FLG or OCG

theodoxa

I've read reviews that say the Official Cert Guide is lacking and to use the Foundation Learning Guide and then other reviews say the FLG is full of errors and you should use the Official Cert Guide. I was just wondering what everyone's experience was with these books.

FloOz

What I am using is FLG for Route and TShoot, and the OCG for Switch. The FLG Route book is really good in my opinion.

aaron0011

I'm using OCG for SWITCH along with Iris' notes. It seems good enough to me. Also, watching CBT Nuggets and labbing of course. I'm not finding the topics all that difficult to be honest. I do have a lot of experience with managing VLANs, VTP, Port Channels, etc. The foundation wireless and voice topics are gimmes. The topics that worry me are the HA protocols and complex spanning tree scenarios.

spicy ahi

Why not both?

Mike-Mike

I started reading the FLG for ROUTE and I liked it

NetworkVeteran

The ROUTE FLG is one of my favorite books. It's a detailed, well-written, and up-to-date text on IGPs. Each FLG or OCG is different. The Amazon star ratings give a good indication of their relative merits. Also consider the SIMPLIFIED series.

iamme4eva

I liked OCG for ROUTE, and I skimmed through the OCG for TSHOOT. The OCG for SWITCH is awful. There are missing topics, that were summarised into one liners in one of the Annex's at the back. I did finish it, but then I picked up SWITCH Simplified for the kindle for a tenner or something, and it was much much better. It's one man's opinion, but I don't think I'd have passed the test with the OCG alone.

Coolhandluke

I used both for SWITCH and I have both for ROUTE. I generally read each one 3-4 times (with labbing) before I hit the exams.

Danielh22185

Coolhandluke wrote: »

I used both for SWITCH and I have both for ROUTE. I generally read each one 3-4 times (with labbing) before I hit the exams.

Jesus! Do yourself a favor and read it once, highlight important topics and come back and make notes on those topics. Use the book as a tool instead of just a reading resource. Re-read the areas you highlight / make notes on those points / lab the scenarios / use the end of chapter quizzes. That is my method anyway. I don't have time to read 800+ pages 3-4 times per book, (roughly 4800-6400 pages of text counting both books), even with speed reading that is going to take a lot of time.

To the OP, I can say from experience FLG > OCG for route. Can't really speak on anything else yet.

colby_ar

I have both OCG and FLG. Both are monotonous walls of text that I can't get to stick in my brain. I've found the "Simplified" series of books to be much easier to study. Plus it is hard to beat the Kindle price of $5.Cisco CCNP ROUTE Simplified: Paul William Browning, Farai Tafa: 9780955781575: Amazon.com: Books