learning the ethernet standards off by heart

aueddonline

i was wondering what people thought of learning these off by heart.

I was thinking of drawing out a history of ethernet standards and putting them in order. Because i'm learning from home it's hard remember it's like learning the next part of the puzzle

welcome any ideas to get my head round it all.

malcybood

What are you referring to when you say "Ethernet Standards"?

aueddonline

like IEEE ethernet standards

r_durant

I too have wondered about this part of the syllabus, but not just the ethernet standards...cable standards, types, lengths, uses, etc...is it worth spending time "learning these off by heart"?

I'm not asking anyone to breach the NDA, but how much are these tested on the CCNA, i figure they are probably tested more in the INTRO...

Just asking seein that i'm in the early stages of study and these topics come at the beginning...and i'm itching to get into the meat of the matter...

Paul Boz

It's less stuff you'll see on the test and more stuff you should know. Just like a basketball player knows where he has to stand to shoot a free throw, you should know how long a ethernet cable should be, what full/half duplex is, and should know basic topology (ethernet/point to point/etc).

KGhaleon

It's good to know, but I've never seen any questions like that on the CCNA. Mostly Switch, router, ISDN/VLAN, simulation, etc some scenarios, etc

They won't be asking you generic CAT5e questions, for instance...but it's not bad to know.

KG

Ahriakin

KGhaleon wrote:

It's good to know, but I've never seen any questions like that on the CCNA. Mostly Switch, router, ISDN/VLAN, simulation, etc some scenarios, etc

They won't be asking you generic CAT5e questions, for instance...but it's not bad to know.

KG

Aye and they (and the exam) expects you to know those standards and not even blink when topologies are being described. The CCNA is the most time-intensive exam I've ever sat, I finished it first time with about 30 seconds to spare, you don't have any time to waste on extraneous topology details so it does pay to have a thorough knowledge of the main standards even if you are not asked a direct question on them.

r_durant

Ok, I think I get what you guys are saying...I guess that stuff would be more compulsory for something like Network+, but only required as a foundation knowledge for CCNA...

markzab

But wouldn't it be a shame to fail by 1 or 2 points because you didn't know that 802.11q was wireless?

That's the crap that bugged me out the first time I took the NA in 2000. I knew EVERY little detail because I wanted to be damn sure to pass. For the little details like this I would suggest creating a little notecard with the info on it. Like for examply which items run at each layer of the OSI model. TIFF, MPEG, GIF, etc for presentation. Stuff like that.

cambei

But wouldn't it be a shame to fail by 1 or 2 points because you didn't know that 802.11q was wireless?

802.11q is not an actual standard yet. It is reserved for future wireless standards. 802.1q is the IEEE VLAN trunking protocol.

802.11 is the family of wireless standards known as WiFi. 802.11b and g being the most common ones in use with 802.11n being the newer standard.

Not having a go or anything, just don't want people getting confused with 802.1q.