Advice on CCNA Study Prep

binaryhat

Hello,

I have already taken my notes for the CCNA last year using Lammle's book 6th edition. Since then the 7th edition came out, do I need to retake notes using the 7th edition or will my current notes suffice?

I am also deciding between the two test route and composite exam. I'm thinking two test route because I can focus on the topics better without needing to know everything. What do you guys/gals think?

Lastly, of all the test sims: Trainlogic, Boson, Semsim etc...which mirrors the closes questions/material for the exam?

jameshardy2012

Hi, the internet is full of really good tutorials for Cisco - some free, some not

If your just using a book to study then I'd say its not enough - get either some kit or GNS/Packet tracer and do some labs - it will really re-inforce the theory.

I personally used a combination of CBTNuggets and Trainsignal along with Cisco Academy along with packet tracer/GNS and 2 real switches

I went teh 2 exam route for CCNA - breaks it down into managable sections.

Good luck

chappys4life

Have you looked at the wendell odom books? They are good and cisco press but a little dry. When I was in my cisco class we had Lammle's book and I was not a fan. I have been using the odom book with the cbt nuggets and they have been great. Also I think I might buy the bryant advantage books as it $25 and I hear great things.

Roguetadhg

I've been using...

Boson NetSim 8 (CCNA)
CBT Nuggets is great (I bought the dvd).
CCNA ICND2 by Wendell Odom

I've learned for myself, book studying is hard. Wendell doesn't always make things the clearest but he supplies a wealth of knowledge. So i supplement with outside sources to really try to understand and know the fundamentals.

I'd like to invest money into buying a full fledged lab - im discovering the limits of the NetSimulator and it's frustrating to not be able to use commands. All the while, investing money into a lab that will last me into CCIE Levels. I won't be stopping until I get that

binaryhat

I'm not just using the book. I also have access to packettracer, cbtnuggets etc...

My main issue is figuring out which chapters in Lammle's 6th edition correlate to ICND1 and ICND2. Any ideas/

binaryhat

This is what I figured for the 6th edition split into ICND1 & ICND2 (based on the blueprints):

ICND1:

Chapter 1 Internetworking Basics
Chapter 2 TCP
Chapter 3 Subnetting
Chapter 4 IOS and Security Device Manager
Chapter 5 Managing a Cisco Internetwork
Chapter 6 IP Routing
Chapter 10 Security
Chapter 11 NAT
Chapter 12 Wireless
Chapter 14 Wide Area Networks

ICND2:

Chapter 3 Subnetting
Chapter 4 IOS and Security Device Manager
Chapter 5 Managing a Cisco Internetwork
Chapter 6 IP Routing
Chapter 7 Enhanced IGRP
Chapter 8 Layer 2 Switching and STP
Chapter 9 Virtual LANs
Chapter 10 Security
Chapter 11 NAT
Chapter 12 Wireless
Chapter 14 Wide Area Networks

Agree?