Wendall Odom

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm starting my CCNA track as mentioned previously and wanted to share something. I'm a big fan of Sybex but I decided to buy the Cisco Press books because I figured if it's officially licensed then it has to be good. Man was I wrong, it's better than good.

Wendell Odom is such a good writer and makes things very clear and concise...I highly recommend it to anyone that is considering the CCNA. I've only read four chapters but I've read them in about a total of four hours and have retained a lot of the information.

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Slowhand

Wendell Odom's work is definitely top-notch. If you get a chance, check out some of his articles on Network World's Cisco Subnet, as well.

AlexMR

Did you buy the certification library for the CCNA exam 640-802 or the ccent and 640-816 separate books?

I book the two books and i think they (or it, since i only read the first) is good but i wouldnt say it is better than Todd Lamle's CCNA book. My one and only complaint about Lamle's book is that he has the BAD habit of defining with undefined concepts. I think that is quite silly and somehting really easy to correct. I honestly dont get how even a mediocre editor can let that happen so sooooo often. it is something he repeatedly do and somebody has to correct him.

I havent taken the exam, but based exclusively in the learning experience the book is very good. I he could just stop doing that thing it would be such a jewel imo.

megatran808

I've read the Sybex books for CCNA and Ciscopress books when I studied for my CCNA. I find that the Sybex books are easy to read but lacks the detailed information that the Ciscopress books covers. When I took my CCNA the first time. I only used the Sybex book and failed the exam.

Its good to have both books to study with. But if you had to decide which one to use for your exam. Ciscopress is the way to go. Just speaking from my own personal experience.

Right now I am studying for my CCNP - BCMSN and I am using Ciscopress.

Bookpool has the CCNA library for $38 and free shipping.

http://www.bookpool.com/sm/1587201836

Hope this info helps.

nel

jscimeca715 wrote:

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm starting my CCNA track as mentioned previously and wanted to share something. I'm a big fan of Sybex but I decided to buy the Cisco Press books because I figured if it's officially licensed then it has to be good. Man was I wrong, it's better than good.

Wendell Odom is such a good writer and makes things very clear and concise...I highly recommend it to anyone that is considering the CCNA. I've only read four chapters but I've read them in about a total of four hours and have retained a lot of the information.

Yeah, i totally agree. Its a great, easy to understand book. i think alot of authors nowadays sometimes forget that if there writing an entry level book then they have to bring the explanations down a level for people to understand. wendell does this great and its one of the few certs where a book has very little boring parts

- try reading the syngress 293 ms exam book - geesh, its like watching paint dry!

Deria

Hi Jscimeca715
You have recommended Wendell Odom’s book, is that (CCENT/CCNA ICND1) did you have to buy a second book for the practical side of the Routers and Switches, or is this book enough for both.
I remember CCNA 640-801 had COMPANION GUIDE for the Theory side and LAB COMPANION for the practical side?

AlexMR

Deria wrote:

Hi Jscimeca715
You have recommended Wendell Odom’s book, is that (CCENT/CCNA ICND1) did you have to buy a second book for the practical side of the Routers and Switches, or is this book enough for both.
I remember CCNA 640-801 had COMPANION GUIDE for the Theory side and LAB COMPANION for the practical side?

This is why i think the Sybex, Lammle's book is better. Odom's book doesnt have as many real ife scenarios and examples and dont get even remotely close to Lammle's when you think about practice labs, that are, imho and based exclusively on others comments, an integral part in order to pass the cisco exams. If you check amazon.com reviews you will see that a lot of people think Odom's book is great but there is trend: They seem to think they ar eprepare for the exam and when they show up they are not. This happens because of the lack of practice IMO. That doesnt happen with Lammle's book.

Check out the reviews on amazon and you will see. A lot of people are saying that is the only thing they used to get their CCNA certification. Maybe Odom's books explain in a little more detail. But the practices and real world scenarios of Lammle makes the other book superior when it comes to exam and real world p preparation.

I was troubled about the difficulty of the CCNA and decided to go for the two exam route, and ordered both Odom's books. Then decided that I should have the offficial courses and ordered both the Interconnecting Cisco devices which i havent checked more than a few pages yet. I think that was an overkill. And it is if you are considering getting further in your cisco studies, as you will end up buying a lot of books for say specifics routing protocols and the focused of your studies at this point should be mastering all the exam topics in order to move on (after getting that great cert that is!).

rymetymeuk

I thought i'd give my 2 cents since i recently studied and passed the 802 exam..

I got the Cisco Press books first and found that Wendell is a good clear writer, but the books didn't get to the point quickly enough for me. I got the Lammle book and found that he is the one that writes towards the objectives, not sure how anyone can say he doesn't as at the start of each chapter he writes which objective he is covering!

I think Lammle explains subnetting the way it should be explained- methods to memorize your increments and how to quickly solve a subnet question. None of this writing out to binary first etc...
I can subnet quickly and in my head after reading his book, and since the exams are geared towards subnetting it's vital to get this down ASAP.

I passed the CCNA exam but am re-reading all the materials as I crammed and don't want to forget any of it!

My biggest thing is now getting a networking job, I have too much knowledge for the basic basic stuff like rack and stack but too little to do configs.

So, to summarize i'd get both the cisco press and lammle books, read cisco press after the lammle to give further insight into the topics. Wendell goes into more detail than is needed to pass the exam (which is what we do want for the real world), and i was on a time budget to pass the CCNA.

love this forum all, absolutely the best i've come across so far!

AlexMR

I have been reading from the Interconnecting Cisco network devices books since my last post here and if you really want detail those are the books you need.

They might give too much info for the people who are only after getting the precise information that is going to allow them to pass the exam.

I still think Lammle's book is a must for anyone interested in the CCNA.

jscimeca715

Thanks for all the feedback. I actually bought the Certification Library (two books). I also have Lammles book as a backup and more specifically, the subnetting part. Everyone agrees that he teaches subnetting really easily and since I've read that it's important I decided to buck up and get it. I actually bought quite a bit of material: video mentor, flashcard/exam prep, portable command guide, lammle and exam library. I'm afforded a lot of time to study and I feel that no amount of money is too much because of the increase in pay you get when you pass the exam (hopefully). Thanks for the advice.

Glynixx

AlexMR wrote:

I have been reading from the Interconnecting Cisco network devices books since my last post here and if you really want detail those are the books you need.

They might give too much info for the people who are only after getting the precise information that is going to allow them to pass the exam.

I still think Lammle's book is a must for anyone interested in the CCNA.

AlexMR, is that the Steve McQuerry set?

or is it the Thomas M. Thomas book?

Thanks!

AlexMR

Glynixx wrote:

AlexMR wrote:

I have been reading from the Interconnecting Cisco network devices books since my last post here and if you really want detail those are the books you need.

They might give too much info for the people who are only after getting the precise information that is going to allow them to pass the exam.

I still think Lammle's book is a must for anyone interested in the CCNA.

AlexMR, is that the Steve McQuerry set?

or is it the Thomas M. Thomas book?

Thanks!

Mcquerry's. I must tell you though, if your main interest is passing the CCNA exam(s) you might be better of with the certification library or the Lammle's CCNA. I'm just saying that the information is more extensive, clear and overall better explained in the Interconnecting Cisco Network devices books.

dazerski

There hasn't been one topic discussed so far in Odom's book(s) that have been confusing to me due to Odom. Now... if there has been any confusion, it has mostly been because I haven't grasped the concept but when it finally clicks, I go back and read and I realize it was explained very well. I am happy with Odom. I did buy the full-meal-deal Lammle CCNA one for reference but I mostly stick with Odom's.

jscimeca715

ddzierzak: You make a good point, there have been a few things that I haven't grasped, but I read the book straight through and then go back and "quasi" read it again to grasp things I didn't understand. I was nervous that a Cisco Press book would be boring so I read Odom's blog before I bought everything and really enjoyed his writing style.

lildeezul

hello everyone.

Well i have been kinda biased telling everyone that lammle has an excellent book, only becuase that the only book i read.
well i recieved an CCNA certificate library from Wendell Odom, and i was amazed.

he explains everything very well, and into detail. i also like lammle, he explains it in a different perspective so that it is easier to understand. ( instead of just giving it to you strait up)

i have to say, using these two books (three actually- wendell published 2 books for the CCNA)
as a combo for studying is a must. Well for me it is....

How lammle and odom are like peas and carrots, white on rice, mashed potatoes and gravy, keptchup and mustard, hamburgers and hotdogs, haha you get the point

i read lammle first, and if i dont get it or need more clarification i then read the corresponding chapter in odoms book.
They go together perfect.
in my cases, if lammle doesnt explain a topic well, then odom explains it very well, and the topics odom dont explain well, lammle does.
so you see why this is a great combo.

thanks you both. and the techexam forum.

tmlerdal

I used Odom's books for the CCNA, and the only thing that was confusing to me out of it was his discussion on VLSM. I picked up Lammle's CCNA Fast Pass book, and in only a couple of pages had it all figured out so much clearer.

I thought Wendell's CCNA books were good, but his QoS book is fantastic.