Former CCNP to start allll over again.

Hey folks, worked as a network guy for 3 years or so and decided to go to OSU for an economics degree. One year left, and I'm taking really light loads until I graduate (6 credits a semester ... minimum to keep health insurance). I had a ccnp 5 years ago and well, it's all expired! Whattaya guys think, can I get it all back by April 29th of next year? (I'll have about 20 hrs a week for 9 months)

This is just for fun. I have some sense of how long it takes but before, my studying was disjointed so I never really calculated how long it took. Seemed like 2 months a pop - something like that.

btw I'm not working, but will be back on the market looking for network jobs upon graduation

any thoughts?
Allan

p.s. have the network sims evolved any? Before I would use Boson and man it stunk.

good luck to everyone on your cert journeys!

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NetworkVeteran

I just checked my last re-certification history on CCO: 3 days for CCNA, 8 days for SWITCH, 26 days for ROUTE, 1 day for TSHOOT. That wasn't full-time, and ROUTE included a week off. Yes, you should be able to knock it out within six months!

p.s. have the network sims evolved any? Before I would use Boson and man it stunk.

They still suck beyond CCNA. GNS3 is the obvious route so you can see what IOS really does.

alucheni

NV thanks for the response. Though, whew, I doubt I remember enough to get the CCNA again in 3 days! (I haven't even looked at a device for 3 years) Though who knows ... maybe it will come back quick. I'm flipping through the new CCNA study guides right now and yes, I'm getting most of the quiz questions right but still I dunno ... IPv6 looks a lot more important nowadays. There was hardly any of that before (on any of the exams, ccna or ccnp).

Thanks for the tip on the sims.

Oh and I'm a teeny bit impressed with myself that I still know how to manual subnet, ha.

NetworkVeteran

alucheni wrote: »

Oh and I'm a teeny bit impressed with myself that I still know how to manual subnet, ha.

Heh! That's a good sign. You may be surprised how much of the material "comes back"!

The way I did it so fast, was to begin by taking a Boson practice exam. I then only read the chapters of the CCNA study guide where my score was lower than 80%. No sense spending time on sections I already knew "good enough".

IPv6 is definitely one of the new/interesting areas and worth knowing!

blueberries

Damn, Im the opposite of you, went from econ to networking. Anyway your mind also has 'muscle memory' so you'll get it all back in no time.

alucheni

blueberries wrote: »

Damn, Im the opposite of you, went from econ to networking. Anyway your mind also has 'muscle memory' so you'll get it all back in no time.

It's a pretty interesting major really. I would have considered it as a career but (as you might know) you sorta need a grad degree to do anything legit, and I'm just at the cusp of being too old to go for a PhD - especially since when all is said and done it's not gonna pay much more than a good networking job. So, back into the warm embrace of networking I go.

Who knows maybe a bachelor's will give me an edge if I ever try for a biz side admin job.

thanks for the encouragement guys. TechExams is an awesome resource so I'll be seeing you around.

f0rgiv3n

Be forewarned... the cert test costs are double now

5 years ago I remember cisco exams $125 now they're $250!

alucheni

So far so good. Since my last post, spending ~20 hrs a week, I've been able to get through a new Network+ book, the new Cisco Press ICND1 book, and I'm about half way through the new Cisco Press ICND2. Definitely going to sit in for the CCNA composite exam ... eh, I'm guessing in another month. Probably going to use Boson netsim again. And yeah, everything is more expensive now! Cripes.

My theoretical knowledge has been pretty strong but I forgot most of the CLI commands. It's coming back though. I think CCNP by next May is doable - probably going to have to buy some lab equipment again... why did I leave a good job to go to college again? *facepalm*