Study Time??

zenlakin

Just curious what you guys would say is an average time for someone to prepare themselves for the CCNA? I know that it will depend on what background they have, how well they retain information, study materials available, etc… I have access to the sybex book, boson net sim and I am able to devote roughly 5-8 solid hours a day to studying. Any ideas on the average time I should give myself before trying to take the exam? I also plan on doing some practice exams of course to give myself an idea if I am ready or not. But again I am just wondering how long most of you studied before even thinking about taking the test?

Aquabat [banned]

5-8 hours a day??? i did an hour a day for 4 months

petedude

zenlakin wrote:

I know that it will depend on what background they have, how well they retain information, study materials available, etc… I have access to the sybex book, boson net sim and I am able to devote roughly 5-8 solid hours a day to studying.

If you have that kind of time available, you should consider setting up a practice lab and/or getting rack time at some point.

Don't push yourself too hard, though-- you could hit burnout pretty quickly.

For non-Cisco exams, it would take me 1-3 months to prep depending on the exam. Cisco sets a higher scoring bar on these though, and I haven't been back on it in a while. If you're new to networking, getting through the CCNA in 4 months might be tough. If you have any kind of background-- even a Linux+ or Network+-- you might be able to do it in 4 months (yes, this is outside those miracle people who sat down and aced them in three weeks).

~Scott~

I passed after about 40 hours in the Cisco INTRO online course and a five day bootcamp where I was able to do lots of hands on. I spent roughly 16 hours per day studying for five days straight before attempting the exam. So... roughly 120 hours total not including a few hours here and there that I didn't track....

I had NO prior networking experience...

Aquabat [banned]

wow, i am not new to networking. I study with a home practice lab and sybex/bryantadvantage and practice tests. So i am all self-study. Sometimes i think an hour a day is not even. But after doing it everyday for over 4 months i've had about as all that i can take!

Kaminsky

3 hours then a good break and then maybe another 3. You need a break after about 4 hours or your brain turns to mush and what your reading doesnt stick.

Pash

Agree with Kaminsky however im one of these people who just likes to "if i just test on this last thing then ill have a break" or ..... "if i just read this last part again then i can put my mind at rest". God i hate studying...hell knows how im gonna do more certs this year

zenlakin

I unfortunately don't have the resources to setup a lab here at work which is where I am able to do my studying when we are not busy. I do have boson netsim like I had stated in my original post but unfortunately don't have the financial ability to build a real lab or to spend on rack time. I am hoping to be albe to use the sybex book and the boson simulator to pass the CCNA?

djmd

zenlakin wrote:

I unfortunately don't have the resources to setup a lab here at work which is where I am able to do my studying when we are not busy. I do have boson netsim like I had stated in my original post but unfortunately don't have the financial ability to build a real lab or to spend on rack time. I am hoping to be albe to use the sybex book and the boson simulator to pass the CCNA?

You should probably use the Cisco Press books as well.

zenlakin

Has anyone looked at or used the CCNA fast pass book at all? I got a hold of a copy and was just curious if it would be worth my time to read it. Thanks.

davetuck

zenlakin wrote:

Has anyone looked at or used the CCNA fast pass book at all? I got a hold of a copy and was just curious if it would be worth my time to read it. Thanks.

I've used the FastPass book, I really liked it, kind of a condensed version of Lammles CCNA. Saying that tho I did fail the test!!

NightShade1

Well i studied the currriculum 3.1 like 3 years ago then never did the exam lol

Now i studied for 3 months and each day i studied 2 - 3 hours.... sometimes there were days that i didnt study cause i was doing other stuff but i can count those days with my hands.... For this 3 months study i studied from Sybex book, Tracender study guide, and the Practice test that came with my tracender package. Ah yeah i read Extra material about stuff on the internet also...

mrkorean

1st attempt - I spent two months lesiurely reading one out of date CCNA todd lamme 640-507 book for a couple of hours during the weekends. Failed!

2nd attempt - Spent 2 weeks reading every few nights on latest ICND. Week 3 spent on memorising everything and practising as many multiple choices as possible during week and weekend. Week before exam, studied during work, lunch time, rush home studied till midnight everynight. Passed!

Kaminsky

davetuck wrote:

zenlakin wrote:

Has anyone looked at or used the CCNA fast pass book at all? I got a hold of a copy and was just curious if it would be worth my time to read it. Thanks.

I've used the FastPass book, I really liked it, kind of a condensed version of Lammles CCNA. Saying that tho I did fail the test!!

Doh! hehe


I've recently come across Fast Pass! I really like it too if only that it gives a different structure to my studying. Alongside other books to flesh it out, it is working out well.


Anyone unaware of the book, it breaks things down by the sections on the exam syllabus - Design, Installation, troubleshooting, technolgy, etc. In each of those sub areas it goes into the things that are exam marked under that catagory.

However, I am not a big fan of the Sybex ccna book as it does have holes so couplig the fast pass with sybex and cisco press seems to be working out well. At least I think it is. Still have to sit the exam yet.