My CCNP Route thread
Comments
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Danielh22185
Member Posts: 1,195 ■■■■□□□□□□
Finding a schedule and sticking to it is half the battle.
I work 12 hour shifts, and 4 of them, so my typical 8 day routine: -
Day 1 - Up at 6am, at work for 7am-7pm, eat then spend time with the wife
Day 2 - Up at 6am, at work for 7am-7pm, eat then spend time with the wife, stay up very late gaming/studying (I mean until 5-6am)
Day 3 - Sleep until 3pm, at work for 7pm-7am. If quiet, study.
Day 4 - Sleep until 3pm, at work for 7pm-7am. If quiet, study.
Day 5 - Up at 12pm - Don't study today, generally relax
Day 6 - Up at 7am - Study all day until 7pm, then spend time with the wife
Day 7 - Up at 7am - Study all day until 7pm, then spend time with the wife
Day 8 - Up at 7am - Study all day until 7pm, then spend time with the wife
Rinse repeat. I am lucky that with this kind of schedule I can hit 50-60 hours of study a week but that's on a best case scenario. Usually if work is busy at night or I have to go do things on the 3 days off then this cuts into my study time but I do my best to follow this schedule and it's that schedule that has let me pass CCNA Security, Firewall, and the CCIE Written this year with only a few months really spent on each.
EDIT: Also, having a very understanding Wife is important and I am very lucky she lets me get on with it. She provides good moral support and fully understands that my IT career will mean more exams in the future. Yep, I'm glad I married her
Oh the dreaded 12 hour shifts. Looks like your schedule is similar to mine. I hardly have any time / energy to study on days I work. Usually an hour a day is about all I can fathom. 2 hrs is really really stretching it for me. I do also have extended amounts of days off like it seems you do as well which helps make up that time lost.Currently Studying: IE Stuff...kinda...for now...
My ultimate career goal: To climb to the top of the computer network industry food chain.
"Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else." - Vince Lombardi -
Iristheangel
Mod Posts: 4,133 Mod
Set the date of the test! I'm taking it on 11/23/13! Woohoo! Feeling pretty good actually -
aaron0011
Member Posts: 330
Iristheangel wrote: »Set the date of the test! I'm taking it on 11/23/13! Woohoo! Feeling pretty good actually
You'll kill it I am sure. I haven't been studying as hard as I should be. I took a break on ROUTE and read the CCDA Cert Guide. Need to schedule the test to cross that off the list and get back to ROUTE. -
Iristheangel
Mod Posts: 4,133 Mod
Labbing BGP this week. I'm really starting to feel solid in my knowledge of the core subjects. I've also been jumping into RouterGod's meetups. They've been amazing to watch and configure along with when I want to get outside a book. Though it isn't part of some test or anything, the one on MPLS yesterday was awesome. Configuring my test network as an MPLS network with an IGP and BGP was pretty fun and verifying it was fun. I suggest everyone check Routergods out on Meetup or you can look at the video from yesterday:
RouterGods - Beginner MPLS - YouTube
They do CCIE, CCNP, and other specific non-certification subjects if you want to get your feet wet in something else network related. It's free and they pretty much give you the GNS3 topologies they are going to use for the meetup.
I'm only a few weeks away from my test. Feeling great. I probably won't be studying as much as I would like in the next few days. My company has me driving about 3 routers, 3 L3 switches, and 48 switches up to SF in a cargo van to do a huge buildout for one of our largest sites in the US (the picture says it all). I'm pretty sure I'll be busy as hell the entire time but if I get a free moment, I'll be whipping out GNS3 and labbing away! -
Legacy User
Unregistered / Not Logged In Posts: 0 ■■□□□□□□□□
Geez why don't they have it all shipped to the customer site?
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Iristheangel
Mod Posts: 4,133 Mod
Because I have to go up there anyways and its cheaper to rent a van, pay mileage and gas. Shipping it overnight would have Bern $100-150 per box times 60 boxes or so. I work for a rather large international company but they don't mind saving money when can
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Danielh22185
Member Posts: 1,195 ■■■■□□□□□□
Good Luck I am thinking I will probably schedule my 2nd attempt around that time too.Currently Studying: IE Stuff...kinda...for now...
My ultimate career goal: To climb to the top of the computer network industry food chain.
"Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else." - Vince Lombardi -
Legacy User
Unregistered / Not Logged In Posts: 0 ■■□□□□□□□□
Makes sense and good luck on your exam. I'm sure it'll be a walk in the park for you.
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Mike_46
Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
I also think the FLG is better than OCG. I got the CBT Nugget CCNP, Christ Bryant new CCNP vids, and Trainsignal, which is now called Pluralsight. I like Jeremy for CBT, but his videos are to long. I like Chris Bryant's and Joe Rhinehart's of Plurasight teaching style, they get to the point! -
Iristheangel
Mod Posts: 4,133 Mod
Alright, I'm 6 days away from my Route exam. Feeling good but labbing heavily just in case. I'm feeling pretty good and that I'm going to pass Route on Saturday!
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Danielh22185
Member Posts: 1,195 ■■■■□□□□□□
Iristheangel wrote: »Alright, I'm 6 days away from my Route exam. Feeling good but labbing heavily just in case. I'm feeling pretty good and that I'm going to pass Route on Saturday!
I have no doubt you will!Currently Studying: IE Stuff...kinda...for now...
My ultimate career goal: To climb to the top of the computer network industry food chain.
"Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else." - Vince Lombardi -
Dieg0M
Member Posts: 861
Good luck. Remember like in every cisco exam to read every word. I'm sure you won't have any trouble with the labs.Follow my CCDE journey at www.routingnull0.com -
Iristheangel
Mod Posts: 4,133 Mod
Thanks all! Mentally, I'm just tired of reading the same Route material and have had to move on mentally to other things to keep learning new and keep things fun for me.
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snadam
Member Posts: 2,234 ■■■■□□□□□□
Good luck on the 23rd!**** ARE FOR CHUMPS! Don't be a chump! Validate your material with certguard.com search engine
:study: Current 2015 Goals: JNCIP-SEC JNCIS-ENT CCNA-Security -
Master Of Puppets
Member Posts: 1,210
I think you won't have much trouble with this one taking into account how well you prepared. Good luck!Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for. -
Iristheangel
Mod Posts: 4,133 Mod
Less than 24 hours from the big exam. Crazy thing is that I'm working super late today (2 AM) and have to be at work tomorrow at 7AM. We'll see if I can pass this thing while dead tired!
I've been studying for this one test for about 8 months now so if I can't pass it at this point, I'm in the wrong field of work -
Legacy User
Unregistered / Not Logged In Posts: 0 ■■□□□□□□□□
Its not fair to put that type of pressure on yourself. You said it yourself you have work that may leave you worn out before the test. Once its go time for the test try a 5 hour energy 30 minutes before to keep you up and focused during the test.
Good luck even though you we all know you don't need it.
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Iristheangel
Mod Posts: 4,133 Mod
Well... Test day is here and its been insane so far. Apparently i picked the wrong testing center and had to rush from West Los Angeles to El Monte just to find the testing center closed. Im literally sitting outside the testing center waiting for any human being to show up and my test was suppose to start 15 minutes ago! Lets hope someone shows up and ive expelled all my bad luck for the morning. It would suck to have to reschedule and keep the test anxiety going for another week
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Iristheangel
Mod Posts: 4,133 Mod
After waiting 30 minutes for someone to show up and the testing center guy forgetting his password to login to the machine, I finally took the test. It was a pretty difficult but fair test. I totally failed one of the sims. I had a brainfart and completely had the answer on the edge of my brain but after 10 minutes of staring at the screen and testing various commands, I moved on. I ended up passing with a 906 which isn't bad considered I full on skipped one of the sims!
Nice to see some resolution to 8 months of studying. One more exam and I'm a CCNP... -
Legacy User
Unregistered / Not Logged In Posts: 0 ■■□□□□□□□□
Congrats! From what i here the tshoot should be a breeze.
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aia87
Member Posts: 16 ■□□□□□□□□□
congrats! tshoot should be piece of cake
I'm curious what materials you used for route and switch exams ?
thx -
Iristheangel
Mod Posts: 4,133 Mod
@Aia - For Route, I read the OCG (Waste of time - horrible book), FLG (good book - enough to pass with), and the Route Simplified book (EXCELLENT book - enough to pass and get your feet wet in CCIE concepts). I used some notes off ccnpguide.com and flash cards. I also used GNS3, my home lab, and the 101 CCNP Labs book for labbing it up. I probably overstudied quite a bit but I felt like overcompensating. I get to configure BGP, EIGRP, some OSPF and PBR in my day-to-day life at work but IPv6 and advanced BGP and OSPF was new to me so going into it, I was a bit more nervous
For Switch, I read OCG and FLG. Both were great and either one could get you through the test. Didn't need much labbing for this one because I had touched most of the Switch technology in my day-to-day life. -
aia87
Member Posts: 16 ■□□□□□□□□□
that's great, I already passed route using OCG and FLG with INE videos didn't use route simplified book
really didn't hear about it before I join this forums but it seems it's an EXCELLENT book think I'll get it and read it when I can (maybe before tshoot exam)
I'm preparing for switch right now and thankfully I'm using the same materials you refereed to .OCG and FLG with INE videos (when I know that I'm using the same materials someone else used and passed it gives me some confidence )
might be ready to take the exam 2-3 weeks from now
I'll keep following this thread to see how you gonna get through tshoot exam (which isn't as difficult as route and switch )
congrats again -
snadam
Member Posts: 2,234 ■■■■□□□□□□
Congrats Iris!!! Best of luck on TSHOOT! Thanks for sharing your well-documented experience with the rest of us!**** ARE FOR CHUMPS! Don't be a chump! Validate your material with certguard.com search engine
:study: Current 2015 Goals: JNCIP-SEC JNCIS-ENT CCNA-Security -
broli720
Member Posts: 394 ■■■■□□□□□□
Congrats! I know you've been at this a while, but the hard work is paying off. -
TBickle
Member Posts: 110
Congratulations, Iris. I'm sure you're excited to finally be one step away from the CCNP finish line.
About the flashcards you used, did you buy the ones off of ccnpguide.com or make your own? -
elderkai
Member Posts: 279
Congratulations. I need to get back on the ball. My problem with ROUTE is that there have been times where I had to halt my reading due to other things going on and then re-reading the same material was really boring. Just bought the ROUTE Simplified book, hoping to enjoy it. I get EIGRP and some BGP experience, but nothing advanced and zero v6 and OSPF in my job. -
coffeeluvr
Member Posts: 734 ■■■■■□□□□□
Congratulations on the pass!! Good luck with TSHOOT."Something feels funny, I must be thinking too hard. - Pooh"