Failed CCNA twice

ccnahelpme

Hey all,

Failed my ccna for the second time today. Scored 732 today, last week 743. I've been using Lammle's book, Boson's practice exams, and Boson's network simulator. Any advice on how to get over this hump? Read the book 3 times, did the exams twice, practiced with the Net sim but I feel it's limited, and read the materials from this forum (the lab manuals that people have out for free). I know the best solution is to get the actual equipment but my budget is limited and would like to pass my third time around without pouring anymore money into this test. I heard packet tracers are very good. Anyone kind of enough to share their packet tracers or other resources? Any suggestions on how I should approach it?

Regards,

Jon

mikej412

What's your networking experience.

Todd's book is GREAT for subnetting for a noob -- and it's a fun read. But it's good as an only source for someone with Cisco Experience who just needs a quick refresher and a hint of the things they don't work with on a day to day basis that they may need more study on.

Odom's CCNA Certification Library is the set of books that could be a "single source" of study -- but even then a bunch of us will still recommend Todd's book as a 2nd source. If you're a networking noob and haven't read Odom's CCNA books your probably lacking a bunch of information.

That said -- your scores aren't THAT bad. Some people do need help getting over the HUMP -- and that's where a bunch of people have used Chris Bryant's CCNA Study Guide with good results. I haven't seen his site lately, but don't be put off if it reads like an Infomercial. Chris is the instructor on the TrainSignal Videos. His website is CCNA CCNP Cisco Security Certification Exam, CCNA Boot Camp CBT

If you post the breakdown by sections from your score sheet we may be able to offer a few more idea. How was your subnetting? Did you do practice questions on subnettingquestions.com - Free Subnetting Questions and Answers Randomly Generated Online

The labs in NetSim (and the exercises in Todd's book) should be enough to get by for the CCNA exam lab tasks, so I'd be surprised if your score report shows issues in the implement topics..... but it could still be related to some of the "trivia" you missed by not reading Odom.

Other option is to break the exam into the ICND1 and ICND2 two exam option so you can focus more on the individual parts -- plus they're only 1/2 the cost each of the single CCNA exam (just in case).

ibcritn

Great info posted above. I think splitting the exams in 2 is a great idea for you given your current situation.

ccnahelpme

thanks for the replies.

First exam are in parentheses

Describe how a network works (75%) 63%
Configure very and trouble a switcjh with vlans (50) 64
implement ip address scheme and ip services (100) 67
configure very troubleshoot basic router operations (57) 57
explain and select appropraite admin for wlan (100) 100
security threats (100) 100
nats and acls (0%) 0
wan lins (67%) 67

i thought i knew my acls/nats well. sigh*

Ryuksapple84

mikej412 wrote: »

What's your networking experience.

Todd's book is GREAT for subnetting for a noob -- and it's a fun read. But it's good as an only source for someone with Cisco Experience who just needs a quick refresher and a hint of the things they don't work with on a day to day basis that they may need more study on.

Odom's CCNA Certification Library is the set of books that could be a "single source" of study -- but even then a bunch of us will still recommend Todd's book as a 2nd source. If you're a networking noob and haven't read Odom's CCNA books your probably lacking a bunch of information.

That said -- your scores aren't THAT bad. Some people do need help getting over the HUMP -- and that's where a bunch of people have used Chris Bryant's CCNA Study Guide with good results. I haven't seen his site lately, but don't be put off if it reads like an Infomercial. Chris is the instructor on the TrainSignal Videos. His website is CCNA CCNP Cisco Security Certification Exam, CCNA Boot Camp CBT

If you post the breakdown by sections from your score sheet we may be able to offer a few more idea. How was your subnetting? Did you do practice questions on subnettingquestions.com - Free Subnetting Questions and Answers Randomly Generated Online

The labs in NetSim (and the exercises in Todd's book) should be enough to get by for the CCNA exam lab tasks, so I'd be surprised if your score report shows issues in the implement topics..... but it could still be related to some of the "trivia" you missed by not reading Odom.

Other option is to break the exam into the ICND1 and ICND2 two exam option so you can focus more on the individual parts -- plus they're only 1/2 the cost each of the single CCNA exam (just in case).

I agree, split the exams and watch the vids from Chris. That is what I did and I was fortunate enough to have money for a lab at the time. GNS3 works great as well.

mikej412

ccnahelpme wrote: »

nats and acls (0%) 0

nats and acls is what definitely killed you both time.

ccnahelpme wrote: »

implement ip address scheme and ip services (100) 67

And "luck of the draw" on questions from the exam pool -- and the distribution between topics -- can explain some of the variations. But I'd guess this is the reason you did "worse" this time -- you definitely don't want to lose the points you already had before (especially when you maxed it the first time).

Chris's CCNA study guide can probably help you keep the points you've already had and help you add some points -- and hopefully some more reading/review on NAT and ACLs and more Lab time will put you on top.

jamesleecoleman

I suggest looking into the 31 Days Before Your CCNA Exam book (the green one, not the blue). It covers stuff that I didn't see the the Odom Library set or Todd's CCNA book.

ccnahelpme

great, thanks guys. I will look into Chris's study guide. Price isn't too steep. Thanks for the recommendations. Will post next week with my passing score!!

Ryuksapple84

Hey,

if you contact Chris via email and let him know about your situation... I know he will cut you a deal. He is a great guy and I have a lot of respect for him. He is also on Linkedin and facebook if you want to contact him.

Good luck and I am sure you will get it this time.

ccnahelpme

thanks. i'm looking over his study guides right now. price wasn't too bad so i went ahead and purchased. thanks!

vinbuck

ccnahelpme wrote: »

thanks. i'm looking over his study guides right now. price wasn't too bad so i went ahead and purchased. thanks!

If you haven't already, I would strongly recommend using GNS3 to aid your CCNA studies. it's free and extremely powerful.

GNS3 | Graphical Network Simulator

Also, these are two excellent companions to GNS3

Free CCNA Workbook
Welcome to GNS3 Vault

tomaifauchai

Packet tracer is what i used for the CCNA with Cisco Academy.
The built-in packet simulator is really what your looking for to understand how layers + headers works togheter while the packet flowing from the source to the destination.

It's also a nice design tool for ccna-level tasks like configuring layer 2 switches and routers. Everytime i have a question in my mind, i use packet tracer.
If the features aren't available, i go into GNS3.

For your ACL/NAT stuff, it would certainly helps you to understand what's you are doing good/bad.

ccnahelpme

finally passed! 4th try. on my 3rd attempt last week, missed it by 4 points. received 885 this time around.

I wasn't able to use gns3. I did not have any ios's and didn't want to download illegally. I used chris bryants study guide as recommended, although i had problems with opening his practice exams and therefore could not use them. Had zip issues with them (tried to install on multiple computers) and was a little disappointed that he didn't try hard to help me. the study guides were great nonetheless.

used todd lammle's book
boson exam and network sim

personally, i didn't feel the boson network sims were all that great. i felt very limited on what i was allowed to do and did not prepare me enough for the exam. I would advise people to save their money and stay away from boson's network sim.

Never say never! i'm a justin belieber!

odysseyelite

Congrats on the pass.

By far this is hardest certification I have studied for. It is also the most expensive one (including the home lab, books, classes etc, and time).

Whats next for you?

ziggi138

Congrats on the pass.

blackberry

congrats on the pass

mikej412

ccnahelpme wrote: »

passed!

Congratulations!!

-DeXteR-

Congo

Ryuksapple84

Congrats!!!!!!!!

518

Yeahhh! Congrats!!!

ccnahelpme

Thanks everyone

Next is the CISSP. I'm in this security association and they were offering the course dirt cheap. Couldn't pass up on this deal. Anyways, it sure does feel great. high fived and fistpounded the proctor about 5 times. haha.

Aj24

ccnahelpme wrote: »

Thanks everyone

Next is the CISSP. I'm in this security association and they were offering the course dirt cheap. Couldn't pass up on this deal. Anyways, it sure does feel great. high fived and fistpounded the proctor about 5 times. haha.

Congrats man, I am working my way up there too.

I have my 1st test in 5 days for the CCENT!

Eildor

Congratulations!

TheITCrowd

congrats, Those that fail a couple of times usually learn more in the long run.(Thats my excuse for not passing first,second time) lol

ccnahelpme

Aj24 wrote: »

Congrats man, I am working my way up there too.

I have my 1st test in 5 days for the CCENT!

good luck!