How are you doing for time on the exam(s) -- are you using to little time and getting caught by the trick questions?

Have you tried the Cisco Press Flash Cards? Going through those a few times should burn the key points into your brain for the exam. The reference sheet pdf file on the CD (split into INTRO and ICND parts -- with some overlap) could be what you need as a review -- somewhere over 100 pages I think.

It sounds like you've put in the study time -- you just need to kick it up another notch and get it all together at the same time.

If we are voting here -- I think you have one more single exam try in you before you should even think about the 2 exam option.

petedude

camalone wrote:

This time 787.
I'm thinking of trying the 2 exam option. Any thoughts?

Although, indeed, the ICND is harder than the 801 in what it covers, it covers FEWER topics. If you're having trouble absorbing everything in the 801, the two exam track gives you an opportunity to break it up and focus a bit more closely on particular topics.

Just my two cents.

romain

When you take the exam, which themes make you fail ?

Which type of question are you bored with ?

Mr.Ping

hi there dude.Passed the 801 in february this year.
I used Todd Lamle 4th edition and Wendel Odom's ICND.
I'd say with your background what you really need is
Wendel Odom's book.Make sure you can do Vlan and Ospf sims
with your eyes closed.VLSM( a must) NAT,STP and address
learning are also important.Thought I'd add my twopence.
Good luck.

camalone

Thanks all for the tips and interest in my learning! I promise not to practice on your networks!

I will get the Lammle Study Guide and look into the Cisco cert pack and Odom books. I don't have the Sybex books/labs.

I feel like I did pretty well on the sims. Of course, without seeing the answers you never know, do you?

I leaning towards another crack at the single exam option.