CCENT Study

Hey All.

Long time lurker, first time poster

I've been studying half heartedly for my CCNET qualification for over a year now but I've finally got myself booked in for the 30th August. I went through a stage last year of studying for this but spare time was hard to come by to do this as I work full time and only have 2 - 3 hours most nights to chill at home etc.

But the past couple weeks I've put my foot down as I really want to get this qualification under my belt and to get the full CCNA.

I use the following:

CBT Nuggets
Packet Tracer
Wendell Odom book
Online Subnetting questions

I have used the CBT nuggets videos mostly as i get quite bored reading the massive Odom book

I also have a couple 1720 routers at home for practise setting them up but no big physical network, which is where packet tracer comes in.

Luckily my work will pay for the exam but I havn't took an exam since uni which was 4 years ago... and I hate them!

Any tips for people who have passed this exam?

Thanks.
Rick.

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Comments

odysseyelite

I just took the exam a month ago. You have all the decent resources. Same ones I used.

The INCD1 does not really require a lab, but atleast do some pratice. The topics which the videos and the book go over on setting up. It gets you used to using the commands. I had one question on the exam and I always used the show run. Well it was disabled and I had to remember what the proper command was to find the information requested.

I made a subnetting chart during the tutorial. Put down the CIDR notation, I put down the OSI model, and my powers of 2.

Run through the pratice exams that come with the odom book. They are harder than the real exam. If you are in the high 80's or better than you should be ready for the exam.

wave

I'm taking my ICND1 exam in a week and a half. I decided a week ago to purchase the ExSim Max exam pack from Boson and I can honestly tell you that I'm glad I did!

The exams feel more real than the ones that come with the Odom books.

dazerski

rickinyorkshire wrote: »

Hey All.

Long time lurker, first time poster

I've been studying half heartedly for my CCNET qualification for over a year now but I've finally got myself booked in for the 30th August. I went through a stage last year of studying for this but spare time was hard to come by to do this as I work full time and only have 2 - 3 hours most nights to chill at home etc.

But the past couple weeks I've put my foot down as I really want to get this qualification under my belt and to get the full CCNA.

I use the following:

CBT Nuggets
Packet Tracer
Wendell Odom book
Online Subnetting questions

I have used the CBT nuggets videos mostly as i get quite bored reading the massive Odom book

I also have a couple 1720 routers at home for practise setting them up but no big physical network, which is where packet tracer comes in.

Luckily my work will pay for the exam but I havn't took an exam since uni which was 4 years ago... and I hate them!

Any tips for people who have passed this exam?

Thanks.
Rick.

I took the CCENT test in 9/08 and passed using the study materials you used (minus packet tracer). I used a Bosom Exam simulator and a Sybex simulator. I also purchased about 4 routers and switches off of ebay but honestly, they were more of a hassle than help. Many of the IOSs were corrupt and different versions leaving out key IOS commands mentioned in the study material. My CCENT is expiring in 60 days and I want to renew it and go for ICND2 afterwards this time. I would say that you have the right study materials and to really get subnetting down to where you can do it accurately, on the fly, in your head. Since you're timed, you don't want to waste time doing subnetting on paper. The test wasn't very "tricky", it just weeds out the people trying to cram vs. people trying to really learn.

Good luck!

MrRyte

dazerski wrote: »

...... I would say that you have the right study materials and to really get subnetting down to where you can do it accurately, on the fly, in your head. Since you're timed, you don't want to waste time doing subnetting on paper.....

I strongly recommend writing down the subnetting chart from /16 -/32 on your **** sheet if the exam center will allow it.

dazerski

True - not a bad idea for reference or quick checking. My exam center allowed us a couple pieces of paper and I did exactly what you recommended. I guess I'm more or less saying make sure that isn't your crutch

andy4tech

hello rick,
I think you have all required materials for the test ,you have to know your subnettng and show commands very well and also time management is a key for the success in the test.Best of luck.

dazerski

dazerski wrote: »

I also purchased about 4 routers and switches off of ebay but honestly, they were more of a hassle than help. Many of the IOSs were corrupt and different versions leaving out key IOS commands mentioned in the study material.

I should clarify here - I definitely saw a benefit to having the real hardware to practice on. I just made a poor choice in the models of switches and routers I bought off ebay. I was trying to be cheap about building a lab and saw the effects of that. If you have the money to buy some decent equipment, it's definitely beneficial.

SdotLow

Anyone use the Wendell Odom ICND1 Cisco Press books practice exams from Boson?

I just set up a practice test with 60 questions for 90 minutes, got to question 15 with like 60 minutes left. Had a bunch of questions about Trunking and VLANs. Loopback interfaces. ACL stop packets. OSPF Configs. I can't find any of this stuff in Lammle's book or Odom's. What gives with this? Is this kind of stuff really on ICND1?

Very confusing and concerning.

mattlee09

SdotLow wrote: »

Anyone use the Wendell Odom ICND1 Cisco Press books practice exams from Boson?

I just set up a practice test with 60 questions for 90 minutes, got to question 15 with like 60 minutes left. Had a bunch of questions about Trunking and VLANs. Loopback interfaces. ACL stop packets. OSPF Configs. I can't find any of this stuff in Lammle's book or Odom's. What gives with this? Is this kind of stuff really on ICND1?

Very confusing and concerning.

640-822 ICND1 - IT Certification and Career Paths - Cisco Systems
http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/current_exams/640-816.html#examtop ICND2

Negative. Those are actually ALL ICND2 topics, lol, so if my inference is correct, you selected ICND2 when you started the practice exam.

rickinyorkshire

I have the bosom exam too which I first tried last night and I must have failed nearly all the questions but It has helped me understand the sort of questions I will be asked in the ICND1 exam. Practise makes perfect! I did notice some questions on port security with some cmds that weren't covered in the CBT nuggets..

I need more practise on subnetting also, I can do them but does take me a bit of time to work out so need to get my times down.

SdotLow

mattlee09 wrote: »

640-822 ICND1 - IT Certification and Career Paths - Cisco Systems
640-816 ICND2 - IT Certification and Career Paths - Cisco Systems ICND2

Negative. Those are actually ALL ICND2 topics, lol, so if my inference is correct, you selected ICND2 when you started the practice exam.

Yeah the guys at Cisco helped me out with this last night, lol. The test on the Boson environment clearly says "ICND1". Did a 60 questions exam and got a 75%, so I purchased the Boson exsim-max. I think I'm almost ready to sit. I'll post my thoughts on Boson exsim-max in a few days when I take test A.

rickinyorkshire

SdotLow wrote: »

Yeah the guys at Cisco helped me out with this last night, lol. The test on the Boson environment clearly says "ICND1". Did a 60 questions exam and got a 75%, so I purchased the Boson exsim-max. I think I'm almost ready to sit. I'll post my thoughts on Boson exsim-max in a few days when I take test A.

What is Boson exsim-max ?

hiddenknight821

rickinyorkshire wrote: »

What is Boson exsim-max ?

If you are into IT, then you definitely got a lot of nerves to ask us that question since many here will tell you to google it up. Consider yourself lucky.

I got your answer for you here. Boson ExSim-Max. It's basically an exam simulation that will throw a bunch of questions at you to truly test your knowledge on the stuff.

rickinyorkshire

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

If you are into IT, then you definitely got a lot of nerves to ask us that question since many here will tell you to google it up. Consider yourself lucky. I got your answer for you here. Boson ExSim-Max. It's basically an exam simulation that will throw a bunch of questions at you to truly test your knowledge on the stuff.

Well I was a bit busy to google

I found out anyway - it's just an upgraded version of the Bosam exam simulator - and costs money. So i'll do without I think.

rickinyorkshire

Just did a practise bosom and got 480/800. Eeek.

3 weeks to go.

mattlee09

rickinyorkshire wrote: »

Just did a practise bosom and got 480/800. Eeek.

3 weeks to go.

It is important to note that some just use the Boson program as a delivery method for their own practice exams. For example, the practice exams that are included with the Cisco Press book are not questions that were written by Boson, but a custom test that was created for use with the Boson exam client.

I've heard this before, from a Boson rep, so I suspect the included exam in the book and the purchasable set from Boson themselves might be of different quality/difficulty. Some clever use of the forum search could probably find the thread/post I'm referring to.

martell1000

for the pratical studd in icnd 1 i would suggest to get your hands on the cbt nuggets icnd 2 videos and go through the enviroment jeremy is setting up in the begining of the series. (first 3 or 4 videos)
rebuild this in packet tracer and you have covered a lot of stuff!

next advise is - use packet tracer to get used to the show commands - just play around with em and see what they can do for you - might be very usefull

for subnetting - use your fingers!

left thumb is ALWAYS 24 - right one is 256 - then you can count :

25 - 128
26 - 64
27 - 32

remeber to subtract two if it comes to usable hosts.

i was able to do any subnetting question within 20 seconds or less with this method ....

SdotLow

mattlee09 wrote: »

It is important to note that some just use the Boson program as a delivery method for their own practice exams. For example, the practice exams that are included with the Cisco Press book are not questions that were written by Boson, but a custom test that was created for use with the Boson exam client.

I've heard this before, from a Boson rep, so I suspect the included exam in the book and the purchasable set from Boson themselves might be of different quality/difficulty. Some clever use of the forum search could probably find the thread/post I'm referring to.

It's not an upgraded version of the Cisco Press exams, lol. Who would pay for that? Cisco Press gives you a ton of questions. Boson Exsim-Max is 3 tests, and 3 tests only. It's to help you prepare for sitting the exam when you've finished your studies.

I've heard nothing but great things about the Boson Exsim-max from people that have passed their ICND1/2. If I recall correctly, it simulates the exam in a realistic way so you're not caught off guard when you actually sit and get hit with the vast question types they have set up.

It's nothing like taking an CompTIA exam, for example.

Greenmet29

Know the book like the back of your hand. Watch a cbt video and then read the chapter(s) in the book to compliment it. The videos are good, but not enough to pass the exam in my opinion. There are a lot of holes left in the material on cbt. (not to say that jeremy didn't do an EXCELLENT job!)

know your subnetting, to the point that you don't need to write down the chart on exam day (but write it down anyway, just in case)

Take the boson exams, go through the questions you missed with a fine tooth comb, ask lots of questions on this forum, everyone here is extremely helpful. Keep taking the practice exams until you pass continually. Find other practice exams if you need to so that you don't just know the ones you have by heart. Ask more questions.

Finally, it's good karma to take it on 8/30 because its my birthday. Don't do me wrong.

rickinyorkshire

Yea I made the mistake of not allowing the answers to be shown, so when i finished the exam I wasn't able to look why I had gotten them wrong, won't do that next time.

Yea I'm reading the book while at work and brushing up on areas I'm not confident on - such as routing and the steps frames take to cross a network.

rickinyorkshire

I have a question that I'm confused about from the Odom book:

This is an output of routes on a router:

Odom states that:

This is a bit confusing because I would have thought 172.16.4.3 could be routed through the route 172.16.0.0/22 also ?

/22 = increment of 4 = 0 -3/ 4 -7/ 8-11 etc.

So 172.16.4.3 fits in between the 4-7 subnet.. right?

The range being 172.16.4.1 - 172.16.7.254

Any thoughts?

melcredo

how about the bryant ultimate ccent /ccna package is it good material for the ccent exam? he also has exam simulations on train signal. Thanks in advance

SdotLow

rickinyorkshire wrote: »

I have a question that I'm confused about from the Odom book:

This is an output of routes on a router:

Odom states that:

This is a bit confusing because I would have thought 172.16.4.3 could be routed through the route 172.16.0.0/22 also ?

/22 = increment of 4 = 0 -3/ 4 -7/ 8-11 etc.

So 172.16.4.3 fits in between the 4-7 subnet.. right?

The range being 172.16.4.1 - 172.16.7.254

Any thoughts?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

I believe that last route "0.0.0.0" is a default route for IP's not being routed in the network, and is not considering that a route for a packet with the provided destination address.

rickinyorkshire

SdotLow wrote: »

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

I believe that last route "0.0.0.0" is a default route for IP's not being routed in the network, and is not considering that a route for a packet with the provided destination address.

The default route would forward packets out of it's S 0/1/0 interface to the next hop (172.16.25.129) if the router doesn't have a route already.

rickinyorkshire

SdotLow wrote: »

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

I believe that last route "0.0.0.0" is a default route for IP's not being routed in the network, and is not considering that a route for a packet with the provided destination address.

Also just to clarify, he is considering the default route as included as he states the last 2 and RIP chooses the route with the longest prefix - /16. If he meant the last 2 not including the default route the longest prefix would be /22.

SdotLow

rickinyorkshire wrote: »

Also just to clarify, he is considering the default route as included as he states the last 2 and RIP chooses the route with the longest prefix - /16. If he meant the last 2 not including the default route the longest prefix would be /22.

Just opened the book and found the page. I remember looking at this and wondering the same thing when I read it a little over a week ago.

As far a I can see it's a wrong answer unless for some reason the /22 is specific to the first block, in which case anything beyond 172.16.3.254 would not be routed on that route. I can't find anything to suggest it works like that though.

Routing tables and understanding them completely is one of the things I need to brush up on, so I'm interested to see what the reasoning is here.

Timber Wolf

SdotLow wrote: »

Just opened the book and found the page. I remember looking at this and wondering the same thing when I read it a little over a week ago.

As far a I can see it's a wrong answer unless for some reason the /22 is specific to the first block, in which case anything beyond 172.16.3.254 would not be routed on that route. I can't find anything to suggest it works like that though.

Routing tables and understanding them completely is one of the things I need to brush up on, so I'm interested to see what the reasoning is here.

The answer is correct and your logic of it being specific to the first block is correct. The reason it works like that is because is block is actually a subnetwork. This means thats hosts in the 172.16.0.0/22 network are different from the hosts int he 172.16.4.0/22 network.

SdotLow

Timber Wolf wrote: »

The answer is correct and your logic of it being specific to the first block is correct. The reason it works like that is because is block is actually a subnetwork. This means thats hosts in the 172.16.0.0/22 network are different from the hosts int he 172.16.4.0/22 network.

Makes complete sense. I could see the possible logic behind it being done, but had not really seen mention of it in my studying. I said I needed to brush up on my routing tables and this just confirms it, lol.

edit: I guess when I get home I'm going to make all of my routers in very different subnets, and stick them in mid block ranges to get a better feel for how route tables look, instead of them all being in /24 class B networks lol.

rickinyorkshire

Hmm it still doesn't make sense to me.. if that was the case then the router would need multiple routes for each separate subnet.

/brainoverload

After more thought and study I think I understand now, because the notation is /22 on the 3rd from last, then the route added would need to be 172.16.4.0 for this to work.

SdotLow

rickinyorkshire wrote: »

I
This is an output of routes on a router:

Odom states that:

Timber: I thought I had this figured out, until I went home and reconfigured my lab with various IP addresses in mixed blocks.

I'm having trouble with this route table because my home lab looks nothing like it (it's mostly connections with very few routes, only 3 routers

). I reread the chapter, but am not seeing how these routes are populated in such a way. How are all of these varying subnet masks being applied to these routes?

As an example, is there a router on the network that starts with 172.16.0.0 with a /22 mask? Such as 172.16.0.7 255.255.252.0, and it just lists it as the above since it's not directly connected? I also don't see anything directly connected which is confusing me even more. Or, now that I'm looking at it, is this VLSM and not covered in CCENT?