CWNA Pass

dynamik

Radio Frequency (RF) Technologies 93%
IEEE 802.11 Regulations and Standards 70%
IEEE 802.11 Protocols and Devices 76%
IEEE 802.11 Network Implementation 100%
IEEE 802.11 Network Security 63% (WTF!?)
IEEE 802.11 RF Site Surveying 100%

Total: 82% (Pass is 70%)

60 questions, no going back and reviewing. It's a 90 minute exam, and I probably spent about 45. I wasn't really paying attention.

This was like a hard CompTIA exam. I often felt like there were more correct options than I was allowed to choose. I had to put a lot of effort into trying to determine what they were really looking for. On the other hand, some of the questions were ridiculously easy (i.e the other options had nothing to do with wireless technology, so the correct answer stood out from a simple process of elimination).

This exam delves deep into layer 1 and layer 2 RF technologies, international standards, and the 802.11 specification. I'm not kidding when I say significant amount of my prep for this was spent on Wikipedia and various Google queries. The Official guide might be good for a expert, but it was woefully inadequate for a novice. The thing I hated the most about it was that many of the complex topics could have been made crystal clear if they would have simply included a diagram or sketch of what they were talking about.

After reading the official guide, I failed miserably at Transcender. I decided to purchase a used copy of the Sybex book on Amazon for $14. This book saved me from throwing away money on this exam. There is no doubt in my mind that I would have failed without it. It covered many things that the official book didn't even touch as well as included many useful diagrams for EVERY topic I felt the official guide was lacking. There is no reason not to pick up a copy of this book if you're serious about this exam.

Whoever failed this recently, you have my utmost sympathy. I ended up doing better than I thought, but I was pretty tense submitting that last question. It looks like they have an update coming out for this exam at the beginning of November. Just something to keep in mind if you're looking at taking this soon.

This new diet sucks. No carbs all week!? That's seriously going to mess with my alcoholism. I guess I'll celebrate with a Whey shake

P.S. JD, is the CWSP more interesting than this? This was the most boring exam I have ever studied for.

btowntech

Congrats!! Started studying for this one and then got a network engineer position that is Cisco only and no wireless. I ended up starting down the path of CCNP so I may go back and pick this one up later. Thanks for the info.

bertieb

Congrats (yet again) Dynamik.

(Guys, he's not human I'm tellin you. He's a machine )

dynamik

bertieb wrote:

(Guys, he's not human I'm tellin you. He's a machine )

I was going to do a triple-header of this, VCP, and CCENT. I got sick of studying for this one, so I just rescheduled it hastily on Weds without really paying attention that I was scheduling it for the next day (I usually have to put it a month out). Well, you can't reschedule less than 24 hours prior to your exam, so that sealed the deal! Whoops

Also, I got up at 5am this morning and thought I'd take a nice relaxing bath, enjoy a smoothie, and read the last chapter of my Sybex book. Well, it was a nice thought. However, about 5 minutes in, I missed the side of the tub with the glass and ended up with a tub full of blueberry smoothie and broken glass. Oh well. It's always nice to get your bad luck out of the way first thing in the morning

I'm pretty sure a machine would have better precision...

bertieb

dynamik wrote:

I'm pretty sure a machine would have better precision...

You say this, but the reason I'm sat here at 1.25am (UK time) is because a 'machine' (SQL cluster) threw a wobbler and I keep getting called up and generally mithered about it. Not very precise IMO. Nice try, but you're not convincing me that you're human.

Slowhand

Hey, congratulations on the pass. Looks like your alphabet-soup is coming along nicely. What kind of time-frame are you looking at for VCP and CCENT?

whistler

Congratulations. Two more weeks until I under take the exam.

mamono

Congrats!! Nice blurb. I'm planning this one after CCNA. I'm going to go pickup a copy of the Sybex. I had a feeling that the official guide would be inadequate. It seems too thin. CWSP is a thin book also...



::EDIT::
Hahaha.... I found this review of the Official Guide to be very useful!

1.0 out of 5 stars Please, don't write any more books., July 15, 2008
By mitch "mitchf" (Abington, ma United States) - See all my reviews
I'm not sure if I should be angry with, or feel sorry for the editor. Never has an author's writing style enraged me so. In other words, I will expound upon why this book should never have been published, let alone copied into a fourth edition.

In the last paragraph I said the author's writing style enraged me so. That is to say, you have read that the way the author tries to explain difficult technical concepts to an audience that is trying to learn these difficult technical concepts could actually cause hypertension. In other words, this book is unreadable. I will talk more about that and hypertension in later paragraphs.

Hypertension, according to certain definitions is considered to be the condition such that a person's systolic blood pressure is consistently 140 mmHg or greater than 140mmHg, and/or their diastolic blood pressure is consistently 90 mmHg or greater than 90mmHg. In other words, I would rather rub ground glass in my eyes, than have to continue reading on. Although this material is not on the test, it is nice to know. That is to say, it's like having all your eggs in one basket---but there is no basket. Further, because eggs are considered to cause your systolic blood pressure to rise above 140 mmHg, there are no eggs. But you won't be tested on any of this.

Note: A note should only be a quick statement of note and not a half of a page that includes phrases such as, "In other words", "Though you will not be tested to this level of depth..." or "For example", nor should it include a metaphor that breaks down with an explanation as to why the metaphor breaks down. In other words, violations of the fundamental precepts of technical writing can be infuriating. That is to say, with each paragraph, the list of things that are wrong with this book grows exponentially. If you're still breathing, in a later chapter, I will explain what exponentially means.

When I explain what the word exponentially means you may involuntarily tear the flesh from your face. In other words, you won't actually understand what the word exponentially means, but I'm covered because I told you that you would need other material to pass the test. That is to say, there is technical material to be read that may not contain the pronouns "I" or "you".

If an author has the character string, "In other words, " on a macro key and uses that phrase and similar ones with great proliferation, then the editor should tell the author to save a few trees, a year or two of his audiences' lifespan, and a whole mess of redundant and convoluted statements by using those other words in the first place. How many times, I wonder, and I wonder why I wonder, is that phrase used in the first three chapters? I also wonder why Part II is not Part I. That is to say, the author's impartation of his obviously expert knowledge is skewered by the organization of the material.

So, I'll be using the table of contents and headers as a guide to what to study for the PWO-100 because reading the IEEE 802.11 standard itself is easier on the comprehension, the hypertension, and it was written without the help of Jesus.

JDMurray

The Sybex book is quite good, but it wasn't out when I took the CWNA or CWSP. I'm glad that you found it indispensable.

dynamik wrote:

P.S. JD, is the CWSP more interesting than this? This was the most boring exam I have ever studied for.

I actually enjoyed studying for the CWNA more than CWSP. I was a HAM radio geek in a past life and really enjoyed the hard/firmware parts of the exam. You took a later release of the exam than I did, which is probably filled with more boring regulations and IEEE standards info than I had to memorize. The CWSP is about the hardware, firmware, policies, and techniques of securing wireless networks. If that sort of thing turns you on then you'll love the CWSP.

jbaello

Congrats! are this exam like comptia? are they tied to Cisco?

shednik

dynamik you an an animal!! congrats man!!

dynamik

JDMurray wrote:

I actually enjoyed studying for the CWNA more than CWSP. I was a HAM radio geek in a past life and really enjoyed the hard/firmware parts of the exam. You took a later release of the exam than I did, which is probably filled with more boring regulations and IEEE standards info than I had to memorize.

There was a lot of that, so that's probably true.

JDMurray wrote:

The CWSP is about the hardware, firmware, policies, and techniques of securing wireless networks. If that sort of thing turns you on then you'll love the CWSP.

I don't know if those things are that exciting, but it sounds better overall.

Slowhand wrote:

Hey, congratulations on the pass. Looks like your alphabet-soup is coming along nicely. What kind of time-frame are you looking at for VCP and CCENT?

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to read a few white papers for the VCP before I can take that. Some of those are hundreds of pages, so who knows. I haven't touched any of my gear for the CCENT yet. I've gone through all my resources. I just need to spend a week or two applying it. I'll have them both done by the end of the month. I also read about 1/6 of my How to **** at Configuring Exchange book last night, so I be able to squeeze that one in soon as well. I'm also about 1/4 of the way through the Nuggets and 24 Hour MS Webcast for that as well.

mamono wrote:

::EDIT::
Hahaha.... I found this review of the Official Guide to be very useful!

I also wonder why Part II is not Part I. That is to say, the author's impartation of his obviously expert knowledge is skewered by the organization of the material.

That actually quite an accurate review. This was another thing I forgot to mention. It really seemed like things were ordered backwards. He'd include items in earlier chapters that he didn't explain until later chapters. It made things really difficult.

jbaello wrote:

Congrats! are this exam like comptia? are they tied to Cisco?

It's a vendor-neutral wireless certification. It has nothing to do with Cisco. www.cwnp.org.

undomiel

Congratulations on the pass! Nice score too! I still don't think I can bring myself to do this one.

networker050184

Congrats!

TechJunky

Central Washington Native Plants?



Congrats on the Pass!

That sounds like a fun test/technology. Ever since I cracked my first WAP (Personal) I have been wondering when there was going to be a test on wireless technology. Man, I cant wait to pick up a book on ebay!

I have a $25 gift card so I will try and put it to good use.

Dynamik is the man!

dynamik

Sybex used for $14: here. Mine came in perfect condition.

You can also buy a package of either book along with the practice test and voucher directly from CWNP. You'll save money as opposed to buying it all separately. I'd get the pack with the official guide from them and the Sybex book used from Amazon. Be sure to read the Sybex book first.

Mishra

I'm going to start making up pass posts too. I'll pass my CCNA in a week then grab my CCNP next month. In the middle I will go ahead and get VCP and MCITP real quick just for a refresher.

Good job Mr. Roboto. Looks like you have starting working pretty hard toward getting these certifications. Is a lot of your motivation coming from these boards, some wanting a new job, or both?

dynamik

Mishra wrote:

I'm going to start making up pass posts too. I'll pass my CCNA in a week then grab my CCNP next month. In the middle I will go ahead and get VCP and MCITP real quick just for a refresher.

I like your style

Mishra wrote:

Good job Mr. Roboto. Looks like you have starting working pretty hard toward getting these certifications. Is a lot of your motivation coming from these boards, some wanting a new job, or both?

Motivation is definitely coming from the idea of a new job. These forums keep me consistent and dedicated to my studies. I wouldn't be doing all this work just to tack a few letters onto my list though.

ConstantlyLearning

Well done dynamik.

Agree completely with your initial post.

snadam

Hey look i can post on the boards via my blackberry!!!

My congrats to you sir. Youre motivation gives me motivation so please keep up the good work!

bertieb

snadam wrote:

Hey look i can post on the boards via my blackberry!!!

My congrats to you sir. Youre motivation gives me motivation so please keep up the good work!

This is actually true for me too. Despite Dynamik clearly being a robot, his 'passed' posts and his high levels of motivation do help me to keep going.

GPU

Do I need CWNP JDMurray. I've noticed that you don't have CWNP... I'm planning on getting CWSP this way CWNA>CWNP>CWSP.

GPU

JDMurray wrote:

The Sybex book is quite good, but it wasn't out when I took the CWNA or CWSP. I'm glad that you found it indispensable.

dynamik wrote:

P.S. JD, is the CWSP more interesting than this? This was the most boring exam I have ever studied for.

I actually enjoyed studying for the CWNA more than CWSP. I was a HAM radio geek in a past life and really enjoyed the hard/firmware parts of the exam. You took a later release of the exam than I did, which is probably filled with more boring regulations and IEEE standards info than I had to memorize. The CWSP is about the hardware, firmware, policies, and techniques of securing wireless networks. If that sort of thing turns you on then you'll love the CWSP.

Do I need CWNP JDMurray. I've noticed that you don't have CWNP... I'm planning on getting CWSP this way CWNA>CWNP>CWSP.

dynamik

There is no CWNP. That's the name of the organization that administers these exams.

http://www.cwnp.com/certifications/index.html

JDMurray

You might be thinking of the Cisco CCNP too. The certification acronym soup has gotten so much worse over the past five years.

mamono

Collecting more alphabets just like pokemon.

snadam

JDMurray wrote:

You might be thinking of the Cisco CCNP too. The certification acronym soup has gotten so much worse over the past five years.

especially with acronyms starting with the letter "C"

dynamik

mamono wrote:

Collecting more alphabets just like pokemon.

Yea, I tried out the pokemon thing for awhile. However, unlike the cartoon and video games, small critters actually suffocate when you seal them up in a ball, so I had to find a new hobby

rarunpa

wht is VCP-310 Exam what kinda of certification is it

dynamik

It's for VMware's Virtual Infrastructure. Basically, enterprise-class virtualization. Check out www.vmware.com for more information if you're not familiar with them.