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Hi everybody,

I’m interested in taking the CCNA exams on my own expenses. I’m working as a IT support personal and i think CCNA will helps me alot in my work. I got 3 years experienced in Networking,and now pursuing my degree in IT and networking as well. My company however doesnt want to sponsor for the training and examination.

Is anyone here a CCNA or CCNP certified? I would appreciate if you guys can provide a timelime to guide me on my study. I did tried to find at the internet, but somehow i just didnt managed to get the most up to date timeline provided by others.

Lastly, i would like to know is there a good source for free self study guide for CCNA? I mean free ebooks or videos that i can download and view for my study as well. I hope you guys can help as i’m paying for my own expenses for the training and exam so i’m trying to minise my expenses in getting free study guide.

Thanks all and have a great day,

Regards,

ToNy.

9 Spice ups
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I have a CCNA I found this thread to be very helpful when prepping for my CCNA

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/thread/15662

the Cisco Learning Network is the best place for your study needs.

I also managed to ‘acquire’ a copy of the CBT Nuggets CCNA video series.

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Thanks ya.

Just a question, i did look up the internet for CBT Nuggets or TrainSignal training. Their resources seems very realiable and good comment from those who passed their CCNA or CCNP. But its quite expensive for their resources, :frowning:

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CBT Nuggets is worth it, I have not used TrainSignal so I can not comment on their videos.

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One of my associates has used both and recommends CBT nuggets over train signal but say both are good.

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Thanks for your suggestion guys.

What do you guys think about free CCNA study guide? Is there any difference compare to CBT and Trainsignal?

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Hi

I did something similar last year. I made the decision to go for the CCNA. I used the CBT nugget videos. I would watch the video then watch it again taking notes as if I was in a lecture. I went through the whole series like that. Next I took some practice tests and achieving about 60-70%. I then signed up to a boot camp style 6 day course. As part of the course they sent me a PDF copy the CCNA course material by a publisher called Sybex.

I went to this boot camp course already having a fair amount of knowledge but no real hands on experience. I don’t think any “boot camp” style course can take you from zero knowledge through to exam readiness in such a short period of time but for me it was to fill in the gaps that I had from self study and to get some hands on configuration and lab time.

I then spent some more time doing practice tests and some more self study covering areas that I fell short on during my boot camp. 3 weeks later I took the exam at a local center and passed. Total time from start to finish was about 10 months.

My advice is to take your time with it and there are lots of ways to get information online from forums to CBT nuggets. There are a lot of youTube videos on the OSI model, networking fundamentals, sub netting etc… that are great for getting a solid foundation to build on.

I’m not sure where I would stand legally if I were to offer you my copy of the PDF that I got a si’ve now finished with it. I would guess that giving you a copy would break copyright law. But i’m sure its all out there somewhere.

Sorry for the long post.

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I found the study guides incredibly helpful, but of course they are £30 a pop

i did my CCNA at college and we did one chapter a week with a test at the end of each week and 1 major theory and test exam at the end of each module, 1, 2, 3 and 4.

I don’t think train signal is worth investing in unless that video learning style appeals to you, just didnt really work with me.

The books have all the information you need as well as practical labs on the provided cd as well as some tests.

I would invest in these takle each chapter a week at a time and then you can really take it all in.

This isnt advised of course but if you go online you can see old exam answers these can be good to prepare for what question may come up, but use it from a point of view of when you take gcse’s old papers always help

Hope this helped

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Use the Google

There are two ways to take the test. As one test that covers all material or as two tests that split up the material (ICND1 & ICND2) I recommend you take the two tests, it makes it easier to pass.

Go to Cisco learning network and register (it’s free). Tons of valuable info. there.

Cisco Press has all the books they recommend for studying, though they can be found cheaper elswhere. Good way to know what to look for though.

Get a copy of Packet Tracer, Cisco’s router and switch simulator and practice with it. (UtG)

The CBT nuggets for CCNA are excellent, I highly recommend.

Learn subnetting until you can do it in your head. You’ll need it for the tests.

I took a 1 week class for ICND1, studied for 2 weeks then passed 1st try. Then 1 week ICND2 class, studied for 5 weeks then passed 1st try. I would imagine it would take longer without the classes.

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Do you want to take it self study? If you do, you’ll test through a VUE centre. I’d recommend writing it as two exams. If you have the chance though I’d suggest you look at Cisco Net Academy. It splits CCNA into four parts & each part into around 12 chapters. You can take classes online if I remember right, you do tests for each chapter & an exam for each part. They work a lot with PacketTracer, a fantastic sim of the Cisco IOS CLI & devices. I did mine that way & around half the exam marks came from simulated scenarios where you had to physically input commands & configure the device in PT & get working connections.

With the Net Acad you get all the study materials as part of the course & the prices aren’t bad.

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Thanks you so much guys.

I’ll google for some resources online based on you guys suggestion. :slight_smile:

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A tad late to this thread but doing same myself. Just purchased the Sybex CCNA material set (two books and the Sybex Virtual Cisco Lab SW) for about $299’ish. Just received it in the mail last week and starting on it now. I was surprised as I only got only a 58% on the darn pretest in the big CCNA Study Guide Book, so do not know as much as I thought…:-< They also offer a very nice CCNA Flash Card set as a iPhone app (The reason I looked seriously at buying the Sybex stuff…Before that I looked at the TrainSignal stuff). My issue is going to find time going thru the Chapters and doing the Chapter tests…

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The Cisco books themselves are also pretty nice. Something I though was cool was the DVD with recorded lessons on, particularly for subnetting.

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Yeah, but cisco materials are quite pricey as stated in their learning network website. Some basic info are available for preview only.

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A late post that will hopefully help someone else.

Checkout the free GNS3 Workbench, http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/153656-gns3-workbench

And the book 31 Days Before Your CCNA Exam: A day-by-day review guide for the CCNA 640-802 exam (2nd Edition)

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Take a look at Safari Books Online. We’re a great resource of over 17,000 books and videos - all centered around IT, Programming, Web Dev, and Certification/Exam Preps. There are monthly or annual subscription options for all our content. We have plenty of titles on CCNA as well!

Take a look at our corporate site. We’re celebrating our ten year anniversary and giving away a discount in September.

Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to help!

www.safaribooksonline.com