CWNA/CWSP Lab?

msteinhilber · March 2010

Hopefully some of those who have sat CWNA and CWSP might be able to chime in.

I'm taking PW0-204 in the next 4 months as it is a requirement for the MSIA program at WGU. Since you don't earn the CWSP credential unless you pass CWNA as well as the fact that a lot of the CWNA material is covered on CWSP, I might as well take both.

I'm more of a hands-on learner and we really do not have any bit of a wireless infrastructure at work less a few SOHO level (Linksys, Dlink, etc) AP's in some of our offices that were never wired for ethernet. Would any form of lab gear be a big benefit for these exams? If so, is it something I can use something like some WAP54G's flashed with DD-WRT or would I be looking at higher end gear needed? I've searched around a bit and it seems most people don't mention much for hands-on which leads me to believe most people just book study along with CBT's and whatnot.

Thoughts? Any chance to fill out my home rack with more gear is always welcome

dynamik · March 2010

I honestly didn't do any hands-on for either.

I would highly recommended doing the CWNA (or learning the material) before going after the CWSP. The foundation will help enormously.

Any WAP that will let you connect to RADIUS and play around with a few of the various EAP types will be sufficient for experimentation. You'll obviously need a server for RADIUS, maybe PKI if you want to play around with that, etc., but you probably already have something you can use, or at least a place where you can load another VM. Aside from that, some basic packet-captures for authentication, etc. would be about all you need.

The rest of the material is either strictly conceptual or technologically advanced to the point where equipment would be cost-prohibitive for a home lab.

msteinhilber · March 2010

dynamik wrote: »

I honestly didn't do any hands-on for either.

I would highly recommended doing the CWNA (or learning the material) before going after the CWSP. The foundation will help enormously.

That's the plan. At least one good thing is CWNP announced the cut off date for PW0-200 and as a result WGU switched to PW0-204. The one bad part I guess is I already had picked up the PW0-200 book, but that book was fairly poorly put together from all that I've read so I'll probably have less gaps in my studies having Sybex's PW0-204 book instead.

Sounds like anything I would do hands-on wise is already implemented in my home network so I'll be good there then.

JDMurray · March 2010

"Hands-on" is only necessary if you are necessarily a "hands-on" type of person. Some people can just easily digest large quantities of related information and intuit how it all works based on their passed experiences with similar systems and technologies. You just need to use the learning method that's best for you.

down77 · April 2010

Just a follow up to see how the studies/exam are going for you. I just ordered the updated sybex PW0-204 and plan to *try* to fit this in before the end of my semester.

marioc · May 2010

My understanding is that you cannot take the CWSP exam until you pass the CWNA exam. I also agree with the CWSP book opinion.

JDMurray · May 2010

"CWSP Prerequisites: Candidate must hold a valid CWNA certification"

CWNA/CWSP Lab?

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