Should I go ahead with CCENT or wait for CCNA?

Hey guys. I am in a Networking program at my community college right now, and am halfway through my Cisco track. Our curriculum is based off of the Netacad, and uses the CCNA Companion Exlporation Guides from Cisco press. Right now we are into routing protocols. I feel that I am very solid on subnetting and the OSI model and basic router configuration. Should I go ahead and take my 640-822, or just wait until I finish the program and go for the CCNA? Whether I get CCENT or not, I am still going to do the CCNA at the end of the program. Thanks.

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Comments

alxx

If its fresh in your head, you are good at subnetting and can get 85%+ with all the practise exams you can get your hands on go for it.

Only thing is does doing the course give you a voucher or reduced price voucher ?

matt333

Go for the CCENT.. you loose nothing from taking the CCNA in parts.. I'm glad I took my CCENT.. the CCNA test has a lot of material and going for one test is a lot pressure (fail that 250 bucks GONE) Up to you.

SubnetZero

Why not? The reality is that you will need to take both ICND1 and ICND2 anyway (Either 640-802 OR 640-822 & 640-816). So that being said why not take 822 now and get your CCENT, then take 816 when you're done with your Cisco track?

Either approach costs the same so I say get ICND1 out of the way now, this will boost your confidence levels and will make your life a little easier when you take 816. HTH

zrockstar

Great, thanks for the advice guys. I haven't looked into CCENT much yet since I just assumed I would go straight into the CCNA. Does anyone know where I can look over some practice tests? I found the **** website, but the format is horrible. Any advice? Thanks.

SharkDiver

No reason to not do the CCENT.
That was my decision a few years ago and my advice to you now.

alxx

What books are you using ?

The cisco press books have(or did) exams on the disc in the back.
The 2nd edition ones were a cisco version of the bosun exam/s.
If you register them bosun offers you a discount on their exams

There are practise exams here CCNA exam information and study resources for 640-802, 640-812, 640-822

Here's Cisco objectives for ICND1
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-4987

johnnyarks

Do CCENT, very simple logic, 2 Certs is better than 1 Cert for the same price.

Todd Burrell

I'm going to weigh in on this discussion and go the other way with recommending to just take the one exam instead of 2. If you are fairly comfortable with the ICND1 material then I see no reason to take 2 exams when you can just take one and be done with the CCNA. And the CCENT does not mean much if you have the CCNA - it's like claiming the MCSA when you have the MCSE.

My reasoning for the one exam route was which would I rather do:
1) Take a 50 question Algebra test and then a 50 question Calculus test
2) Take a 50 question test combined of Algebra and Calculus
This is a similar analogy to me as the decision to take ICND1/ICND2 or just the CCNA exam.

If you have network experience at the Network+ level or higher then I would always recommend taking the one exam route. It sounds like you are at that level, so why take 2 exams? Just do one and get your CCNA...

zrockstar

Thanks for the replies. The books we are using is the CCNA Exploration companion series. I am also reading Todd Lammle's CCNA book on the side and doing the Testout A+ and N+ series at the same time. I think I will wait until the end of this term and take the A+ followed by the N+, followed by the CCENT. It seems like I am at the perfect place in my curriculum to go for the CCENT, as it seems like the hardest questions are the things we are studying right now.

beach5563

Todd Burrell wrote: »

I'm going to weigh in on this discussion and go the other way with recommending to just take the one exam instead of 2. If you are fairly comfortable with the ICND1 material then I see no reason to take 2 exams when you can just take one and be done with the CCNA. And the CCENT does not mean much if you have the CCNA - it's like claiming the MCSA when you have the MCSE.

My reasoning for the one exam route was which would I rather do:
1) Take a 50 question Algebra test and then a 50 question Calculus test
2) Take a 50 question test combined of Algebra and Calculus
This is a similar analogy to me as the decision to take ICND1/ICND2 or just the CCNA exam.

If you have network experience at the Network+ level or higher then I would always recommend taking the one exam route. It sounds like you are at that level, so why take 2 exams? Just do one and get your CCNA...

I agree, of course it depends on your background too. I'm in the same boat. Was recently laid off so now I have time to go full steam on this stuff. I have the Todd Lammle book and may use CBT nuggets too along with Packet Tracer. I just want to do one and get it out of the way personally.