-Take Two- PASSED 640-822! Test Tips from a new CCENT

jbriggy

Hopefully I'll get it right this time, and the post wont get moderated

I Passed the exam over the weekend with a score of 987/1000

Describe the operation of data network-100%
Implement a small switched network-100%
Implement an IP addressing scheme-100%
Implement a small routed network-95%
..administrative tasks required for a WLAN-100%
Identify security threats to a network-100%
Implement and verify WAN links-100%

---

Materials Used:

CBT NUGGETS ICND1 with Jeremy Cioara
TRAINSIGNAL ICND1 with Chris Bryant aka "The Bryant Advantage"
CISCO LEARNING CENTER (website)
TRANSCENDER 640-822 ICND1
PacketTracer5 - for Home Lab to follow along with the Nuggets
GNS3 with a 7200 IOS image- for Home Lab SDM emulation

---

I wont say the test was easy, i'll say I know I was prepared for it. I finished in about 45 minutes.

I wasnt hit too heavily with one topic over another. The exam is very foundational with a majority of questions coming from plain old memorization vs applied knowledge.

My main resource was the ICND1 CBT Nuggets by Jeremy Cioara. This stuff is GOLD. Jeremy is exceptionally good at explaining concepts and fundamentals so be sure to listen and understand what he's showing you. Also, I found it helpful to build a home lab to go along with the lessons on the videos; which was cool because if my setup wasnt working like it was supposed to be, I had to pause the video, fix my lab, and continue on. I felt that hands on was a tremendous help even if you are just studying the basics. (I used PacketTracer5 for the lab, and GNS3 for SDM emulation)

Though the Nuggets are very, VERY good; In my opinion the information it offered in the realm of NAT, Wireless and WAN technologies was lacking. So if you have the means, pick up TrainSignal-The Bryant Advantage ICND1 - with instructor Chris Bryant. Chris isnt as animated as Jeremy is, but he knows his stuff. This video series helped me fill in the gaps of CBTNuggets as well as cement the foundational concepts i'd already learned.

Be sure not to overlook all the helpful advice on cisco's website. The Learning Center has a TON of material to help you learn and understand the fundamentals necessary to pass this test. For example, I learned about stub networks and the split horizon rule through the IPTV videos, whereas they arent mentioned in either of the above video series. The website has flash games, video seminars, interviews with the experts, and even practice questions to assist you in your path. (Just a note, more than a few practice questions on the website have been proven to have incorrect answers but for the most part it's still helpful to gauge your readiness.)

I did use Transcenders, though they are rarely my study material of choice because they throw questions at you that are WAY out-of-scope for this exam. Which is OK, I suppose, since it will make you pick up a book or do a little research on those topics that you dont understand; but at the same time, If you consistently get those out-of-scope questions wrong, it can shake your confidence and make you feel like you're not ready to take the exam when you really are. My heartfelt opinion, after taking this test, is that you dont need to waste your time and money on THIS Transcender. However, if you do choose to use it as a resource, I think you'll be good to go if you can score an 80% average on all the preset exams. Remember this is just my 2 cents.

Some test taking tips for those of you who have not yet taken the exam:
1-TAKE YOUR TIME. Dont freak out about the time limit; it'll cause you to overthink and second guess your gut instincts
2-READ THE QUESTION COMPLETELY. I've been guilty of this; reading halfway through the question, formulating an answer in my head, then searching for the closest match. Don't do that! It could be those one or two words at the end of the question that change the answer altogether.
3-DO NOT CRAM. You're not going to learn anything new the night before, or the day of the test. You'll be excited and nervous, which will make it VERY hard to retain new information. Reschedule the test if you need to, but DONT CRAM.

I've already begun studying for the ICND2! Best of luck to all who are taking this exam, and I hope my post was helpful.

kadshah

Very nice score congrats! Good luck on the next exam.

dynamik

I saw you other post got destroyed. Did you have to retype all that? I guess that'll make sure you won't go into too much detail on your ICND 2 pass

Congratulations

dazerski

Congratz on the high score! I would like to also thank you for the information, I am very nervous about this test which is coming up on 9/30 for me and any information helps me big time.

I will check out those other resources you mentioned too... I have pretty much read Odom's ICND1 back to back and will go over my highlights again. I have watched all of Jeremy's CBT videos as well which I found to be a great help.

Thanks for the info!

Dale

mikej412

Congratulations!

famosbrown

Congratulations!

Will you continue using simulations and GNS3 for your ICND2 studying?

good luck...I hope to join the CCENT club after I get through the second of the ICND1 book from class and the ICND1 lab manual.

networker050184

Congrats and good luck on the next one!

jbaello

Congrats

Thanks for a great advise!!!

Highspade

Did you use the method that Jeremy teaches in his CBT course on the exam? I have some concerns on the length of time it takes to resolve subnetting questions.

kctxau

Did you buy each video , ICND1 CBT Nuggets by Jeremy Cioara, Trainsignal etc?
Or, did you use only the practice questions etc? I am curious because that seems like
a lot to spend for the all of the videos. (Trying to determine/create a budget here)

Victorious

Jeremy's CBT Nuggets video for the CCNA are expensive but well worth the money. #1 on my list of study material.

sceadato

Congrats on the pass. I got a 987 as well when I took it (100% on all sections except an 87% on Implementing a Small Switched Network). I found Chris Bryant's Trainsignal series really good. I used it and his CCENT study guide, along with Wendell Odom's official guide. When do you plan on taking the ICND2? Mine is scheduled for the 16th. I'm using the CBT Nuggets ICND2 and found it very helpful.

mikej412

sceadato wrote:

Mine is scheduled for the 16th.

Good Luck!

(and Welcome to the Forum)

jbriggy

Thanks all for the well wishings!

@Highspade
I had a pretty solid understanding of subnetting from Net+, So I didnt really "learn" Jeremy's way. If you're brand new to the concept, then sure, it'll take time to grasp it fully. but once you have the foundation down, 20 to 30 seconds per question will seem like childs play. The method I have found to be the easiest for me to use, is simply to look at the mask. e.g /27 (or 255.255.255.224) The rightmost NETWORK bit is in the 32's place. That being said, we know the IP address ranges are in groups of 32. 0-31 32-63 64-95 etc. The first address in each sunbnet range is the network address, the last is the broadcast. Jeremy's way of finding the max number of hosts and max number of networks I feel is a good tutorial. The binary and subnetting games on cisco's website will definately help, and the website subnettingquestions.com is a very good resource as well.

@kctxau
They were all purchased. Videos and questions and all. The company I work for bought them as an "educational tool" You might be suprised with what companies are allowed to expense in order for thier employees to better themselves in thier field of knowledge.

@sceadato
Dont have a date yet. I study all the materials I have, then after that I set a date. I dont do it beforehand because I never want to feel like i'm rushed to learn a new topic because "my test date is coming up soon!" Good Luck on your test!

I'll be sure to keep you all posted on my ICND2 progress.

lingswee

Dear Sir,

i am a 35 year old man who want to do ccent self study cos i might lose my job soon . i am appreciate with your guide and assistant. tq.


B Regards
Michael Ling Swee.

jbriggy wrote: »

Hopefully I'll get it right this time, and the post wont get moderated

I Passed the exam over the weekend with a score of 987/1000

Describe the operation of data network-100%
Implement a small switched network-100%
Implement an IP addressing scheme-100%
Implement a small routed network-95%
..administrative tasks required for a WLAN-100%
Identify security threats to a network-100%
Implement and verify WAN links-100%

---

Materials Used:

CBT NUGGETS ICND1 with Jeremy Cioara
TRAINSIGNAL ICND1 with Chris Bryant aka "The Bryant Advantage"
CISCO LEARNING CENTER (website)
TRANSCENDER 640-822 ICND1
PacketTracer5 - for Home Lab to follow along with the Nuggets
GNS3 with a 7200 IOS image- for Home Lab SDM emulation

---

I wont say the test was easy, i'll say I know I was prepared for it. I finished in about 45 minutes.

I wasnt hit too heavily with one topic over another. The exam is very foundational with a majority of questions coming from plain old memorization vs applied knowledge.

My main resource was the ICND1 CBT Nuggets by Jeremy Cioara. This stuff is GOLD. Jeremy is exceptionally good at explaining concepts and fundamentals so be sure to listen and understand what he's showing you. Also, I found it helpful to build a home lab to go along with the lessons on the videos; which was cool because if my setup wasnt working like it was supposed to be, I had to pause the video, fix my lab, and continue on. I felt that hands on was a tremendous help even if you are just studying the basics. (I used PacketTracer5 for the lab, and GNS3 for SDM emulation)

Though the Nuggets are very, VERY good; In my opinion the information it offered in the realm of NAT, Wireless and WAN technologies was lacking. So if you have the means, pick up TrainSignal-The Bryant Advantage ICND1 - with instructor Chris Bryant. Chris isnt as animated as Jeremy is, but he knows his stuff. This video series helped me fill in the gaps of CBTNuggets as well as cement the foundational concepts i'd already learned.

Be sure not to overlook all the helpful advice on cisco's website. The Learning Center has a TON of material to help you learn and understand the fundamentals necessary to pass this test. For example, I learned about stub networks and the split horizon rule through the IPTV videos, whereas they arent mentioned in either of the above video series. The website has flash games, video seminars, interviews with the experts, and even practice questions to assist you in your path. (Just a note, more than a few practice questions on the website have been proven to have incorrect answers but for the most part it's still helpful to gauge your readiness.)

I did use Transcenders, though they are rarely my study material of choice because they throw questions at you that are WAY out-of-scope for this exam. Which is OK, I suppose, since it will make you pick up a book or do a little research on those topics that you dont understand; but at the same time, If you consistently get those out-of-scope questions wrong, it can shake your confidence and make you feel like you're not ready to take the exam when you really are. My heartfelt opinion, after taking this test, is that you dont need to waste your time and money on THIS Transcender. However, if you do choose to use it as a resource, I think you'll be good to go if you can score an 80% average on all the preset exams. Remember this is just my 2 cents.

Some test taking tips for those of you who have not yet taken the exam:
1-TAKE YOUR TIME. Dont freak out about the time limit; it'll cause you to overthink and second guess your gut instincts
2-READ THE QUESTION COMPLETELY. I've been guilty of this; reading halfway through the question, formulating an answer in my head, then searching for the closest match. Don't do that! It could be those one or two words at the end of the question that change the answer altogether.
3-DO NOT CRAM. You're not going to learn anything new the night before, or the day of the test. You'll be excited and nervous, which will make it VERY hard to retain new information. Reschedule the test if you need to, but DONT CRAM.

I've already begun studying for the ICND2! Best of luck to all who are taking this exam, and I hope my post was helpful.

napolean420

thanks for the info. taking mine on thursday. were the questions as cisco says on their website... equal amounts of multiple choice single answer, mutliple choice multiple answer, drag and drop, simlet, testlet, simulation? or did you find a majority of one type. not that it really matters.. i just want to know what to expect.

thanks again for the detailed write up

djmaya

Congrats. I plan to take the 640-802 in July. Good luck on your next test.

giterrell

Highspade wrote: »

Did you use the method that Jeremy teaches in his CBT course on the exam? I have some concerns on the length of time it takes to resolve subnetting questions.

i didnt have any problems using his method. once you have it down, it goes pretty fast. i sure wish the testing center would have given me something to erase my laminated paper with. my hand was black by the time i was done with the test from erasing with my hand.