Another....Passed Network+ today!

Just passed this morning with a score of 807.

There were some questions on it I was not prepared for. I can't recall if it was the CBT nuggets or maybe Mike Meyers book, but I recall them saying you only needed to know 2-3 specific 802.xyz standards other than 802.3 and 802.11. This was NOT the case. I won't delve into what those specific ones were but, I would strongly advise anyone to be familiar with them. That was one of the things I incorrectly assumed I did not need to have down completely.

My advice for anyone studying for this exam, don't rely on one single study source. From what I can tell, the Sybex Todd Lammle book was the most indepth and valuable. I'm very glad I decided to pick that up after going through Mike Meyers Network+ book.

My studying went something like this...

1) Watched the CBT nugget series (I watched a few profmesser videos at the tail end of my studying, and those seemed to be just as good, and free!).

2) Read through Mike Meyers book, went back through the security chapter and the OSI chapter a second time.

3) Picked up the CompTIA Sybex Network+ kit, and read through Todd Lammle's book first. Very, very good book! I feel like it is a much more indepth study book than Mike Meyers, but Mike Meyers was good as a starting point because it's more engaging I guess you could say.

4) Purchased a voucher and Mike Meyers test exam bundle from totelsem.com. Went through all of the tests they had until I had a good idea of what I needed to touch up on.

5) Went through the Sybex kit's study review book (forget the author) and then had my girlfriend go through protocal definitions randomly until I had them down, as well as the port numbers and what they belong to as well as if they're either TCP or UDP. Did this last night before the exam.

6) Got to the testing site early and sat in the car going over things in the study review book to make sure I had some of things I was unsure of fresh in my head.

The last bit is to relax. I didn't think I'd be nervous at all until I got into the cramped little testing room. Try not to be intimidated, and flag questions you are concerned about. I took the VUE Pearson exam and was able to go back over questions I was unsure of when I was more relaxed at the end of the test. Highly recommend doing this.

Hope this helps someone prepping for the exam!

Now it's on to deciding if I want to go the MS or Cisco route. I have the needed books for 70-680 and 70-685, as well as a Security+ book. Not sure where I want to end up, or I guess I should saw which cert track I'll want to go down. I'm going to start digging into the MS books to see if it interests me first I guess.

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Comments

bigmantenor

Congrats on the pass, and thanks for posting your study regimen. Hopefully I will be right there with you by the end of this month!

Adam

Jpgonzal

Congrats! Keep riding that knowledge gravy train and enjoy your success! I think now is a good time to take a step back and see whats next.

The network+ -> CCENT debate has been mentioned plenty of times here on the forum but if your leaning to Cisco, here is what I did. Fresh out of network+, I spent an hour or two at the local Barnes&Noble. I read through a couple of chapters of a textbook for ICDN1 to get an idea of whats in store. It is a perfect tie into ICDN1 (others would argue superfluous) If you feel that..."thirst" for more, you'll start putting the theory into action.

In any case, the important thing is to do what interests you so good luck on whatever path you choose!

Dakinggamer87

Congrats on pass!!

Cisco Inferno

congrats on passing as well as learning valuable material. I'm sure the material really opened your eyes to what networking has to offer.

+1 for Todd Lammle's book and your study habits.

congrats.

SdotLow

After I passed on Saturday morning I was intent on taking the day off from studying, but I just couldn't help myself. I have this insatiable thirst for information now that I can't seem to shake. My girlfriend isn't very pleased.

Anyway, Saturday I spent sometime reading the 70-680 and 70-685 books a bit (well skimming through them), as well as watching a couple of the CBT nugget videos I have for both of those exams. I have to say, I thought to myself "I don't want to do this for the rest of my life". It seems so....dull and tedious? I don't know, it just didn't spark anything in me. Maybe I didn't give it enough time? I may go back to it since I have all of the course work (videos and books) at my disposal.

I jumped right in to the CCENT CBT nuggets Saturday evening and have been entirely consumed with it all day Sunday. I love it. Got through 17 or so of the Nuggets Sunday alone. I'll rewatch them after the book for ICND1 I ordered Sunday arrives and I get through that. I'm dead set on Cisco now.

I've come to the conclusion I want to build a rack as well, to get hands on experience. I'm thinking 3x 2610xm routers and 3x 2950c switches. Would this be the ideal set up? I've read through the threads on the CCENT/CCNA forum here and it's hard to get a good solid explanation of what is good to get. I want to go for CCNA, and from what I can gather the set up I listed above should be good enough to accomplish this and more should I choose to pursue further Cisco certs (which I plan to).

Any advice welcome!

Edit:

The network+ -> CCENT debate has been mentioned plenty of times here on the forum but if your leaning to Cisco, here is what I did. Fresh out of network+, I spent an hour or two at the local Barnes&Noble. I read through a couple of chapters of a textbook for ICDN1 to get an idea of whats in store. It is a perfect tie into ICDN1 (others would argue superfluous) If you feel that..."thirst" for more, you'll start putting the theory into action.

You're absolutely right. The connection between the two, at least early in the ICND1 studying is pretty much the same except a bit more depth. I should have studied the CCENT stuff before taking my Network+ exam as I feel it was a bit better in explaining some of the subject matter and would have helped bump my score up a bit.

Also, the guy that does the CCENT CBT nuggets is just great. Very engaging, he pulls you in and makes you want to learn.

showbo

Congrats, taking mine next Thursday, hopefully I will be ready!

Ivanr4g63

Well done... and good luck on the road of IT, just when you think you're getting closer to your current goal... you find another challenge!

Best,

Armymanis

How long did it take you to study for the N+? I have all the sybex books for the N+ but have not gotten around to studying for it.

elTorito

Congrats!

And it looks like you're more interested in the networking side of things, based on what you're saying about 70-680.

I have this exam on my To-do list too, and I'd have to agree ... it doesn't do anything for me.

On the other hand, I've been studying the CCNA books every now and then, and it definitely is a great deal more interesting.

poszeone

people interested in MCTS 70-680 are more likely the type of people that been on windows for a good long time . i am one of them, and went to know the in and out of windows.

Psoasman

Congrats on passing!