How long should it take...........

How much time should I spend on question that involves subnetting. Just give me an estimate on the typical subnet question

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bmauro

I always shoot for under 10 seconds without using paper. It's almost second nature to me now.

Now thats just for a "How many hosts - how many subnets type question" If it is more complex and requires planning - then that number goes up.

hedhrts

45 seconds or less

This comes directly from Cisco Press CCNA ICND Exam Certification Guide

mikej412

I usually average about 1 minute a question on the "easier" Cisco exams... some questions take more (like the SIMs & Testlets & Exhibit questions) and some take less (like easy subnetting questions if you've practiced, and simple multiple choice questions).

Break it down this way.... you know you are getting subnetting questions. The faster you are on these questions, the more time you have to spend on other "harder" questions.

If you don't spend lots of time at subnettingquestions.com and you use scratch pad and pen -- target 1 minute for the easier questions, and 1 minute per answer you have to check on the difficult questions (which could mean up to 5 or 6 minutes each).

If you've practiced -- you can knock out the easy questions in that 10-15 second range.... and the more complex subnetting questions in a minute or so.... lets just say you've easily saved enough time in case they toss another SIM at you that you didn't expect.

Time Management during the exam is one of those things you have to do... and blowing out those subnetting questions is one of the best things you can do to insure you don't run out of time (and studying everything else a lot helps too

)

dissolved

learning subnetting SUCKS. Don't worry about it too much. Just make sure you have a clear understanding.

The good news is, once the light goes on, it will never go off.

steve-o87

dissolved wrote:

learning subnetting SUCKS. Don't worry about it too much. Just make sure you have a clear understanding.

I'd make sure you now it very much.

Im not trying to undermine you dissolved, but subnetting is one of those things you get slapped with on the exam.
I would aim for the quickest possible time, but an average of 30 - 45 seconds and you'll should be alright

dissolved

That's why I said have a clear understanding, never said to go half a$$

Kaminsky

dissolved wrote:

The good news is, once the light goes on, it will never go off.

So true, although some it does seem to be seeping back out of my ears...

Four things that helped me to finally crack it:

1) Always keep in mind the class you are working with. Always!.. thats the key to remembering which octet the mask starts and how your subnets start to roll out.

2) Work in binary. It really is quicker funnily enough. Forget the tables and tricks.

3) Remember the 256- rule.. You use it a lot.

4) Spend lots and lots of time on subnetting questions.com working out why you are wrong.

One final thing I am planning to do when I take my test to help me save as much time as possible on subnetting questions is do some quick maths as the start of the exam, quickly write down the following 3 tables for later lookup.

1) The subnet boundaries.. 128, 192, 224, 240, 248, 252, 254, 255

2) 2^ table (2, 4, 8 ... 32768,65536) numbered 1-16 to calculate subnets/hosts quicker.

3) 16 times table upto 256 to help with calculating boundaries. This will include 32, 64, etc boundaries.

Eventually once it clicks you are knocking these out in seconds.. really! Especially with these tables.

After all the struggle in trying to figure them out, getting the correct answer in seconds is a very rewarding feeling.

Good luck.

zenzen

I'm glad someone mentioned that website for subnetting, I didn't know about it until now. granted, I'm not taking ccna or something yet. but it'll surely help in network+ if only to prepare me