Failed 642-902 Route

I had my exam this morning and failed it by 12 points. I was very disgusted with the quality of the exam questions. Some were so badly worded that it looked like it had been written by someone whose first language is anything other than English. The simlets were crap because many basic commands such as show ip interface brief and show ip ospf neighbors, show ip ospf interface brief did not work. I spent too much time trying these commands and then had to resort to a simple show run to look at all the config. Not sure where to go from here but it was a bad exam. I am aware that a lot of people pass this exam and have positive things to say about it but the quality of the exam I did was very poor.

Materials I used were
Bowler Labs (did all the relevant labs)
Chris Bryant. Watched a few times
CBT Nuggets. Watched a few times and followed along doing the labs.
CCNP 101 Labs
Rene Mollenaar (I did about 60 of his labs at least three times over including ones aimed at TSHOOT)
How to Master CCNP Route By Rene
Boson Ex Sim Max. Was passing their exams quite easily.
Spent 6 months studying. Theory, memorizing and lots of labbing. I would spend about 6-8 hours a day at it.

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Comments

Roguetadhg

did you make any notes on the exam questions when you took it? Cisco looks at the comments.

Sorry MrXpert, you were close. If it was me, I wouldn't used all those materials so that's a good think you knew the material in depth. You know it better than I would

How were you passing the Boson tests? Did you memorize the answers to the question?

Stick with it, you'll get it, and the next time you get it by 900s. At which point, you'll be all knowing

MrXpert

Thanks, I'll just try again I think although it really has kinda jolted my confidence in Cisco. This is the first exam I've failed and hopefully the last.haha.
With Boson, I didn't memorize the answers. I made sure I did the exams a few months apart. I am not really surprised I failed but I am surprised that the quality of the exam was very poor. I didn't make any comments because I was worried about the clock ticking. Perhaps I should have. I have raised a case with Cisco anyway. Doubt will do any good but I just need to tell them what I think.

networker050184

Nothing you can really do about the exam. Review your material and get back to it. Good luck!

mattau

sorry to hear that, but yeah i wasnt too confident on passing when I was half way through. the sims are a joke and pretty much just have to wing it regardless of how much study you do, the questions I find were pretty good and could mostly understand ( although there were a few weird ones still )

NetworkVeteran

MrXpert wrote: »

The simlets were crap because many basic commands such as show ip interface brief and show ip ospf neighbors, show ip ospf interface brief did not work. I spent too much time trying these commands and then had to resort to a simple show run to look at all the config.

By only implementing some commands, they verify that you know multiple ways to obtain the desired information. Suppose the question requires you to determine if 10.0.0.1 is one of the device's OSPF neighbors. By not implementing "show ip ospf neighbors", they check that you also know that either "show ip protocols" or "show ip ospf interface" can help.

Good luck with your studying and attempt #2.

aliasexec

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

By only implementing some commands, they verify that you know multiple ways to obtain the desired information. Suppose the question requires you to determine if 10.0.0.1 is one of the device's OSPF neighbors. By not implementing "show ip ospf neighbors", they check that you also know that either "show ip protocols" or "show ip ospf interface" can help.

Good luck with your studying and attempt #2.

This doesn't test your real world knowledge at all. There's always more than one way to skin a cat, if the scenario is to configure this and that to get the desired connectivity between devices, wtf does it matter how you do it? And the who cares about the show commands you use on the way? When I did the Switch exam, I couldn't use the int range command. It kept saying the command was incomplete. Sorry? I don't know how many dozens of labs I did, I know the simple commands pretty well. Pretty poor effort really. Unless you're doing CCIE, I think it's a bit of an afterthought. Personally, I blame brain ****.

NetworkVeteran

The goal of Cisco certification is not to merely being able to configure them, but also being able to troubleshoot them, hence the focus on show commands and protocol behavior. When a more junior engineer is experiencing problems, it's helpful to know all the ways to "skin the cat", since they may have taken a different config approach, and each show command yields slightly different info.

Would it be better if the Sim asked you questions that required alternating between the various show commands to answer them? Absolutely! But at least they're checking we know more than one. If you know all the options, in my experience, it takes seconds to cycle through them.

R2#sh ip ospf ne
Neighbor ID Pri State Dead Time Address Interface
10.0.0.1 1 FULL/BDR 00:00:35 1.1.1.1 FastEthernet0/0

R2# sh ip ospf int
Timer intervals configured, Hello 10, Dead 40, Wait 40, Retransmit 5
Neighbor Count is 1, Adjacent neighbor count is 1
Adjacent with neighbor 10.0.0.1 (Backup Designated Router)

R2# sh ip proto
Routing Information Sources:
Gateway Distance Last Update
10.0.0.1 110 00:09:21

When I did the Switch exam, I couldn't use the int range command.

I agree with sticking that one in the "frustrating" pile! I can't see any redeeming value to not supporting a command that simply cuts down on configuration time.

Pretty poor effort really.

I appreciate that Cisco added sims to their exams, even if they're imperfect, as they do help to weed out people who have the theoretical knowledge but lack much hands-on practice.

I love that the sims are often adaptive, which helps to thwart cheaters.

If anything, I wish their sim labs were more elaborate.

jamesp1983

Stick with it and you will pass next time!

Roguetadhg

NetworkVetern: Sims are great. I can definitely agree with you. I'd rather be putting knowledge on a sim than to answer a multiple choice.

I enjoyed the sims for each cisco exam I took. I can only look forward to TShoot

aliasexec

OK, my overall feeling about Cisco exams is definitely a positive one. The sims are good for the most part and do test your practical knowledge, I suppose they can't have EVERY command present, but at the same time, I'd like to see them cleaned up a bit. Yes, it is frustrating when obvious commands don't work.

MrXpert

I opened a case with Cisco and they have admitted to errors in one of the simulations as well as two errors on their multiple choice questions. Best part of this is that they have given me an exam voucher so they have redeemed themselves a modicum in my eyes over their shoddy ethics. Apparently this sort of thing does happen from time to time.

Ivanjam

I know you are going to hit them hard next time, MrXpert!

MrXpert

Thank you so much for all your help and encouragment.

I'm going to put in some extra study time and focus on any weak areas and hopefully won't receive another buggy exam.

bryguy

I feel for ya... I thought the Route exam was the most difficult of the four CCNP exams that I took. In fact, I can honestly say, that it was one of the hardest IT exams that I've taken. I barely finished, with literally less than a minute to spare, and passed by the skin of my teeth. In comparison, the ONT, ISCW, and SWITCH exams were cakewalks. Think when I re-certify in February, I'll go the CCNP Security route (no pun intended). Good luck on your second go around. Persistence is the key!

Danielh22185

I know the feeling of failing just barely. I failed ICND2 just barely earlier this year. I scored a 790 out of the required 825. I too found myself questioning my confidence a bit but then quickly turned that in a means of how to better identify my weak areas and harden those up. You got to hand it to yourself. This was the first time taking the test, there is no official said way of how to prepare and pass on first attempt, and just scored a respectable number will all considering. I would take this as a way to build yourself up, you did well and you can only do better! I have no doubt you will go back for the re-take and crush that test!

Side note / question...
Do the SIM engines allow for modified commands like 'sh run | i OSPF, etc? Or are we forced to use the full generic commands?

Nate--IRL--

IIRC you can shorten the commands - I'm fairly certain pipes don't work though.

Nate

NetworkVeteran

Danielh22185 wrote: »

Side note / question...
Do the SIM engines allow for modified commands like 'sh run | i OSPF, etc? Or are we forced to use the full generic commands?

Any shortened version of a command that would be accepted by the real IOS, should be accepted by the SimIOS, provided it's on the list of commands allowed for that particular lab. As Nate says, don't count on being able to pipe, although the lab configurations are fairly short anyway.

Danielh22185

I guess I generally use pipes only for doing mostly show commands, that of which I know how to get around without using them but it’s helpful to be able to. I guess if mostly the SIMs deal in an area of implementation rather than just troubleshooting I don't have too worry much.

Good luck on your retest!

MrXpert

pipes didn't work on the sims I had.The output from show ipv6 protocols was inconsistent with the output from show run. Cisco owned up to their being bugs in this hence the gesture of goodwill voucher. I can't go into much detail about which questions were buggy as it could possibly violate their policies. Very concerning it is because imagine how many other people maybe failing as a result of these software issues

Roguetadhg

more over, if it wasn't for MrXpert - it would be more concerning that there's people that don't expect their to be bugs with the SIMs and missing tests where they would've passed otherwise.

waragi

The no command to remove config also does not work on the sims.
So be exact only the commands required and make no mistakes otherwise things go downhill very quickly.

Nate--IRL--

Hmmm - That did work for me - maybe you encountered a bug?

Nate