What are my chances of passing this test?

HDDaniels

I passed both A+ exams last summer. I have no networking experience. I bought the Sybex kit, and d/led the technotes from this site. Do you think I can pass this test? I have been studying for about a week, and a half now.

supertechCETma

I believe more study is called for.

Lamini

keep reading. im on round 2. im not spending gas, test money, and a day to do it all over again. this is one of those things you want to get done the first time without a doubt.

he said it best:


If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing.
W. Edwards Deming

and remember:


It is not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and then do your best.

GT-Rob

And unless someone else is covering the bill, Network+ is a pretty expensive test, and I am sure you don't want to do it twice.

Sybex book is good but I would suggest going through some of it more than once. It also wouldn't hurt to make notes as you go through.


In the end if you feel you're ready, then go for it.

brad-

I'm gonna say no. I had limited network exp...knew the Mike Meyers Passport and Exam Cram2 books very well, and every practice test I could get my hands on, and I barely passed after studying for about 4 hours a day for almost 3 weeks.

Everyone here likes to post and link the objectives and talk about how they havent changed, but in my experience the books and technotes here, while they do a great job of covering the material, are not well represented by the test questions. I thought it was unnecessarily difficult given that it is an entry level test.

HDDaniels

I plan on taking this test in April, or May.

bikeandski

I studied off and on for about 4 months. I think the exam was a lot more difficult than A+ which I only studied for two weeks. I also have a fair amount of network experience. If I were you I would get another resource or two and continue to study for a while. Good luck!

Plantwiz

HDDaniels wrote:

I passed both A+ exams last summer. I have no networking experience. I bought the Sybex kit, and d/led the technotes from this site. Do you think I can pass this test? I have been studying for about a week, and a half now.

50/50


I don't know you, nor know what type of information you know, nor how you take exams.....I would not recommend it unless you can at least meet the minimum guidelines as put forth by CompTIA.

Cert exams aren't about collecting all you can, it's abuot (or should be) establishing what knowledge you DO have.

It's not a race.

Lamini

my plan of attack (study) for now is:

#1 read book once (old sybex network+ book)
#2 read book 2nd time, this time with flashcards, supplement with wikipedia/google if unclear.

im a believer in the flashcards. i cant write down something meaningful if I dont first understand it. I work with a bunch of engineers and these guys are workaholics, so i learn from them; hit the books. i envy it when the big companies come over to do demos for us... and end up getting taught themselves.

i think the reason why this stuff taking me so long as i get way into it. ie, instead of just knowing usb in network+ (?! lol), i went to the engineering sites (i get distracted easily), got the voltages from computer PS to USB pins, current ratings, why there are only 4 ports on usb hubs, whats the actual transfer rates, why does usb audio SUCK, i broke out with the rhode&shartz and was calculating latency/packets, why is USB not used on video capture, how to create a usb bootable dongle, USB VS 1394... etc

im still reading my 3yr old book (network+ sybex 2005) the 2nd (maybe more, it hasnt been my priority, and you know what happens when you stop studying something, you start over) time around, this time using flashcards if I need. Maybe Im being overconfident myself, as I see flaws/mistakes all over the book this round.

HDDaniels

Yeah, I've read through the book once. I'm on my 2nd time through. I should be comfortable by May, when I plan to take the test.

Daniel333

Sadly, it's a comptia exam, so you probably could pass it just reading that book a cople of times and finding some flash cards.

But I am going to recommend you spend more hands on the time in your home lab.

Magnum2544

Eh just wing it!

haha j/k


My experience is that I just cannot read books...props to all of you who actually can.

I am currently a college student and have had 3 classes geared toward Network+ books.

My advice to you would be to gain a strong understanding of the OSI model and what protocols work at each layer.

Also, know common ports, topologies, media, and....well...just read the CompTIA objectives.

I am taking this test next Tuesday so we will see if what I have done has paid off.

Good luck to you.

Trigun

HDDaniels, when you are ready you will know. No one here can tell you if you are ready as we are not inside you head to know what you know...

Look at the comptia objectives and if you know and more importantly understand 99% of it ... then go for it.

puertorico123

I passed both A+ exams last summer. I have no networking experience. TOO!, i recomend all-ion-one book, tech note, measure-up, and may be lab manual and Q&A book. for minimun.