My CCNA Journey Officially Commences

coreyb80

Spiegel wrote: »

Dude, thanks!!!! That thread just blew my mind. With practice I'll definitely get the hang of it with the method presented.

You definitely will. Took me a minute to get it, but now that I got it. I look it and start counting and it's a wrap. Don't forget about the wildcard either.

Spiegel

I'm also finding this thread has been very useful with solving other kinds of subnetting questions: Subnetting Made Easy

I've been working from the questions provided at www.subnetting.net for the past two days and I find my speed and accuracy has been improving little by little. I'll definitely include 30 minutes of subnetting drills from this site before my study sessions every day until the day before my exam.

Spiegel

Hey guys. It has been a while since I made a post. Was in a bit of a slump. Work has been kicking my butt, attended a wedding, and other things. Started the IPv4 addressing chapters. Since learning how to subnet I've been able to quickly go through these parts, taking notes on some of the more obscure topics. My goal is to finish the book in the next two weeks so and down my self in labs and practice exams.

Also, got together with a co-worker of mine who is also trying to get into the same network analyst team at my job and is studying for the CCENT as well so we'll be meeting up once a week to study and share notes. That should also motivate me to keep up with my readings and labbing.

Glouis22

I'm definitely keeping an eye on this thread. I just started my IT journey and plan on taking my CCENT test in march. thanks to everyone for all the additional info.

Spiegel

Hello everyone!

About a month and change since I've posted here. As things stand today I haven't made huge progress. They've been minuscule at best. Still haven't finished the reading of the book. Just came back from my three month hiatus from WGU which has restarted my studies in earnest. I did manage to get through at least 20 chapters so I don't have too much left, about 44% of the book I'd say.

I've decided to switch gears because I've noticed that simply reading and taking notes is not good enough. Started using the uCertify content from WGU and what I've noticed is actually quite surprising. Didn't know that they had CBTNugget videos embedded within each lesson module. In fact, they have Jeremy Cioara's CCENT videos. The lesson modules also line up perfectly with Wendell Odom's book, all 36 chapters so after reading the lesson which is a summarized version of the Odom's book I watch Jeremy's videos that pertain to the lesson module that I'm on. I also follow a long with Jeremy on Packet Tracer and will do the labs for the chapter/lesson that I'm on with the CCENT ICND1 100-105 Network Simulator. As a result, I've noticed that I absorb the information much more efficiently and do better during the end of lesson quizzes (which is the same as the quizzes that comes in the Odom book software). So I will proceed with this method moving forward until I finish all the lesson modules, then I'll switch over to using Boson Exam Environment practice questions and also NetSim 11 for additional lab practices that is also included with my WGU course.

My goal is still to try to take the exam towards the end of this month so hopefully it all works out.

Spiegel

Have a question regarding a book question I found that I believe may be incorrect. The question goes:

A Class B network needs to be subnetted such that it supports 100 subnets and 100 hosts/subnet. Which of the following answers list a workable combination for the number of network, subnet, and host bits? (Choose two answers.)

A )   Network = 16, subnet = 8, host = 8

B )  Network = 16, subnet = 7, host = 7

C )  Network = 8, subnet = 7, host = 17

D ) Network = 16, subnet = 9, host = 7

I chose A and B because they would give me roughly 100 to 256 hosts and subnets. It correct answers showed up as A and D. Why is D correct and not B?

Jon_Cisco

I picked A and D. I think they are trying to trick you with the number of available bits. While 7 subnet bits would work for the networks the 7 host bits leaves two bits unaccounted for.

In answer D 9 bits gives you more subnets then you need but still meets the 100 host requirement with the 7 available bits.

Spiegel

Another issue I'm experiencing. I'm using Subnetting.net to practice my subnetting and sometimes I'll enter the correct answer but the website marks it as incorrect. Here is a sample:

Jon_Cisco

I still use that site for practicing about once a month and I have had pretty good luck with it. I'm not sure whats going on there.

Spiegel

So I'm trying to setup a trunk on a switch using Packet Tracer but it won't allow me to use the command "switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q"

This is the response I get:

S1(config)#int fa0/1
S1(config-if)#switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
^
% Invalid input detected at '^' marker.
S1(config-if)#switchport trunk ?
allowed Set allowed VLAN characteristics when interface is in trunking mode
native Set trunking native characteristics when interface is in trunking
mode
S1(config-if)#switchport trunk 

Currently using Cisco Packet Tracer v.7.0.0.0306. Am I missing anything? Don't see the option to enable dot1q

PCTechLinc

A former student of mine created a subnetting how-to document based off how I normally teach it.  It's compressed compared to how long I take to teach it during class (one week at 4 - 5 hours per day), and I cover basic IP addressing, subnetting, and VLSM.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030959/uploads/attachments/4/1/2/2/3/7/7435.pdf

kaiju

@Spiegel I just ran "switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q" on 7.2.0.0226 with no problems.

I will try on 7.0 when I get home in a couple hours.

Spiegel

@kaiju Thanks for looking into this. I was also thinking, do you think the type of router I was using would have sn affect like this?

kaiju

The device may be locked into using ISL only. 

I tried " sh interfaces fa0/0 capabilities" but the IOS didn't recognize "capabilities".

Try: device(config-if)# switchport mode trunk

If that works, the device cannot use dot1q. Yes, this worked for me on the 2811 router. I will try the other routers later.

Spiegel

Awesome. I'll reattempt building a ROAS network on the 2811 router. Thanks for the assist!

AvgITGeek

@speigel: On a switch you should only need to issue the following two commands to configure a basic trunk port:

switchport mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan [vlans here]

The encapsulation dot1q command would be issued on your router interface.

Spiegel

How much IPv6 questions can I expect in the exam, or rather, how much weight does IPv6 carry for the ICND1?

EANx

Cisco makes a blueprint available at https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccna/icnd1/exam-topics

Each of those broad areas can be made up of any group of questions from the topics inside so one person could certainly have more IPv6 questions that another person.

MontagueVandervort

Spiegel said:

How much IPv6 questions can I expect in the exam, or rather, how much weight does IPv6 carry for the ICND1?

I would advise you not to short-change yourself and to know it well.

Spiegel

MontagueVandervort said:

Spiegel said:

How much IPv6 questions can I expect in the exam, or rather, how much weight does IPv6 carry for the ICND1?

I would advise you not to short-change yourself and to know it well.

Noted. I wanna be ready on all fronts and want to make sure I really invest the proper time.

kaiju

Here's something that I created for a friend who was having issues with IPV6:

kaiju

For the interface ID:

Jon_Cisco

I took the test in 2013 and there were only a few IPv6 questions. Most of them pretty straight forward. Basic things to understand were your link local vs global and your loopback address. I am sure they are adding more and more IPv6 so when I study to retake it this spring I want to really focus on that.

MontagueVandervort

Jon_Cisco said:

I am sure they are adding more and more IPv6 so when I study to retake it this spring I want to really focus on that.

Yeah, there is a lot more IPv6 on the current version than there was before.

Spiegel

I'm basically done reading over the IPv6 section and honestly it's not that difficult. If you know your IPv4 IP addressing and routing lessons well then learning IPv6 should be pretty straight forward, only needing to focus on the IPv6 specifics not present in IPv4. I'll definitely make it a point to continue going over IPv6 as I become a more experienced network engineer.

Progress Report:

Looks like I'm finally reaching that point in my ICND1 studies where I'm nearly done with my reading and will be jumping into labbing and practice exams. Made a point to list some of the areas I want to go back and review and setup labs for.

Lab with CBTNuggets videos: 

Routing Fundamentals Sections

Routing Between VLANS (This is for configuring router-on-a-stick)

L3 Switching

Using Static Routes

Configuring DHCP

Routing Protocols

Configuring RIPv2

IPv4 Subnetting

Variable Length Subnet Mask (VLSM)

Network Address Translation

Configuring Static NAT

Configuring NAT Overload

Also have the CCENT ICND1 100-105 Network Simulator and Boson NetSim 11 items I'll be going over. I'm feeling pretty good about the exam so I'll be aiming for a February 1st test date. Will be hitting the labs hard so if there is anything else you guys see that I should also focus on let me know.

I would have liked to include more thoughts and about my study experience to make this thread a bit more interesting but as many of you know studying during the holidays, especially when you're in a relationship and have two families to attend too, is brutal. But all in all I feel like I did well considering the obstacles. Starting classes again in December really motivated me to stay on track since I'm taking the Cisco courses as well this semester and would like to have it done early to focus on my other courses.

I also want to take time to thanks those that have responded to this thread and gave me advice and information to look over. You guys are awesome!

Beginning the final stretch now!

Muhammed H

Did you make any note for IPv6? I am also preparing for CCNA and having tough time on grasping IPv6. 

Spiegel

What specifically are you having issues with?

kaiju

I left this out of my previous comments but understanding HEX helps a lot. The 16 bits of HEX are represented by 0 ~ F. "0" is the first bit and "F" is the 16th.

The HEX to Binary conversion is below:

0 = 0000

1 = 0001

2 = 0010

3 = 0011

4 = 0100

5 = 0101

6 = 0110

7 = 0111

8 = 1000

9 = 1001

A = 1010

B = 1011

C = 1100

D = 1101

E = 1110

F = 1111

If you see an address that contains alphabet other than A~F it is not a proper IPv6 address.

Zero Compression and Leading Zero Compression is very confusing for many people so I will try to explain it.

Zero compression - consecutive octets of zeros are compressed and then represented with double colons "::". 

Before compression:

1234:4321:1A23:0000:0000:0000:3456:4123

After compression:

1234:4321:1A23::3456:4123

Zero compression can only be performed once!!

1234:0000:0000:F021:0000:000:9876:1111

Does not become:

1234::F021::9876:1111

Instead it would be:

1234::F021:0:0:9876:1111 (leading zero compression is used on the second set of consecutive zeros)

That was an extreme example because you would most likely not see this on a test.

Leading Zero - Non-consecutive octets of zeros (and/or a second set of consecutive zero octets) are reduced to a single 0 and zeros at the beginning of an octet are dropped.

Before:

1C34:0000:4B21:0010:123F:000E:0041:2341

After:

1C34:0:4B21:10:123F:E:41:2341

This post combined with my previous two posts are what you will most likely see on CCNA level exams.

Spiegel

It is done. I've scheduled the exam for February 4th. Will have a little over two weeks to prep as much as I can with labs and practice exams. This is the final stretch!

Jon_Cisco

Good Luck!