a few ccent (ccna exam1) questions - study time and materials etc

Hi

Just a quick question or 2

Ive been in IT for some time now and i believe im a quick learner
the company i worked for purchased a lot of the cbt nuggets info - and i am working through the ccna exam pack - im almost finished with the ccent part, heres the questions

Do the cbt nuggets contain all of the information needed - IE can i pass the exam after only watching/studying these intensively?

if not what other study materials would you intend that i use

Also how long did you study for - before the exam date, i have been studying for just over a week - and i intend scheduling the exam for 2 weeks from today - which will give me time to have another viewing of all the videos in the "part 1" of the ccna exam pack - is this enough - or will i be missing some of the knowledge

Also what routers/switches should i purchase to practice on - people say the 2610xm is a good model as i intend going into voice

thanks for your time

karl

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Comments

mikem2te

The Nuggets are generally enough with a bit of extra reading around the edges. The official Cisco exam prep books (Odom) are very good for filling some blanks and they are an easy read so very much recommended. I got mine about a week before the exam and they helped very much. Thay also include a CD with mock exams, ideal for getting your mind in to the Cisco way of thinking.

2600xm series are good, 1760 are useful routers as well for voice as they accept the voice cards natively without requiring a NM-2V like the 2600xm range. If money is no problem look at the 2801 router as well.

Catalyst 2950 switches with the enterprise image are good and considered the minimum. 3550 switches are good layer 3 switches if you can find them cheap. Stay away from 2900 & 3500 ranges, they are older and a lot of the commands have changed.

Personally I studied for about 6 weeks before the CCENT exam but originally I was studying for the single exam. After the six weeks I decided to take the two part exam instead and booked the CCENT for the next day, I flew through the exam as I was almost at the full CCNA standard.

Having Lab access in my opinion is a must whether through GNS, Packet Tracer or actual equipment.

veritas_libertas

phoeneous wrote: »

I personally dont think so. There are a few things that Jeremy left out in the cbt nuggets videos that I think are important to know. Get the Wendell Odom book, it has a wealth of information plus it has the Boson practice tests.

I really like Wendell Odom's style, and the book is very well written.

tiersten

You're going to be doing the CCENT with 3 weeks of watching CBT Nuggets videos and less than 2 weeks of actual experience on a router/emulator/simulator?

Whilst you may be a quick learner, I don't believe this is a good route to follow. You should allocate more time to actually trying out configurations and scenarios on your real or virtual lab when you acquire one.

mikej412

Computer based training (CBT Nuggets or Trainsignal) is a good additional source for study (if you're a "video person") -- but usually are not enough by themselves.

The Wendell Odom Cisco Press CCNA Official Exam Certification Library (CCNA Exam 640-802), 3rd Edition is probably the best single source for CCNA study and lays the foundation for future Cisco studies. And even then we usually suggest a 2nd source like Todd Lammle's CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide: Exam 640-802, 6th Edition.

If your IT experience includes a bunch of previous Cisco Routing AND Switching experience, then you may be able to get by with just Todd's Sybex book ("fun read" and GREAT for subnetting for the noobs) and the CBT Nuggets.

And with Cisco Certifications, the more time you spend in the lab working on equipment (or simulators/emulators) the easier the exams become.

knewbold

tiersten wrote: »

You're going to be doing the CCENT with 3 weeks of watching CBT Nuggets videos and less than 2 weeks of actual experience on a router/emulator/simulator?

Whilst you may be a quick learner, I don't believe this is a good route to follow. You should allocate more time to actually trying out configurations and scenarios on your real or virtual lab when you acquire one.

im self employed - so i will be spending 12 hours a day on this, - so hopefully this is long enough

veritas_libertas

knewbold wrote: »

im self employed - so i will be spending 12 hours a day on this, - so hopefully this is long enough

Umm, plenty I would assume. If I could get more hours in per day I could get this done a lot quicker.

mikem2te

knewbold wrote: »

im self employed - so i will be spending 12 hours a day on this, - so hopefully this is long enough

Awesome. If you're anything like me and got a good background in IT then that should be enough time. I spent 6 weeks on the CCENT, a further 3 weeks on the CCNA and 3 weeks on CCNA Voice so I know it's possible when working full time on this. Definitly get Odoms book and a small lab though.

I found booking the exam focused the mind on study, before I booked it I started playing around with other things like voice, layer 3 switching, SSL VPNs etc until I decided I'd never finish these things unless I booked the exams.

If I understand correctly you can always cancel the exam giving 48 hours notice so it maybe worth taking the risk. If you do fail though don't blame me:D

tiersten

knewbold wrote: »

im self employed - so i will be spending 12 hours a day on this, - so hopefully this is long enough

If you feel that it is enough time then that is okay. It it mostly subjective anyway. Some people will be able to quickly and others will require more time.