How do you know when you are ready for CCENT? Major Topics?

Besides Subnetting, what are some of the *major major* topics to study for? All certifications have those clutch topics.

I'm using Boson lab sim practice now, scoring in high 50s to 60s, knew I could get some advice here.

How do you know when you are ready ! ?

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boredgamelad

You know you're ready when you're comfortable and confident working with all of the exam topics listed on Cisco's website.

xza

I went through all the odom "do I know this already?" questions for every chapter. I usually got 1 wrong per chapter, sometimes 2 but it was because I misread the questions and actually knew the answer which led me to write myself notes like "re-read questions and then read them again before going to next question". For each question I got wrong I'd write a note about the topic then look up all the topics and review them 2 days before the exam. Small things like "atm is cell switched" I would not remember so I'd go back and review everything about atm. I got a 937 on ccent last week. I never looked over the exam topics prior to taking the exam, I just watched all icnd 1 ccent vids, then read the lammle book, then read a chapter a day of odom and watched relevant nuggets that applied to the chapter. took about 4-5 weeks over my winter break.

MrXpert

When you are ready would in my opinion mean you are scoring in the 90% region of the Boson practice exams and that means not memorizing the answers. Knowing the commands like the back of your hand is very important and you got to be familiar with RIP and static routing, admin distances as well as the show commands such as ip route and show ip protocols. I would not do the practice exams too regularly and instead have big time periods before retaking them so as to ensure you are not unwittingly memorizing the answers.

Big topics are always going to be subnetting, OSI model, wireless,rip,static routes,NAT, WAN stuff ,show/debug and those basic commands such as enable secret,line vty etc.Practice with your show and debugs and if need be make a nice long list of them for referral. When I did my ICND1 some 14 months ago I had a similar question to yours and if I recall the helpful people on here told me to make sure I knew my show commands and guess what they were absolutely right! Treat everything as important but pay special attention to those in my opinion.

Node Man

Very good question - i was thinking about registering to take the test today. Dont know how long the wait is.

I feel i have a fair chance at passing. I can reasonably answer all the cisco practice questions, all the odom book questions and the dvd questions, and my strongest point is subnetting, i think i have that mastered fast.

Anyone else have any input or suggestions? I also think i have a fair chance of failling lol. But mostly because i get anxiety and misread complex questions.

Roguetadhg

Most people fall into the "I've overstudied, and I still don't feel read." For what it's worth, take a practice exam, think about the question options if you know what's on the exam, you should be ready.

Really though, you can still feel not ready and pass the exam. There's a lot of material and a lot of depth. The exam may not be asking for all the finite details as expected.

I felt ready for my ICND2 the first time. I got my butt handed to me.
I didn't feel ready for my Security+. I one-shot it.

Sometimes you just gotta register and roll that hard six.

MichaelPeterman

Roguetadhg wrote: »

Sometimes you just gotta register and roll that hard six.

How appropriate due to Node man's picture,
The three biggest things I had on my ICND1 were how a switch actually forwards the data based on mac addresses it has stored and things like that, Subnetting of course, and knowing how to troubleshoot a bunch of different things but its more of Identifying the problems (show commands)

Its always good to not lose your nerves right before or during the test

Key word is "on my ICND1" there are many diferent questions and they (I imagine) switch them out monthly

MrXpert

Here's a checklist of show commands but probably overkill for the icnd1 exam but worth knowing anyway

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/70191-show-commands-icnd1.html#post565527

Codyy

MrXpert wrote: »

Here's a checklist of show commands but probably overkill for the icnd1 exam but worth knowing anyway

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/70191-show-commands-icnd1.html#post565527

I've been looking for a list of all show commands, thank you!

Roguetadhg

Man, I remember show technical-support. It brought my computer to it's knees in GNS3.

ds32118

MichaelPeterman wrote: »

The three biggest things I had on my ICND1 were how a switch actually forwards the data based on mac addresses it has stored and things like that, Subnetting of course, and knowing how to troubleshoot a bunch of different things but its more of Identifying the problems (show commands)

Its always good to not lose your nerves right before or during the test

Michael is correct. In addition to subnetting, definitely learn your layer 2 switching for how switches forward frames based on MAC addresses. I would also put a heavy emphasis on RIP, CDP, and show commands (ie: show ip interfaces, show interfaces).

I felt I was ready when I was consistently scoring above 85% on the Boson practice exams. They are definitely harder than the actual exam itself.

xkaijinx

Great replies, great advice. Thanks guys. I'll be taking it this Monday, so hopefully I will be able to post a pass!

MrXpert

xkaijinx wrote: »

Great replies, great advice. Thanks guys. I'll be taking it this Monday, so hopefully I will be able to post a pass!

Best of luck and let us know how you get on!

Ivanjam

MrXpert wrote: »

When I did my ICND1 some 14 months ago...

MrXpert - 14 months from zero to CCNP? That is fantastic progress - Congrats!

palit

This thread is pretty helpful.I failed ccna composite a week back and am now a bit confused about where to start from again.I will be taking the two step method now and have got my ICND1 scheduled next week.I plan to go thorugh every chapter of Odom's book and then Lammhle's book.Plan to practise labs as well.about 3-4 hrs every day.No idea if it is good enough to pass ICND1.I am bored and not enjoying going thorugh the same topics again

..but I think this time I will pass..wish me luck guys

More useful suggestions welcome!!!

iamme4eva

I didn't feel ready for my ICND 1, and I aced it. On the flip side, I was certain I was ready for my ICND 2, and a just scraped a pass.

I don't think there's a way to know really - make sure you know it all, study, revise, and then there has to come a day where you just take the plunge and see what happens.

Master Of Puppets

The major topics on my exam were subnetting(there is a looot of subnetting) and mac-address-related things like how the switch handles them.