Ready for the CCENT?

AlexMR

I think I've been ready for more than a few weeks. I started studying from Lammle's CCNA book and then bought the Cisco Press Odom's book because i felt I was missing some topics from the exam blueprint, and the fact that the info was not organized in the sybex book also helped to make the purchase. I have slowed down on my studies in the past three weeks mostly because I'm a little bored of studying what i feel I know very well already.

My problem now is that I went to the CCNA prep center and after going through the 6chapters of questions I only got 72%. I did very bad in the wireless LAN section and only got 68% in the WAN section. There were a couple terms that I just hadnt seen before and Im doubting my preparation for the exam.

To be honest, my problems seem to be different from those of most people: I am really doing good on the configurations and troubleshooting but failing in the theory.

I need to know if there are any good test that i could take (if they are free it would be great because ive seen/heard some prices that makes me think about getting the exam better to find out). Also, I understand that the weight of the configuration and troubleshooting makes the difference on the exams, but I just dont want to go take the exam until i dont get at least 90% on all test/questionaires i can find about the CCENT topics.

Has anyone tried the questions from the CCNA Prep Center? I was thinking that maybe those were harder than the ones that Im going to find in the test, as some of them doesnt really look like questions you wuld be asking in a 60question exam of a 600pages book (convert 405to binary? 11110010 is LSB?? WTF IS LSB?? That is NOT in Sybex book or the offical exam guide, i just checked the .pdfs ust to make sure i didnt forget and it is not there!).

Sorry for the long post. I really thought back when i started that by this time i was going to be taking the CCNA exam and now i am still doubting taking the halfway thing! I need to go a little faster as a job is currently waiting for me to get certified...

Thanks for helping and sorry for the long post.

cisco_trooper

I haven't seen what topics from the CCNA overlap the CCENT, but I'm inclined to think the questions from CCNA prep center will move beyond the CCENT quite rapidly, so I wouldn't feel like too much of a failure just yet. Since you already have the material why not save some money and go straight for the CCNA?

AlexMR

tbh? I am fraid of the 640-802. Ive heard it's too damned hard and apparently the hardest part is my biggest weakness when it comes to taking exams: SPEED.

I have been thinking about it though, but i just dont think it's a good idea.

tech-airman

AlexMR,

AlexMR wrote:

I think I've been ready for more than a few weeks. I started studying from Lammle's CCNA book and then bought the Cisco Press Odom's book because i felt I was missing some topics from the exam blueprint, and the fact that the info was not organized in the sybex book also helped to make the purchase. I have slowed down on my studies in the past three weeks mostly because I'm a little bored of studying what i feel I know very well already.

The "Cisco Press Odom's book" is the "CCENT/CCNA ICND1 Official Exam Certification Guide (CCENT Exam 640-822 and CCNA Exam 640-802), 2nd Edition." According to ciscopress.com, ...

Certification Info @ ciscopress.com wrote:

[The Cisco Press Exam Certification Guides are designed to] prepare for the exam and confirm your knowledge.

So maybe you should "fall back" and get the "Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices, Part 1 (ICND1): CCNA Exam 640-802 and ICND1 Exam 640-822, 2nd Edition" Cisco Press book.

Source:

1. CCENT/CCNA ICND1 Official Exam Certification Guide (CCENT Exam 640-822 and CCNA Exam 640-802), 2nd Edition - http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=1587201828
2. Customers and Markets > Certification Info - http://www.ciscopress.com/markets/detail.asp?st=44727
3. Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices, Part 1 (ICND1): CCNA Exam 640-802 and ICND1 Exam 640-822, 2nd Edition - http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=1587054620

AlexMR wrote:

My problem now is that I went to the CCNA prep center and after going through the 6chapters of questions I only got 72%. I did very bad in the wireless LAN section and only got 68% in the WAN section. There were a couple terms that I just hadnt seen before and Im doubting my preparation for the exam.

Earlier you stated "I'm a little bored of studying what i feel I know very well already" and now you say "Im doubting my preparation for the exam." You are learning the insidious effect of boredom which seems to have led to a possible desensitization level for reviewing/restudying that topic. Also, you're learning that, unfortunately, what you felt that you knew very well already when measured up to certification standards, didn't meet certification standards. Now, this is both good and bad. First the bad news is that you need to study more because your feelings of your knowledge and Cisco's "feelings" of what a CCNA should know don't match. The good thing is, you didn't waste the registration fee for the Cisco exam to find out that your knowledge and skills did not meet certification standards. Maybe you're possibly becoming burned out with studying so take a break if you need it.

AlexMR wrote:

To be honest, my problems seem to be different from those of most people: I am really doing good on the configurations and troubleshooting but failing in the theory.

The "theory" as you call it is something that is very important to know, to a certain extent, almost more important than the skills of configuring and troubleshooting. That's because the theory explains WHY you're configuring what you're configuring and also explains WHY you're having the trouble that needs to be shot. Without properly understanding the theory, you may have problems in the future with WHY you're configuring what you're configuring.

AlexMR wrote:

I need to know if there are any good test that i could take (if they are free it would be great because ive seen/heard some prices that makes me think about getting the exam better to find out). Also, I understand that the weight of the configuration and troubleshooting makes the difference on the exams, but I just dont want to go take the exam until i dont get at least 90% on all test/questionaires i can find about the CCENT topics.

The absolute best test of your knowledge and skills is the 640-822 ICND1 exam. Unfortunately, that exam is not free. On the other side of the spectrum are braindumps, which may be free, but then you'll instantly earn the distrust of anyone else who has honestly earned their certification, like your fellow TechExams.net members. You mentioned earlier that you have the "Cisco Press Odom's book" so why not use the Cisco Press authorized exam simulator that came with that book? Since you already have the book, effectively it's "free."

AlexMR wrote:

Has anyone tried the questions from the CCNA Prep Center? I was thinking that maybe those were harder than the ones that Im going to find in the test, as some of them doesnt really look like questions you wuld be asking in a 60question exam of a 600pages book (convert 405to binary? 11110010 is LSB?? WTF IS LSB?? That is NOT in Sybex book or the offical exam guide, i just checked the .pdfs ust to make sure i didnt forget and it is not there!).

You have to understand that the CCNA Prep Center is designed to help learning the material towards the full CCNA certification. So as other posters have mentioned, maybe the practice exam questions are beyond the scope of the 640-822 ICND1 exam so maybe you're being too hard on yourself.

LSB is the acronym for the "Least Significant Bit."

AlexMR wrote:

Sorry for the long post. I really thought back when i started that by this time i was going to be taking the CCNA exam and now i am still doubting taking the halfway thing! I need to go a little faster as a job is currently waiting for me to get certified...

Thanks for helping and sorry for the long post.

Instead of thinking of the 640-822 ICND1 exam as the "halfway thing" to the CCNA, try thinking of the 640-822 ICND1 exam as the 100% to the CCENT. Cisco has decided that the CCENT is a whole certification which is achieved by taking and passing the 640-822 ICND1 exam. In other words, instead of thinking of a half full glass, think of it as a full glass of CCENT.

I hope this helps.

flipmad

LSB (Least Significant Bit) is the rightmost bit in the octet. So if you have 11110010 then the 1111001(0) or Zero in this octet will be your least significant bit.


You could always study just the theory some more and schedule the test

aragoen_celtdra

Hey Alex,
I hear ya, man! I'm also preparing for my CCENT exam and I've already re-scheduled it twice - I'm taking it at the end of this month.

In addition to tech-airman's very well and thought-out response ...

I do find it quite frustrating sometimes because I've read all the materials twice and I'm finding that there are still things that I keep forgetting. And those things tend to be the ones that are really minor details (configurations and lab practices are easier because they're more fun and thus you tend to remember them). That's what I felt like when I took the practice exams on CCNA PreP Center.

As far as those practice tests go, I really don't think they are designed to match the type of questions asked in the real test. I got the feeling that what it intended to do is to "drill" you on what you know (what you remember) and what you still need to brush up on. For example, the questions on the OSI model were just plain matching the correct definition. In fact a lot of the questions are plain definition and basic enumeration of facts, lists, and steps. However, I did feel that almost all the questions I encountered were found in the book I'm currently using for my test preparation (Wendell Odom), minus a few that I completely never heard of .

The book has a free exam prep software from boson that you can install and I felt that those questions had a little bit more "exam feel" to it becuase it makes you think of the concept and apply it to the question being asked.

As far as other test materials, I've never tried Transcender but I hear it's a good one and people here recommend it. If money is the case, as it always is, I try to remind myself that free is good, but the value of good knowledge and education is priceless (cheesy i know, but so true).

In my experience so far, here is what I learned:
-Read the material but make sure you find out a way to put it in practical use so you can remember it
-Every command you encounter on the books, practice it on real or simulated router/switch
-Ask questions. Why? Because by asking, you actually thought about the situation and you get it imprinted in your memory
-Discuss. I've PM'ed a couple of guys from this forum that are also taking the test and now we talk on instant message every night and test each other. Another fellow (itdaddy) is my "blog partner" where we share ideas on anything tech related. It also helps combat boredom because we keep each other on our toes and motivate each other as well.

Bottom line is have fun. Try not to treat studying for the test as something that you HAVE to do. That's when all the information become dry and un-interesting - which makes them easier to forget. Keep at it and you'll do fine. A lot of us get frustrated with it but that's why you have this community so we can all help and motivate each other.

I kinda rambled on but I hope this helps a little.

AlexMR

Thanks for the replies guys! You are are awesome!

Well, i think my post was basically a rant, but again, thanks, specially to tech-airman for the honest response, and aragoen for the motivation.

I dont think I have ever been studying just to pass, i am doing this because i am after a career change, im currently a civil engineer and im kinda tired of it, so I just want to be great at this and be known as a very good technician and be able to move forward to be a network specialist/analyst as soon as possible.

It is true that mostly what i felt yesterday was a little frustration and uncertainty about my preparation for the test. The frustration was basically what tech-airman said that what i thought was already a very god level of knowledge apparently does NOT meet the certification standards.

Maybe that is not the case, becaus e i had been doing quite well in previous exercises as i said. The questions I am referring are new in the prep center. They are for the ICND1 from the official textbook Interconnecting Cisco Network devices 1 ICND1. As i said, many of those questions seem extremely...carefully searched/picked? maybe? Those are questions mostly asked at the end of a chapter more than the kind of questions you should find in the exam, as some of you said. Maybe some of you can check to see what i mean. I havent checked the CD and i will do it as soon as i post this reply.

I think I am going to read again the book or at least the chapters that i did worse or the ones where i dont feel 100% after reviewing the "Do i know this already?" questions. I really dont have any intention to go fail the test just to see...i'd rather delay it a bit...

I'll keep you posted.