Attained CCNA today

Just wanted to give something back to the Forum that I spent a fair amount of time reading while preparing for ICND1 and ICND2 exams.

Passed ICND2 today with score of 903. Exam was not what I was expecting.

I work in IT and having been in networking for about 3 years.
I read the old Intro and ICND books 3 years ago but never went for the CCNA cert. Got the new books (Cisco Press ICND1 & ICND2) at the end of October. Read ICND1 cover to cover and went through the "do i know this" questions 2 or 3 times and went through all Boson CD questions at least twice. Wrote ICND1 after 2 weeks of studying and got 916. I found it noticibly easier than the Boson practice questions.

Read ICND2 cover to cover a few weeks ago and started doing the practice questions. Re-read what I needed to and decided yesterday to book my exam for today. I was a little nervous after reading all the forum posts saying that ICND2 was much more difficult than ICND1 and that a lot of people fail on first attemp.

Exam was strangley unfamiliar in comparison to the questions I had been practicing using Boson. Same principles but answers were not immediately obvious - really had to work them out. Actually felt as though I may not pass so to see 903 at the end was a nice surprise

I was prepared for the time crunch by reading many posts saying the time limit is your biggest obstacle. Knowing that, I flew through a lot of the multiple choice (re-reading at least once or twice) and ended with a couple minutes to spare. My recommendation is to be able to do quick subnetting and have a router/switch troubleshooting plan beforehand so you know what you're looking for. With that you should be alright.

Good luck to all and thanks TechExams.net for the support!

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Comments

elegua

Congratulations!!!!!

new2net

Congrats!

What are your thoughts on ICND1 vs. ICND2?

Bl8ckr0uter

Good job!!!

What's up next?

Networkalator

Using the Boson tests as my prep tool, I found ICND1 easier. The exam questions were more like the Boson questions. If you really understand why each answer is correct on the Boson exam you should do fine.

For ICND2 I found that there was a lot of information I studied that wasn't necessarily required for the exam. That said, you really do need to know the subjects (STP, VLANs, OSPF, EIGRP, NAT/PAT, ACLs) well. Armed with that knowledge you can attack anything they throw at you. The whole point is to truly understand networking so overdoing it is a good thing

So to answer the question, ICND2 is harder imo. But as long as you understand the logic behind it all you''ll be OK. And make sure you can calculate subnets quickly

Networkalator

I think I'll do the CCNA security next, then CCNA VoIP, then CCNA Wireless. I think that's a great foundation and then I can decide what direction I want to pursue further.

veritas_libertas

Thanks for the write up on the difference between ICND1 vs. ICND2. That brings more clarity to the whole thing.

E1or0

Congrats - Nice Job

Bl8ckr0uter

Networkalator wrote: »

I think I'll do the CCNA security next, then CCNA VoIP, then CCNA Wireless. I think that's a great foundation and then I can decide what direction I want to pursue further.

Thats pretty cool. That would probably round out your skill set nicely. It seems the like most ccnas are going to have to have hybrid skillsets (such as those) so doing all 3 will put you ahead of the curve. At some point I would like to read voice/wireless books because my job works pretty heavily with both. Do you work with cisco equipment in any capacity?

Once again great job.

btowntech

Congrats!!

Keep up the good work!

kenny831

Congrats! Great score.

Rhodan

Congrats, well done.

What study material did you use and how relevant was it to the exam?

captobvious

Congrats!

Geetar28

Networkalator wrote: »

Exam was strangely unfamiliar in comparison to the questions I had been practicing using Boson. Same principles but answers were not immediately obvious - really had to work them out. Actually felt as though I may not pass so to see 903 at the end was a nice surprise

I actually felt that the Boson was way off for the ICND1 that I took yesterday, felt very unfamiliar ...what do you think got you through the ICND2 ?? Reading the Cisco Press books? You mentioned a router/switch troubleshooting plan...could you elaborate on yours just a bit..

Thanks and Congrats !!!!

billscott92787

congrats on the pass What is next?