Taking ICDN1 soon, any tips

Hello all,

First of all I read these threads a lot and I wanna say thank you to everyone who takes time out of there day and helps people out with there questions. You guys rock.

So I finished my first semester of cisco classes and still am loving it. I plan on taking the ICND1 exam within two weeks, I figure it will be easier to take this exam now so i don't have to worry about any of this info on the next exam.

I just wanna ask does anyone know the difference in difficulty between the exam and the cisco course tests. I do pretty good at the test but sometimes they throw crazy questions your way, is the exam like this or is it more straight forward. Also if anyone has taken the test what did they focus on the most. And any other tips are also welcome.

Thank you guys. Have a great day

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Comments

GT-Rob

First off, you have a similar name to what I used to call my girlfriend.

As for that exam, I agree its best to go sooner than later since the material will be fresh, but don't rush it. Take a bit of time to go through the texts again, as there is a good chance the course skipped over some rather important parts.

networker050184

GT-Rob wrote: »

First off, you have a similar name to what I used to call my girlfriend.

Nice one!

veritas_libertas

GT-Rob wrote: »

First off, you have a similar name to what I used to call my girlfriend.

I had to read that twice to confirm what I thought I was reading...

bjjwizard

GT-Rob wrote: »

First off, you have a similar name to what I used to call my girlfriend.
.

That's the funniest thing i heard all day. I didn't even think about that.
Just so were clear it means brazilian juijitsu, but still funny.

veritas_libertas

bjjwizard wrote: »

That's the funniest thing i heard all day. I didn't even think about that.
Just so were clear it means brazilian juijitsu, but still funny.

Maybe his Girlfriend likes brazilian juijitsu, did you ever consider that??

Just Kidding...

bjjwizard

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Maybe his Girlfriend like brazilian juijitsu, did you ever consider that??

Just Kidding...

Hmmm for some reason I don't think he was talking about that...

mikedisd2

This is the best thread all day.

As for the exam, I haven't done it yet but I'd make sure my CLI and SDM skills are up. I want to be sure I don't get blown away by the sims.

Agent6376

That's epic win if I say so myself.

You and I are in the same boat! I'm taking my exam Wednesday at 2pm CST. I'll give you a rundown after my attempt. I'm feeling fairly confident but this is my first Cisco exam so I'm not too sure what to expect. However, all of the material in the Sybex CCENT book, the CBT Nuggets, and most of the Odom Cisco Press books all seem redundant at this point. I've used transcender to prep and I can answer just about all of the questions except "How many pins are on XYZ adapter"

I'll keep you updated on Wednesday.

AD227529

Definately have your subnetting skills down cold. You will need them on the ICND1 and ICND2 exams. Practice with a home lab or a simulator like Packet Tracer. I read the Cisco Press book through cover to cover a few times and practiced with the Boson exam that comes with the book. There are some great practice exams on this website and online that you can use to practice. Watch your time on the exam too. It's easy to be too cautious when you're nervous and the clock doesn't stop ticking. I studied until I felt like I'd hit a wall and wasn't learning anything new, then scheduled the exam and spent another six weeks studying some more. If you know the material, you will pass. Good luck on the exam!

bjjwizard

Thank you all for your insight so far, I was planning on taking the exam in about two weeks but after reading this I think i'm a push it back a week or two, I'm not worried but I did see a couple areas I might have been slacking on. To the guys who are taking the exams in a couple dayys let us all know how it was, good luck guys, i will keep you posted on my progress. cheers

Agent6376

I just finished the ICND1 exam a few hours ago, and I thought I'd follow up with you to give some tips like I said I would.

The first thing is to keep your cool during the exam. This is usually a given with test taking skills in general, but don't lose your head as you work through the exam if you don't know the answer to a question. Select the best answer to your knowledge and move on. This exam isn't like Microsoft exams where you can go back, so after you've made your decision, that's it.

Secondly, you need to know subnetting and be able to use it in a practical scenario. In other words, you may not have a question that states here is the network ID and subnet, now find the broadcast address. Instead, you may have a scenario that states that there is a layer 3 issue between two hosts and you need to diagnose what the issue is.

Third, be comfortable enough to navigate in IOS without wondering exactly what mode you should be in. You should know what mode you need to be in for certain commands. This includes setting passwords for Console access, and remote Telnet or SSH sessions.

Fourth, breathe. Try to contain your nervousness. This was the hardest part for me. Cisco exams are different from Microsoft exams (which I'm used to taking). Don't rush into just trying to pass it asap. The material contained in ICND1 is composed of a lot of fundamentals that are used even by CCIE's. It's worth it to grasp the concepts that you're going to use in 80% of your troubleshooting.

My score: 944/1000

Good Luck!

pert

I'm taking my ICDN1 and 2 within the next few weeks, but I have taken a lot of Cisco exams in school for their CCNA material. The best two tips I could ever give anyone for any Cisco exam is

1: If the question is multiple choice, you don't need to know the correct answer as long as you know all the incorrect choices. Cisco has a way of wording answers oddly to throw you off, however the incorrect answers are usually pretty straightforward.

2. Cisco loves trick questions. Read the question and pay attention to detail. I've seen plenty of questions where the network diagram they include is 100% irrelevent. Just because you see one thing obviously wrong in a diagram doesn't mean it's the answer either, is that what the question was asking for? Make sure.

When I read their multiple choice questions if the answer isn't immediately obvious I then rule out all the answers that are definitely incorrect and then decide which of the possible answers left is 'less wrong'. If you're still unsure read the question again, except this time try to decipher more of what the question is trying to test your knowledge of instead of the specifics of the problem, usually this will help you choose between whatever is left.

The tests I took in class never had any simlets on them so I these tips may not apply for those portions.

Morty3

This is classic Cisco (this one is too easy but you get the drill

)

Refer to the exhibit. Host A can not ping Host B, however, he can ping the switch and his default gateway. What is going on?

A) The cat-5e cable between the switches are too long

The hosts have different default gateways
C) The MAC-adress of host B is spoofed
D) They are on different VLANs

Usually a statement which is true, regarding to the pic, but is unrelated. Then another one that might be it, then one thats just crazy, and a right one. If you dont know the answer for sure, work like this:
It cant be A, because the cable between the switches does not matter
It should not be B, because default gateways should not stop pings. Then we would have a routing problem, and that is not the case here. No such info were provided!
It problably is not C, because we go not MAC-related info whatsoever. On and exam though, you might get

Therefor it should be D.

pert

Yes it is, but that doesn't matter because the ping wouldn't need to go through that cable so it's not causing this problem.

mikej412

phoeneous wrote: »

I didnt even read the question

That why it's a good idea on the exam to read the question, all the answers and then read the question again before answering.

The right answer to the wrong question is still a wrong answer on the exam.

And if there were a big shaggy dog description of the network and some configuration examples before the question got to asking the real question, you'd waste lots of time studying the exhibit and trying to understand the configuration. So in an exhibit question -- jump to near the end to see what they have you looking for -- in this case the problem that host A can't ping host B.

mikej412

Reading the thread first before posting, or quoting a specific post if you're just responding to that usually helps other people to understand your post (as long as it's reasonably still sort of on topic).

phoeneous wrote: »

I think Im done posting for the day

Why? Because of this "forum suggestion"

mikej412 wrote: »

"If you drink, don't post -- and if you post, don't drink"

GT-Rob

phoeneous wrote: »

I didnt even read the question

Oh man that got me too! That IS a good Cisco example!

Morty3

Haha, I got you guys

SephStorm

This thread is classic.