My ccna exam results, needing troubleshooting advice

Hello all,

I sat for the CCNA Exam yesterday received a 785 needed a 825 my break down is as follows:

LAN Switching - 91%
Routing - 86%
IP Services - 0%
Troubleshooting - 53%
Wan Services 70 %

Granted that IP services is only 6% If I missed 3 of them its 0% so I am not overly concerned on this one.

My problem was Troubleshooting, the sims slowed me down an I had to guess on a couple just to complete the exam. I can't look at Route table or Topology Diagram with all the information included and figure the solution quickly. It chewed up 1/3 of the time of the exam.

Do you have ideas on how to accelerate this skill-set or recommend some troubleshooting resources. I have the knowledge I just can't implement it quick enough.

Not sure when to book the next exam since troubleshooting is unpredictable and varies on scenarios, plus I need to be good at it so I don't run short on time.

Thanks for any input.

All the best,

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Comments

Deathmage

Get Boson ExSim's they help allot if only to get used to the simlets. Plus having a home-lab helps too.

Cover show commands you think you know well just so you can see what they do and then whatever they do break them to see what the show commands say different...

intentionally go against logic and do what you think you already know, sounds crazy right? .. that's how I did my troubleshooting cause with Cisco exams there only logical meaning they intentionally try to confuse you..

I got the Exsim's for ICDN2 from Boson and with the home-lab I feel they help build the skills.

But hey a 785 isn't bad bro, just hit the book again and take better notes and retake it. You'll pass it eventually, in the end you'll be a better engineer because of it. Never be afraid to fail!!!!!

Ravenclaw

Thanks for the input, I did buy the Boson EX-sim max so that was very helpful. Your right the logic and getting it to flow quickly can be a brick wall...

Regards,

koz24

You got killed on IP services, where are you seeing that it's 6%? I'm seeing that it's 10% and it covers DHCP,ACLs,NAT,FHRPs,syslog, and SNMP. Those are huge topics, not just for the exam but the real world. I wouldn't discount them.

Ravenclaw

Ya I will definitely have to revisit them, but seeing how I had to hurry and guess on a couple since the troubleshooting sims holding me back. I found the 6% on the Cisco website.

6% 3.0 IP Services
3.1 Recognize high availability (FHRP)
3.1.a VRRP
3.1.b HSRP
3.1.c GLBP
3.2 Configure and verify syslog
3.2.a Utilize syslog output
3.3 Describe SNMP v2 and v3

DPN1

I scored a very similar score on my first attempt, if you knew the 3 ip services answer you would of got very close to passing, I too stuggled on this section and I just spent 3 or 4 days purely reading and testing my knowledge of HSRP, GBLP, VRRP, syslog and SNMPv2 and v3 differences. They are all similar but have very specific differences.

I scored highly on my troubleshooting both times but my hint would be to have the commands you need to know in your head. I have a list I always go through which lets you survey the router/switch firstly . Start from the bottom and work your way up and try to narrow it down. (I would give you the list of commands I use but having received negative rep from helping someone too much before I am a little wary)

Mooseboost

koz24 wrote: »

You got killed on IP services, where are you seeing that it's 6%? I'm seeing that it's 10%

Judging by the CCENT in OP cert list, I am guessing that he is going for ICND2 200-101 and not the composite 200-120. The 10% in IP is for the composite, ICND2 is only 6%.

d4nz1g

configure and break stuff. Tshooting skills only comes with fundamental knowledge: you have to know how everything work on a network in order to detect and correct any issue.

Ravenclaw

No worries I appreciate the input,I should try to bring my IP services up to speed. Thanks

White Wizard

Scored the exam same on ICND2 twice. Boson is great for familiarizing yourself with troubleshooting scenarios/ cmd line but should be used in addition to another resource.

When I took the exam there were definitely some "where the heck did this come from, I've never heard/ read this" moments.

Best of luck on your next try, keep us updated!

ImYourOnlyDJ

Ravenclaw wrote: »

No worries I appreciate the input,I should try to bring my IP services up to speed. Thanks

I would recommend focusing more on the troubleshooting which is the largest percentage (32%) on the exam and the most important topic in the real world. Troubleshooting practice is going to be a lot of labbing and just doing the break/fix and trying new things. One thing that I wanted to do (and will before CCNP TShoot) is have a friend or coworker break something in my lab so I have to go find it.

I used CBT Nuggets, Chris Bryant, and Odem's book and I don't recall anything that wasn't touched on. One thing that helped me with the sims was looking at the answers if I didn't know what to check. If answer A says interface is disabled on Router 4, then you can bet I was on Router 4 checking that interface.

PS Having a Cisco router (881W) running my home network has helped me tremendously. Having the roommate or girlfriend complaining that the internet or Netflix is down gives you the sense of realism and urgency to get it back up

Shoe Box

Where are you people getting these numbers that troubleshooting is 32% and ip services is 6%? I'd like to see that breakdown for other tests as well as the CCT I passed recently.

mikeybinec

Shoe Box wrote: »

Where are you people getting these numbers that troubleshooting is 32% and ip services is 6%? I'd like to see that breakdown for other tests as well as the CCT I passed recently.

https://www.cisco.com/web/learning/exams/docs/200-101_icnd2.pdf

l3rushfir3

I used GNS3 until my eye bled. Practice making EIGRP networks ACLs single area OSPF and Nat Pools. Make sure your labs work, and the test will be a peace of cake (even though as we all know the cake is a lie). You also also make frame-relay network easily in GNS3.

Side note you can practice making extended ACLs for telnet only on port 23, then trying to telnet in on different ports e.g. 22 to insure they work. It will not work if you deny by protocol though.

But yeah GNS3 is so helpful.