Post Exam: Details on my study process and suggested materials.
Hi Everyone.
I wanted to take some time out today to share my thoughts on the CCNA and some suggestions for those studying for it.
For context, I'd been studying for the CCNA alongside my final semester of uni since January, so roughly 5 months. I sat for the Network+ this past December after having studied for that since October and passed with an 843/900.
To start, this morning I sat for the CCNA and passed on my first attempt. Honestly, I was a bit surprised. I was insanely nervous about how well I knew the content despite having a retake available if needed, but as I got closer to today I was second guessing just how prepared I was.
I had 5 labs, 60 questions. I also ended the exam with only 12~ min left, cutting it fairly close.
My scores were:
Automation and Programmability: 80%
Network Access: 90%
IP Connectivity: 88%
IP Services: 80%
Security Fundamentals: 80%
Network Fundamentals: 100%
With that out of the way, here's what I used:
Jeremy's IT Lab Course on Udemy
These videos are available on YouTube at no charge but if you don't have Premium, I don't know how good an experience it'll be with ads. I got it on sale on Udemy, I think for $10 or $15.
Did an initial watch of each video uninterrupted, and usually a second one later to take notes from to help reinforce concepts. The course covers almost everything you'll need to pass, as many here have pointed out Wireless GUI/WLC are a bit lacking as far as what the test actually covers now. Be sure to supplement it with other sources.
Jeremy's IT Lab Packet Tracer Labs
Very well done and covers just about everything you need to know. WLC config isn't really great in Packet Tracer in general as a lot of the options aren't available. Again, you need to know WLC/Wireless GUI. You need to be able to interpret the GUI and understand the steps for configuring it.
Jeremy's IT Lab Anki Flashcards
Anki in general is top tier. It feels like every week I saw threads here with some variation of "Do I need to use the flashcards?" or "Do you use all of the cards?" I understand how flashcards are a method of study which isn't for everyone, but I think a lot of people see the sheer number that accumulate and nope out. With the custom cards I added, my deck shows 2085 cards total.
Yes they're a lot of work, especially initially, but as you progress you have less to review each day. What started out as 40-50 minutes of Anki dropped to about 10-20 daily depending on how focused I was. I drilled anki nearly everyday, missed a few days but otherwise routinely did them.
There is a lot of information you can probably get by without drilling, but there's some that you absolutely should drill until you can explain it quickly and thoroughly without a second thought (STP port role decision process, OSPF states/state functions, OSPF election process and deciding factors). Again, be sure you understand OSPF and STP very well.
There are plenty of cards I knew well enough that I "suspended" them, so they didn't show up at all for review. I'd suggest that for things you're comfortable with to reduce the workload, and again some topics the cards are overkill IMO (looking at all the MAC address ones). I remade those as Cloze type with all the relevant MACs on a single card, made it a lot easier than outright recalling a single one every time for me
Jeremy's IT Lab Practice Exams on Udemy
Quality exams, on par or a bit tougher than questions on the actual exam. I only did two of the three exams in the days leading up to my exam as I didn't wanna burn them too early but for $10 they were well worth it.
I snagged some other practice exams on Udemy for free from two different instructors who I have no idea are, one had every single question with "reference this diagram" missing the diagram and no explanations for the answers, so yeah not ideal but thankfully didn't spend a dime on it.
Jeremy's provide explanations for each answer available in most cases, and a thorough summary. The man is genuinely dropping insanely high quality content overall between his course, flashcards, and these exams.
PocketPrep
Not a free resource, but one I found useful. This is something I had used during Network+, I think it's entirely MCQs (I made it through only 397 of the 600 questions in Premium). They had a good range of questions, and the "level up" and "weakest subject" quizzes helped me identify my weak points early. The iOS app is well done, and I loved being able to bang out a quiz or two if I had a spare few minutes while I was doing other stuff. Lots of good theory questions, and some "scenario" questions.
Official CCNA Cert Guide Vol 1 & 2 Second Edition by Wendell Odom + His YouTube
This is another piece of material I'd recommend to anyone studying. Odom's explanations are well done and exceptionally thorough. Whenever I wanted to dive deeper on content from Jeremy's IT Lab I turned to these. I'm definitely of the mind that you should be combining different resources for better coverage of topics, this was my go to.
He also has a YouTube channel with very well done videos, definitely on par or better than Jeremy's IT Lab in some cases as far as explanations and accompanying visualizations. He's a great instructor overall, can't recommend his work enough.
https://subnettingpractice.com/
Another good resource, when people say you need to understand how to subnet reliably and quickly before you sit for the exam they mean it. If you can't you're setting yourself up for failure, this also includes IPv6 subnetting. Don't go in expecting only subnetting IPv4, you might get lucky but I didn't.
I think that about covers everything I used for studying. You might notice I skipped on Boson, while I think it looks like a great resource, I opted not to spend on it. There are plenty of glowing reviews of it in this reddit, so if you're unsure read some and decide if you feel it's something you can/should spend on.
I hope this is useful to anyone else looking for suggestions on materials, and if not be sure to search as there are some fantastic posts in this subreddit which probably have already answered any questions you might have.
I've been lurking here since I started studying and there are plenty of good insights to be found if you dig in (I would NOT have focused on studying WLC/Wireless GUI if I hadn't seen the recommendations here, so thank you!) Take your time, definitely don't rush and be sure you understand the concepts, rather than memorizing them.
Best of luck to anyone testing soon.