ICND2 Attempt on Tuesday

So I'm stepping up to the plate on Tuesday to knock out ICND2. Any one take it recently that can share their experiences with the exam? Obviously i wouldn't want you to break the NDA, but just things that stood out. Any feedback would be awesome, thank you

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jamesleecoleman

Try to make a chart on the dry erase paper for subnetting.

I think that this is the tough part of the CCNA.

sthompson86

jamesleecoleman wrote: »

Try to make a chart on the dry erase paper for subnetting.

I think that this is the tough part of the CCNA.

I agree with James - Having my Subnetting chart wrote out really helped me.

Don't be alarmed if you get a question that leaves you going back through mental history trying to figure out where you may have studied for that particular question. I got 2 of those questions I believe that just left me wondering where the heck was that ever mentioned in any of my ICND2 questions. I ended up picking what sounded like the most Cisco logical answer and rolled on.

If you are passing practice test you should do fine.

Good luck.

YFZblu

I would say, just be prepared to look at more complicated diagrams than the Cisco Press books provide. Specifically regarding STP. I had a couple nasty RSTP questions, and my brain sort of shut off when I saw the diagram of several switches.

Roguetadhg

yeah stp is a catchy subject. espcially on diagrams!

sthompson86

Ile try to explain this the best way I can, but this is another thing that got me. Also note I am horrible at even the simplest of math.

On my practice exams the needed/answer subnetting range values were always in the lower number ranges for instance:

A /29 question would only use the first few ranges 0-8-16-24. ( on practice exam )

Questions on the real exam used the higher up ranges like 224-232-240

This is not really a big issues, but for me and my horribleness with math, and not mentally prepared to count that high this really caused me some grief lol.

I do not think this went against NDA.

EV42TMAN

Thanks for the feedback, i asked because if you search for ICND2 tips there really isn't any recent threads about it. there is a ton for ICND1 and the all in one CCNA exam but not ICND2. mostly its "I passed/Failed" threads that don't say much.

Danielh22185

I passed it back in March. I will not lie it was pretty darn hard. I failed on my first attempt. It's hard to say really all that you need to know because it is so vast. It would seem there was a good emphasis on ACLs, Frame Relay, and STP questions. Know the theory and how they are practically implemented. I have always heard to to always save the running config that you implement on the configuration questions ('copy run start') not sure if Cisco is actually looking for this but I have always done to ensure maximum points and that I am following "best pratices"

jamesleecoleman

I've failed the ICND2 about five times over the past two years. I have to get the CCNA (ICND2) before the CCENT expires in 2013.

I've came very close to passing the ICND2 once. I was about 14 points off.

The toughest parts of the ICND2 that I had was the routing and frame relay questions. After you're done taking the test, try to remember how many questions are in each domain in the exam objectives. Not the exact number but a rough estimate. I think you'll catch on to what I'm talking about.

I've studied my butt off but some of the questions were a little difficult for me. I keep studying my butt off and it's like no progress for me. I read books, watch videos, and did labs.

I think that if you know the material very well then you won't come close to the countdown being at zero. You'll be able to go through the test with very little resistance. It's a little late to give last minute advice.

Just keep cool and stay calm during the test. People say that you should spend like 10 min on a sim. Read all the agreements so that when you go to the test center, you're more familiar with the agreement and maybe you won't have to read the agreement. Just make sure the agreement version numbers match up.

I also think that you should relax and maybe go over a few things before tomorrow.

EV42TMAN

Does anyone know how much IPv6 is covered?

xbuzz

You could get a few questions on IPv6 so i'd definitely review your material on the subject if you have time to spare. Odoms book covers it well, or if you don't have that try INE videos (free on their site when you register).

GL with tommorrow. Make sure you know all your troubleshooting/show commands and how to configure everything on the test (ospf, eigrp, switch stuff etc). If you don't know that stuff you can run out of time very fast messing around in the simulations.

EV42TMAN

yeah i have some experience with IPv6 because of my job and microsoft certs but cisco IPv6 vs Microsoft IPv6 is a little different

Danielh22185

The IPV6 questions from my experience were strictly theory type questions, IPv6 is on the test. I think this is one of the topics that you should know but don't need to have a very indepth knowlege of. IPV6 gets hot an heavy in the CCNP realm. Know the fundementals of IPV6 and you should be fine. I watched a free video on youtube by Todd Lammle I think was very informative and helped with giving me a better understanding. Do some searches and read up on IPv6 in your materials.

MrXpert

For the IPv6 at CCNA level i'd highly recommend knowing how to recognize certain types of addresses such as Link local. Also being proficient in compressing those 128bit ipv6 addresses may come in useful

Also pay special attention to WAN related stuff as well as ACLs. Many CCNA candidates have mentioned these are the areas they scored the weakest in.

sthompson86

MrXpert wrote: »

For the IPv6 at CCNA level i'd highly recommend knowing how to recognize certain types of addresses such as Link local. Also being proficient in compressing those 128bit ipv6 addresses may come in useful

+1 I can vouch for that. I would say out of everything I could have been horrible at on the CCNA it was the simple IPV6 questions that left me wondering..

MrXpert

Yes indeed! i may have hated IPv6 at CCNA but i'm glad I looked at leading zero compression and zero compression.
If anyone out there needs more help on the Ipv6 stuff, I'd highly recommend CCIE Keith Barker's youtube channel He's one of the best for explaining stuff in my humble opinion.

EV42TMAN

Thank you for all the feedback. Last night I went through the ExamCram book for ICND2 as a review and i found the areas i am weaker on. but if the ICND2 test was 150 multiple choice questions at i had 4 hours to take it i know I'd pass. So now I'll review my weaker areas while at work and at 2:15 take this test I'll let you know how i did afterwards.

MAC_Addy

Good luck on your test, mate. Sounds like you are well prepared.

EV42TMAN

we'll find out, my lowest section last night was ACLs so i guess that will be where i start reviewing today

NetworkVeteran

EV42TMAN wrote: »

we'll find out, my lowest section last night was ACLs so i guess that will be where i start reviewing today

ACLs crop up everywhere--security, NAT, QoS, routing protocol redistribution, debugging, etc. It's one of the more practical topics to nail, especially wildcard masks. Gogogo!

Roguetadhg

Oh redistribution, How I missed you. Let me count thee ways.

Good luck!

EV42TMAN

I passed, and in my opinion ICND1 was harder then ICND2. but i did run out of time on ICND2 and didn't get to answer 2 questions so i was a little nervous until they showed my score. Thanks again to everyone who gave me feed back on what they experienced when they took ICND2.

Basically my test had a lot of switch questions i honestly think it was about half of the test was switch related questions so i don't know if that will help any one else whose currently preparing for ICND2 but either way good luck fellow test takers.

Roguetadhg

Nice, Nice. I'll see you in the Security+, then?

j.petrov

Congrats on the pass! I'm hoping to do the same in the next month or two. I have just started studying for the ICND2, and I'm loving it so far...way more advanced topics than ICND1. I felt like there wasn't too much to practice labbing for the ICND1, but I can already tell there is a hell of a lot more in the ICND2.

Again, Congrats!

jamesleecoleman

Congratulations on the pass!

Roguetadhg

j.petrov wrote: »

Congrats on the pass! I'm hoping to do the same in the next month or two. I have just started studying for the ICND2, and I'm loving it so far...way more advanced topics than ICND1. I felt like there wasn't too much to practice labbing for the ICND1, but I can already tell there is a hell of a lot more in the ICND2.

Again, Congrats!

Yes. No question. You will definitely be labbing - a lot.

xbuzz

Congrats! I found ICND1 harder than ICND2 also. Alot of questions on ICND1 were pretty vague I thought. I also found ICND2 quite short on time, I thought I was flying through the test, but only finished with 1 minute to spare.

gadav478

congrats

EV42TMAN

Yeah there is way more labs for ICND2, lab everything you can and go over everything you can't because then at least on the test you'll how to do the topic if you haven't actually done it(in my case frame relay). I actually ran out of time and didn't answer 2 questions and i still passed. I was talking to the main guy runs the testing site closest to my work/home. He knows me because I'm there so much for tests, and i told him i only had 2 simulators and he said that "if that is the case then at least 1 of those 2 questions i didn't get to was probably a simulator and you probably took a big hit and still passed. congrats"

sthompson86

Awesome! Congrats on the pass!