Passed ROUTE

Chris_

Took the ROUTE exam this morning and passed with a 976. Obviously I am delighted. I really enjoyed the exam, but it was tough, REALLY tough ( MODERATED labs!!!!)

Just off to have a couple of pints of Mr Arthur Guinness' finest but I shall return later with a full debrief

mikej412

Congratulations!!

You can't say how many SIMs you had (but that sure was a crap load ).

Chris_

Sorry mike, thought I'd be okay saying that!

Bl8ckr0uter

Congrats! What did you use to study?

ITdude

Chris_ wrote: »

Just off to have a couple of pints of Mr Arthur Guinness' finest but I shall return later with a full debrief

Congrats! Man, you guys are really going crazy over there. First, the Royal Wedding and now this.....

down77

Congrats Chris_! Glad to hear you nailed the exam. Have a few more pints for me

Hope to share in your success in a few weeks

JaCkNiFe

Congratulations!! What's next?

Chris_

Right, here's my debrief, hopefully keeping within the NDA!!

I sat down for this exam feeling really confident, by the 1 hour point, when I'd only answered 18 questions, i was feeling less so!! it's okay I caught up but finished with about 1 and a half minutes to go - close call.

It's a really hard and challenging exam, so much so that it's actually fun to sit
There's still a few Cisco word games but I suppose that will never change

I'm so glad I hammered the lab so much in my studies, it really paid off. You're not going to pass this thing unless you can configure anything on the blueprint off the top of your head.

I had one question that is definitely not on the ROUTE blueprint, however it does exist on the predecessors blueprint (BSCI) I think it has been mentioned before that some unmarked questions may get thrown in for consistency checking or beta purposes. I left a comment anyway. I also had a buggy lab which I also left a comment for - it was very obviously a bug so i didn't waste any time on it, just moved on.

to prepare for Route I used:

CBT Nuggets - Really good for getting the concepts down but needs backing up with a good book. jeremy gives some good tips and also pre-built topologies for GNS3

Official Cert Guide by Wendell Odem - not a great read IMO but good for dipping into for quick reference.

BSCI authorised Self Study Guide by Diane Teare - an excellent book, really goes in depth on the topics. I believe that this has been rehashed as the ROUTE Foundation Learning guide,

GNS3 - and loads of it!! I would estimate that I spent 80 hours labbing for this exam. And the beauty of GNS3 is that I could fire it up in the quiet hours on night shift in the NOC.

Finally, Boson EX-SIM MAX - worth it's weight in gold and really prepares you for dragging the the objectives out of the question.

I spent a very intense 9 weeks studying for this - I have worked with networks for a good few years, especially OSPF so that was a good start for me - I don't think I could have maintained the level of study for that long if it I didn't have the ability to study at work - too many kids at home who need my time. i booked the exam before I started studying, i need drivers to get me going!

Anyway on to Switch now, i have it booked for the 30th June with TSHOOT booked 2 weeks after that - I'll keep you up to date with my progress.

mzbagasra

Congrats

NOC-Ninja

congrats. Tough test but goodluck on the tougher test (SWITCH).

vinbuck

Chris_ wrote: »

Right, here's my debrief, hopefully keeping within the NDA!!

I sat down for this exam feeling really confident, by the 1 hour point, when I'd only answered 18 questions, i was feeling less so!! it's okay I caught up but finished with about 1 and a half minutes to go - close call.

It's a really hard and challenging exam, so much so that it's actually fun to sit
There's still a few Cisco word games but I suppose that will never change

I'm so glad I hammered the lab so much in my studies, it really paid off. You're not going to pass this thing unless you can configure anything on the blueprint off the top of your head.

I had one question that is definitely not on the ROUTE blueprint, however it does exist on the predecessors blueprint (BSCI) I think it has been mentioned before that some unmarked questions may get thrown in for consistency checking or beta purposes. I left a comment anyway. I also had a buggy lab which I also left a comment for - it was very obviously a bug so i didn't waste any time on it, just moved on.

to prepare for Route I used:

CBT Nuggets - Really good for getting the concepts down but needs backing up with a good book. jeremy gives some good tips and also pre-built topologies for GNS3

Official Cert Guide by Wendell Odem - not a great read IMO but good for dipping into for quick reference.

BSCI authorised Self Study Guide by Diane Teare - an excellent book, really goes in depth on the topics. I believe that this has been rehashed as the ROUTE Foundation Learning guide,

GNS3 - and loads of it!! I would estimate that I spent 80 hours labbing for this exam. And the beauty of GNS3 is that I could fire it up in the quiet hours on night shift in the NOC.

Finally, Boson EX-SIM MAX - worth it's weight in gold and really prepares you for dragging the the objectives out of the question.

I spent a very intense 9 weeks studying for this - I have worked with networks for a good few years, especially OSPF so that was a good start for me - I don't think I could have maintained the level of study for that long if it I didn't have the ability to study at work - too many kids at home who need my time. i booked the exam before I started studying, i need drivers to get me going!

Anyway on to Switch now, i have it booked for the 30th June with TSHOOT booked 2 weeks after that - I'll keep you up to date with my progress.

Congratulations! Glad to see someone post some positive feedback on the Boson ExSIM Max for ROUTE. Could you go into more detail on how the boson practice questions were useful without breaking NDA?

DPG

MississippiGuardsman wrote: »

Congratulations! Glad to see someone post some positive feedback on the Boson ExSIM Max for ROUTE. Could you go into more detail on how the boson practice questions were useful without breaking NDA?

I can't speak for him but I would have to say the practice exams help you get into "test mode."

I really wish the Cisco Learning Network would fix the accuracy of their practice questions. They are worse than what you would see on a Check Point exam! I think I may pickup the Boson ExSim Max for the ROUTE exam.

Chris_

The boson just gets you thinking in the way of a test taker, after a while you get good at working out what the question is looking for - there's only so many types of question can be asked on a technical subject, it's not subjective!

Netwurk

Congrats on the pass!!!

Dakinggamer87

Congrats well done!!

matt79

Does anyone know if the Boson test for ROUTE from the boson website is the same as the one that is in the back of the cisco press route book?

vinbuck

matt79 wrote: »

Does anyone know if the Boson test for ROUTE from the boson website is the same as the one that is in the back of the cisco press route book?

They are two different pools of questions. I have both of them and the set that is included with the ROUTE OCG is slightly easier (but still pretty challenging). The EXSIM Max package that you pay for has harder questions and a larger pool of them. I haven't taken ROUTE yet but they both have helped me in my learning.

tomaifauchai

Congrats Chris!

I agree
Boson for ROUTE and TSHOOT is really worth it.
For Switch, don't know how to say this....but the labs are too easy and i thought i was doing CCNA labs. So if you buy them individually, i suggest you look for another vendor for this one.
Unfortunately or fortunately, they give you a 20% discount if you already have the OCG books and there was another 25% off at christmas time....so got them for really cheap

-DeXteR-

Had to Bump this old Thread . Finally decided to start my CCNP journey and want to concentrate on Route first . So Wanted to ask whether FLG is enough for Route and do i have to supplement ocg with it ?

Thanks
-Dex-

nel

congrats!

when you say you have done 9 weeks of intense studying, how many hours per day were you attempting?

Thanks in advance

Chris_

nel wrote: »

congrats!

when you say you have done 9 weeks of intense studying, how many hours per day were you attempting?

Thanks in advance

I was going for at least 3 hours a day, more if I was on night shift at work as I could cram 5 or 6 hours in. personally, I think my brain would melt if I tried to do any more than that!