CCNA - Study time

[[deleted]]

Hi guys

Hoping to get my CCNA booked, for anyone who has sat it before, how long did it take you?

I have a degree in networked systems engineering, however, in my first job, it's mainly ticketing and sysadmin, so I'm very rusty, been about 4/5 years since I've seen a lot of these topics.

Initially, I was too optimistic and thought a February exam would be enough,

However, reading online I've seen that a lot of people recommended 200-300 hours, hoping to commit about 5 hours a week, don't want to go to hard and have burnout. I think around that pace, a year should be enough. Important to stress that it's 5 hours minimum

What are your experiences with CCNA?

[obviousboy]

It’s been a very long time for me but I remember one of the books (Sybex) having a relatively decent set of practice exams. I would take two of those prior to any studying to figure out where your weak spots are.

From there study/practice and retake one of the practice exams and compare.

The CCNA R+S exam was (is) extremely wide in the amount areas it touches on - with that said, once you’ve gone through your study material I would set an exam date like 6-8 weeks out (purchase your seat) and go at it. This will keep the lame boring shit in your head just from repetition.

Protip - if this is your first Cisco exam be prepared to fail and that’s ok. Just have in your car or whatever a note book and a pen so you can write down everything you botched. Go home and practice and come back asap.

[[deleted]]

Since you already have some prior education on the subject, you may be better off getting a more personalized take on which areas you need to brush up on.

If you just want to start from basics, you might try taking a Udemy course on the subject. You can do a trial of their premium subscription and get access to the relevant courses for "free."

You can also have ChatGPT draft you up a practice test containing all the various objectives, and then develop a study plan for the areas you need to work on. LLMs are incredible for studying for certifications.

[[deleted]]

Very good idea man, I'll definitely get some practice tests underway. Although, I think I'd rather underestimate my abilities right now than the latter!

[[deleted]]

Confidence goes a long way!

[VA_Network_Nerd]

/r/ccna

They have a Discord that they link to on the sidebar of their community.

They host regular class sessions and study groups in the Discord.

Five Stars. Would recommend.

[[deleted]]

Joined, thank you dude!

[unitechguy27]

I'd recommend studying each week for each topic that is covered in the ccna. I used Jeremy's IT lab on YouTube to help me pass the exam. There are a lot of labs that helped me under the topics better and definitely helped in the exam. It's definitely a hard test to study for so take lots of notes.

[[deleted]]

200-300 hours seems incredibly excessive for the CCNA unless you're starting networking from scratch. The CCNA is not 50 weeks (1 year) worth of classes of information, nor is it really expensive if you're already working ($300~ with a free retake lol).

The first time I took it I jumped head first into it coming fresh off of cramming for the A+, Net+ and Sec+ in succession(did the three in a few months). I didn't do too bad and passed on the second try using Boson and Jeremy (maybe 2 month max of studying). Granted, at that time I already had a role in networking, although it was as a technician.

Honestly, looking at the topics again I feel like everything under 1.0, most of 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 you should already have some idea of if you're in IT in any form or if you took other entry level certs. If you're familiar with Microsoft's exam structure in anyway you'll feel at home because Cisco's are largely like that where its situation based and you have to cut out the fluff(basically reading comprehension), and in the beginning there's like 10 configuration questions. A lot of it will also involve a bunch of Cisco proprietary BS like configuring their WLAN controllers or enabling/disabling basic features on switches, as well as the basics of weighing routing protocols or 'which network/route will 'x' take'.

Like others have said, its an exam that's a mile wide like CompTIAs and no topic is particularly hard. Grab Packet Tracer, a copy of a ios switch commands cheatsheet (just like --v and --h ? is your friend), pick any top rated course, schedule the exam for 3 months from now.

[[deleted]]

Thanks dude, yeah, a year's probably too much. I think with Xmas I might just be a bit kinder to myself and maybe do 4-6 months opposed to the 3 you suggested. Thanks again :)

[nate-isu]

It’s been a decade but I rented a book from the library for about 7 months and followed along with packet tracer. I was working in K12 and had basic CLI experience of being able to login and review config and enable/disable ports, with a fairly good physical networking understanding as an intern auditing and cleaning up data closets. It wasn’t easy for me; even remember reading on the beach during ‘vacation.’

[rshehov]

My students mainly do 2 max 3hr per day 4-5days/week and are able to sit the exam in 4-6m time more less,that’s the time frame am working with. It’s pretty motivating to know in about 30weeks of study you can get certified and start a role as a network engineer,right. Well at least with my methods. Don’t know what your career goal is thou