Passed today. N10-05

Passed with 873 out of 920. once I am back at my laptop I will update in more detail with study methods and problem areas.

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cknapp78

Congrats!

Fueledbycaffeine

Grats!

Very interested to know what you used/how you studied.

Kragster

First I want to think everyone in the community, the posts on study materials and methods for the various exams has been immensely helpful. I plan to pay it forward by answering any questions that I can in this forum and others as I pass my exams. Thanks again everyone!

A bit of background, I've been in IT for 12 years, got sick of being miserable at my last job so decided to quit and take a brief hiatus from working to decide what I really want and spend more time with family for a few months or so. I'm filling free time by knocking out some certs I've never had time for before. I had been studying for CCNA which gave me a leg up on Net+ on top of my experience. My past 5 years I've been doing wireless networking extensively and the past 2 I've been in charge of maintaining Switches and Routers at my job as well.

Now with all that, I used one reference Mike Myers All-in-One Net+ book. Read about 2 chapters a day, skipping a couple(big mistake) After finishing the book and all the end of chapter samples, I took a full 24 hours with not looking at the material and then took first practice exam included with book(out of two). (If anyone needs some generic study tips, the following was a huge help for me and plan on repeating with future certs)

First practice exam attempt - 86% out of 100 questions. I reviewed each question 1 by 1, and anything I hadn't been 90% sure of I noted down and then made flash cards for those relevant topics. For me this was OSI Model, Wireless security(messed up on a question about tkip vs aes, which is why you shouldn't skip chapters) and RADIUS + TACSAS+, and all of the Ethernet standards 100BaseT, 10GBbaseLR, etc... Studied off flash cards then took 2nd prac exam 24 hours later, 96%. Made a couple of new flash cards, studied them for 24 hours, refresh on common port listing, and then took real exam with an 873 out of 900.

A lot of the things I had down cold just from experience(568A/B wiring schematics, wlan standards, etc...) but the book definitely covered everything else I needed.

I will make one more post later about taking the exam itself but this is too long anyway

Kragster

The practice exams included in Mike Myers - All in One were pretty spot on. The questions on the real exam are never worded "What is the max length of the XXX standard?" it's more like "Jimbo is a network admin, he needs to run cable XXXmeters. Which of the following standards would be BEST?"

For the exam (and future real life benefit) know the OSI and TCP/IP Models down pat. I had a lot of questions on OSI model. For each layer make sure you know the definition, common protocols/applications that work in each, and especially the standard data unit for each. Layer 1- Physical - bits, Layer 2 -data link layer - Frames, Layer 3 Network - Packets, Layer 4 Transport - Segments. For this exam and even a lot of the practice CCNA stuff I've seen the question will give you the answer by stating the data unit somewhere in it.

Know the 568A/B standard for Ethernet cabling down pat. Know which pins are switched from one to the other by color and by pin number. This is another one that helps in real life as much as the test. In theory a buiding/office should all use one standard. In reality I've seen a nightmare where 40% was A 40% was B and 20% was some random pattern the installer apparently thought was pretty. If you have to re-punch down 1500 connections in a weekend, I guarantee you'll be able to read off the pinout in your sleep for the rest of your life.

Make a chart of all the Ethernet standards from 10Base2 to 10GbBaseT with name, cable type(Fiber, Cat 3/5/5e/6), max speed(obvious from name, but you don't always get the name in the question) and max length. I fit it on one front and back index card. Started noticing patterns that made it easy to answer questions on practice and real exam.

The fiber connectors were a pain in my but and I know one of the questions I missed was about them.

Know all the trouble shooting tools(Toner, Butt Set, Cable Tester, multimeter, etc...) in the objectives/study guide/book you are reading. Saw a lot of these on the exam.

I only saw one Subnetting question, in CIDR format (/24 /25 /26, etc...) from my CCNA studying the question was a no brainer but the questions was phrased as a troubleshooting deal. At first glance looked like there wasn't enough information, but once I noticed the subnet I knew exactly what the answer was.

Next up is Security+ and then if I get settler anywhere and can get my Cisco lab back out of storage I will head back to CCNA. If not maybe an MS one or Linux+. CEH is on the planner as well, but the others will be of more immediate value for me.

If anyone has any questions let me know and I will be happy to answer.

sys_teck

Congrads man!

How much overlapping Network+ with CCNA? I assume its about 30%, the again i could be wrong.

Thanks

sys_teck

epicdean

So what was your total study time before sitting for the exam.

Kragster

sys_teck wrote: »

Congrads man!

How much overlapping Network+ with CCNA? I assume its about 30%, the again i could be wrong.

Thanks

sys_teck

don't know if it really overlaps much. Except as intro to the concepts. The net+ covers most of the non cisco specific stuff but is "a foot deep and a mile wide" or whatever the saying is. It will be useful though I think because as you are getting deeper into the concepts you already have a good base to work from..

I am not explaining it well, but your thirty percent may be right, but it would be the 3% to start ten different sections. Looking back at CCNA stuff I think a lot of the stuff would have been easier having that knowledge though. Can't underestimate the value of confidence when learning.

Kragster

epicdean wrote: »

So what was your total study time before sitting for the exam.

I would say around 20 hours, broken down to 14 hr's reading book, 3 hr's on chapters/objectives that I struggled with, and 3 hr's on practice exams and pre-exam flash cards. About 50-60 oct of objectives I knew coming in from work experience.

jjrock

Congrats! Seems like we have the same plan. Do Sec+, then CCNA, and then maybe Linux+

cmitchell_00

Dude... congrats on the pass. What is next for you (cert)?

quinnyfly

Congrats Mate, top effort, great score!!

Darril

Congrats on the pass and thanks for the thoughtful posts.

Good luck on the Security+.

Dakinggamer87

Congrats on pass!!

Mrkali

Congratulations

Ivanjam

Congratulations, Kragster, and thanks for the tips. I will be sitting N10-004 soon so I do need them. Good luck with the Security+ exam - I may be following in your footsteps.

Kragster

Thanks everyone.

Darril, just started in on your Sec+ study guide.