CCNA Study Group

Agent47

Hey guys, let's keep it going, Any new updates? How are you all doing? Ednard, sorry to hear that you've had to cancel. That's a bummer but I hope you're able to pick it up again when you have time.

Jon_Cisco, thanks for posting your update sounds like you have a good plan going.

Technoracer, how is your ICND2 study going?

xnx nothing wrong with being ambitious !

Magic - where are you at now in your studies?

zxbane

Just came back from the testing center and passed the INCD2 to round out my CCNA: R/S pursuit. Used Lammle's book, and GNS3, along with Chris Bryant's videos.

Now all focus goes onto the CISM in June (besides work/school).

Thanks to everyone at TE for all the advice again!

Technoracer

zxbane wrote: »

Just came back from the testing center and passed the INCD2 to round out my CCNA: R/S pursuit. Used Lammle's book, and GNS3, along with Chris Bryant's videos.

Now all focus goes onto the CISM in June (besides work/school).

Thanks to everyone at TE for all the advice again!

Congrats zxbane! How would you rate the exam? I'm taking mine in two days.

Technoracer

Agent47 wrote: »

Technoracer, how is your ICND2 study going?

My studies are going well. Just finished watching all the ICND2 nuggets. Today and tomorrow doing a review on troubleshooting, frame relay and routing and switching labs, and going over flash cards. And, of course, doing some practice tests.

shyguyIT

Congrats zxbane!

wgroom

Congratulations to all newly certified personnel! I have let my studies fall to the wayside for some time, but am now back into the swing of things. I have put together a nice little lab with 2 2821 voice routers, a 2611 & 2610 data routers, a 3750-48 PoE switch, 3 3550-48s. and a 2950-48. I have purchased a Dell 1950 dual 3.0ghz quad core server with 16gb RAM, and 4 146gb HDDs. Attached to that I will add a WD 1tb USB drive for ISOs, and will load with ESXi 5.5, CUCM 8.6, CUCx 8.5, UCCX 8.5, Win2K3 running AD, DNS, DHCP, and a TFTP server. Also want to build a Linux VM to play with. Hardware acquisition is complete, now back to reading and playing with the new lab. Going to push for CCNA Voice by end of April. Then CCNA R&S by end of October.

zxbane

Thanks for the congrats. I would rate the exam easier than ICND1 actually. I only say this because ICND2 seemed to cover fewer subjects than ICND1. Of course the subjects were more advanced but you could focus on them compared to needing to remember as wide of a range of subjects like with the ICND1.

Magic Johnson

Agent47 wrote: »

Magic - where are you at now in your studies?

Bleurgh!

I'm forcing myself to study, obviously with moving home and a very close relative in the final stages of terminal cancer I am all over the place, but managing to sneak in 30 mins here and there. I feel if I can plug away and get my notes written down as best I can, I stand a better chance of returning to my studies after everything calms down than if I didn't study at all.

Plus my new home has a study. How cool is that!

Technoracer

Here's an update. I just took the ICND2, and was really pressed for time by the end, so I ended up guessing about four or five questions. I got hit two simlets when I had about five minutes left. I guess I should have prepared more, because I ended up failing, but at least now I know what to brush up on. There were a lot of questions about rapid spanning tree/SPT and frame relay and I din't learn it enough to answer the questions faster.

Staunchy

Technoracer wrote: »

Here's an update. I just took the ICND2, and was really pressed for time by the end, so I ended up guessing about four or five questions. I got hit two simlets when I had about five minutes left. I guess I should have prepared more, because I ended up failing, but at least now I know what to brush up on. There were a lot of questions about rapid spanning tree/SPT and frame relay and I din't learn it enough to answer the questions faster.

Sorry dude, well now you know what to expect with the ICND2 exam and also on which topics you need to brush up on. What was your score? When you planning to rewrite?

Hope to see you post soon that you CCNA certified

zxbane

Technoracer wrote: »

Here's an update. I just took the ICND2, and was really pressed for time by the end, so I ended up guessing about four or five questions. I got hit two simlets when I had about five minutes left. I guess I should have prepared more, because I ended up failing, but at least now I know what to brush up on. There were a lot of questions about rapid spanning tree/SPT and frame relay and I din't learn it enough to answer the questions faster.

Sorry to hear that Techno, just hit your weak areas and give it another shot in a couple weeks while the information is still fresh!

Technoracer

Staunchy wrote: »

Sorry dude, well now you know what to expect with the ICND2 exam and also on which topics you need to brush up on. What was your score? When you planning to rewrite?

Hope to see you post soon that you CCNA certified

I got 735 out of 825 required to pass: LAN Switching Technologies 45%, IP Routing Technologies 71%, IP Services 100%, Troubleshooting 65%, WAN Technologies 50%. I need to brush up on Spanning Tree and Frame Relay, and overall on answering the questions faster. Will retake the test in a month.

Agent47

Zxbane Congratulations on your pass! The CISM Cert is a wonderful addition to the ones you already have. Definitely going to look into that one. How long do you think it will take for you to study for that exam? Do you think you will meet the deadline for the next scheduled exam?

Technoracer, a months time sounds good to retake. You at least have an idea of what to expect and how to go about conquering the next attempt which you can and will. Thank you for sending in your update, please keep it coming, we’re here to support!

Wgroom, yes! Now that’s wasup! Glad you got back on the bandwagon. I am restarting this weekend now that I am through with other projects. That sounds like ALOT of equipment lol. I am planning to build a desktop where I can practice learning virtualization with different OS’s, server setup, Kali linux and hopefully more. So much I want to do but gotta get some focus and direction! Hopefully when I get through the basic cisco certs, I will be confident enough to build my own lil lab piece by piece. Desktop is no problem but getting the right cisco pieces……….

Magic, first let me say my thoughts are with you and your family. It’s good that you are trying to work in a little study time given your current situation, just do what you can! I know you’ll pull through! And about the study, that is indeed pretty cool! Nice to have a quiet area where you can concentrate!

Questions for you all (you can give short answers):

Why are you going for this or any certification?

How many hours a day (or week) do you study?

How do you go about studying? Do you watch videos first or read?

What are your eventual goals job-wise? What positions would you like to obtain and why?

Thanks again everyone for hanging in there! We got this!

Agent47

omi2123

if u don't have much networking experience & knowledge then ccent will take a while...funny thing is, ICND2 may not even take 1/3 of the time it takes to do CCENT.....do CBT Nuggets & u will pass for sure...

Jon_Cisco

Questions for you all (you can give short answers):

1 - Why are you going for this or any certification?

I am working on a career change. I am going for a associates in Computer Science and hope to work in networking in the future.
My current profession is in the printing industry which is projected to have declining employment for the foreseeable future.

2 - How many hours a day (or week) do you study?

My goals are probably 3 hours a day. The real number is probably 1 to 2 hours.

3 - How do you go about studying? Do you watch videos first or read?

I prefer to read. However I have learned in the last year that it is easier to first watch a video first.

4 - What are your eventual goals job-wise? What positions would you like to obtain and why?

I don't have enough experience to have an end goal in mind. I will try to break into networking and see how my career progresses.
I hope to continue to CCNP but after that it's impossible to know for sure.

greg9891

Hey Wgroom i am studying for my ccent certification and i'm almost finished my cbt nuggets videos, but i'm wondering what tips do you have to help with studying for the exam. I plan to take the exam at the end of april 2014.
I live in the bahamas so any help would be great thanks.

greg9891

zxbane
Just came back from the testing center and passed the INCD2 to round out my CCNA: R/S pursuit. Used Lammle's book, and GNS3, along with Chris Bryant's videos.


Now all focus goes onto the CISM in June (besides work/school).


Thanks to everyone at TE for all the advice again!
Working on -


Thats great zxbane i'm getting ready to take my ccent at the end of april and am really trying to cover all the topics. hey how were u able to get a switch simulated on gns3? I been using it as well but it won't recognize any switch commands please help.

Agent47

Hi Jon, thanks for your answer, thought I would ask so that it not only helps you to re-affirm what you want to do but also gives others who are new to this some ideas of their own. Come on yall, I want to hear the rest of your answers!

Agent47

I saw these videos and thought they were interesting. Some of you have probably already seen em but check it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yaO5HQ_Cj8

Study Tips

What to do on Exam Day

Take control of your Cisco Career

Magic Johnson

Hey guys, my grandfather passed away on Saturday, now he is no longer in pain or suffering I have stopped worrying about him, and am now going to focus on getting my ICND2 certification. I have clarity of mind, an inner peace if you will. He was delighted when I told him I got my ICND1, so am going to use this to push on, he'll be delighted when I get my ICND2 as well wherever he is.

Jon_Cisco

I'm sorry for your loss Magic. I think it's a great idea to use it to empower yourself and keep his memory close.

Good Luck!

zxbane

Very sorry to hear that Magic, maybe pursuing the ICND2 will keep your mind off of things. Best of luck in your pursuit!

rembot00

bro, Magic..my condolences to you and your family...

rembot00

Agent47 wrote:

Questions for you all (you can give short answers):

Why are you going for this or any certification?

How many hours a day (or week) do you study?

How do you go about studying? Do you watch videos first or read?

What are your eventual goals job-wise? What positions would you like to obtain and why?

Thanks again everyone for hanging in there! We got this!

Agent47

1)Because I want to be on the networking side of IT.. I had 2 short experiences in a programming stint and both on different programming language, and i sucked on it..I don't excel on it and I feel like I don't want to do programming as a living..I find it stressful..networking, I need to see and find out for myself

2)I review between 4-8hrs a day. I'm unemployed.go figure lol

3)I first enrolled myself on a Cisco Networking Academy. That was base foundation as i would say. After the course, I prepared for the exam by reading books, and watching videos.

4)Eventual goals,hmm..just to get a job in a networking field and i guess, see how it goes

Agent47

Hi Magic my condolences. I am glad you're pushing through with your studies, your grandpa would be proud!

Thanks for your answers rembot! Hopefully you can get into the networking field soon and get some more hands-on experience! Are you working on any other certs?

rembot00

I just finished with the ccna the other day, right now i dont have any particular certs in mind..gonna start trying to apply for an entry job maybe grab a book to read while waiting for an interview call.

mikeybinec

Jon_Cisco wrote: »

Questions for you all (you can give short answers):

1 - Why are you going for this or any certification?



2 - How many hours a day (or week) do you study?



3 - How do you go about studying? Do you watch videos first or read?



4 - What are your eventual goals job-wise? What positions would you like to obtain and why?.

1)I started and finished the Cisco Netacad in my region. Tried the 640 ccna exam did not pass. Went to National University and received by BS and came back to study for Cisco and found out they changed the objectives!! (Such as etherchannel and multi area OSPF being CCNA, now, when two years ago it was CCNP) The facts of life are you can have a college degree, but you must have a cert, also.

2) Six days about 3 or 4 hours a day. Also set up scenarios with my home lab. I do need a router that can do IPV6. but until then, Packet tracer will do.

3) Read, read, read. I have Odom, Lammle, Graziani, and just bought Valentine/Barker exam cram..I like to see different points of views as another poster called it. After I finish exam cram in a couple of days, I will hit the Boson sim exam for a week, read more and make notes of every subject, especially command line things

4) Yes I do want to get into a NOC or ISP. Lot's of stuff here in SoCal but I will move if I have to

Regards

ps, when can I add an avatar? I cant find the button

Masked_King

Consider me in, can you pm me ASAP?

Agent47

mikeybinec wrote: »

ps, when can I add an avatar? I cant find the button

Rembot, Congrats on the pass! It seems like alot of job postings are asking for linux experience too that might be a nice cert to pick up and add to the arsenal!

Mikey, Masked King welcome!

Mikey, thank you for your answers, do you think that you'll eventually go for the data center/design(CCDA) cert after you pass your CCNA?

Also if you want to add an avatar, click the gear at the very top of the page (next to logout) > my settings (on the right) > edit avatar.

--chris--

I just covered Chapter 3 in Odom's book which covers HDLC & PPP. How much of this/how in depth would the questions be on the ICND1 regarding these WAN protocols? I understand what they are and at what layer they work and who designed them, but thats it.