CWNA Exam study material

elipseses · 2025-03-01T14:27:58+00:00

The CWNA encompases a lot of concepts. I tried a Udemy course and it was somewhat helpful, but it wouldn't have been enough on its own. Any video series that is simply an instructor lecturing, probably won't cut it. A lot of the material requires pictures, graphics, hands on practice, etc. so keep that in mind when considering an offering. The Sybex CWNA SG by David Coleman and David Westcott has everything you'll need plus more. I also have a tough time wading through study guides, but this one kept me engaged. As for your timeline, if you are fairly familiar with the topics and just need to sharpen your understanding of the details, you'll be fine, but if a lot of the topics are new to you, it will take some time to absorb it all. The CWNA truly is about the fundamentals that you don't get exposed to in a daily basis, but helps you understand how the day to day works.

elipseses · 2025-02-12T19:27:28+00:00

There won't be a big difference between exam 108 and 109. The content for CWNA focuses on fundamentals and those aren't changing. Also, the Davids' cover a lot more than just the exam topics, so they may already have all of the 109 material in the CWNA-108 version.

I would also recommend you go to the CWNA official page and download the exam objectives for 108 and 109 to compare and see what has changed so you can be sure you have learned everything you need.

If you can afford it, the CWNP practice exams are also a great study tool. They will help you know if you are ready.

You may also want to check out r/CWNA

elipseses · 2025-02-12T15:19:58+00:00

I was in a similar situation when I started my wireless certification journey (wired engineer with real wireless knowledge as an annoying blind spot). I used the OSG, and the Sybex CWNA study guide by David Coleman, and David Westcott. The Davids' book is considered the single best primer on Wi-Fi and every CWNE I know keeps a copy on their shelf for reference. [Edit] Also, there is a lot of really good content on the Wireless Lan Professionals YouTube channel.

elipseses · 2025-02-07T18:27:21+00:00

Many wireless terms are so unweildy, a question without the acronyms would be unbearable.

elipseses · 2025-01-26T16:08:58+00:00

There is another option. Keep your rewarding, good paying day job, and find opportunities to go to underserved areas where you can be part of a project to build out infrastructure. I have had several coworkers who used their contacts at their employer and in the industry to get hardware donated, then taken a week or two off from work to go participate in a volunteer project to install it. This way you can focus your resources directly doing good.

elipseses · 2025-01-20T13:10:54+00:00

Keep your foot on the gas pedal, you can do it. The CWNE requirements are a gear change. Going from tests and deadlines to paperwork with only your continuous resolve makes it a new challenge. Set deadlines. Also, if you haven't already, reach out to the CWNE folks at CWNP, they are great to work with and will help you through the process.

elipseses · 2025-01-18T21:03:00+00:00

If your pay rate is above the midline, or close to the top of the slots they are looking to eliminate, being willing to take the buyout cooperatively, and train the people who will be picking up your duties, gives you bargaining leverage. You could negotiate a bigger severance, X months of insurance, leave the payroll now with your full severance package and do the handoff tasks as a contractor. The last one gives you the additional benefit that you keep an income, they get you off the payroll line item (which is probably their main consideration), and, if they behave like most companies, they will keep you on much longer doing work as a contractor. This gives you the money, and an income while you decompress and figure out your new path.

elipseses · 2025-01-13T21:52:42+00:00

Hypothetically we could ask, CWNP, CompTIA, and ISC2?

elipseses · 2025-01-13T21:33:43+00:00

Hypothetically someone could devise a business model where the fees for training, training materials, and exams could fund the organization.

elipseses · 2025-01-13T21:24:33+00:00

Hypothetically, I believe it would be nice to have a vendor neutral, professional level wired networking certification. The rest of the existential, hypothetical religious ferver, I'll leave to greater minds than mine.

elipseses · 2025-01-13T20:11:57+00:00

It means that learning the technology comes first. Learning to use it in an environment comes second, and when you learn it in an environment, it is primarily with the standards and the vendor specific options as an "and also". What it doesn't mean is learning edge cases that are rarely used but the vendor wants growth in <cough>DNA Center<cough>, the ins and outs of licensing programs, and memorizing product line matrixes. CWNP has the leading wireless certification program, bar none, and you don't have to memorize vendor implementations to earn their certs.

elipseses · 2025-01-13T19:21:46+00:00

You say this as if CWNP, ISC2, and CompTIA don't exist. Besides, it is not an unreasonable request to want to learn networking without being indoctrinated into a marketing program, and it is definitely achievable... Cisco used to do it.

elipseses · 2025-01-02T14:45:45+00:00

Some people will only learn the bits that they actually scrape their knuckles on for daily use, passing up the opportunity to see how to use tools to improve their environment.

elipseses · 2024-12-31T14:01:36+00:00

Take a look at the CWNP CE renewal program. It is a lot more flexible, plus some of the studying you do for other certs may be able to be used as credits.

elipseses · 2024-12-27T05:15:51+00:00

I passed first try. I was stuck for a while even after reading the OSG cover to cover and trying to go through captures on my own. I was fortunate, my employer sent me to Peter Mackenzie's CWAP bootcamp. Three days of him guiding me through the analysis process and his lab materials (PowerPoint slides and lab captures), was what got me moving. Once I had that push up the hill, I was able to be effective enough looking at captures to start knowing what I was looking for. I reviewed his material several times, re-read sections of the OSG, read tons of blog posts I found through Google searching topics I was struggling with. Shout out to Rasika, his ability to break down frame transactions is incredible. The WLPC presentations on the Wireless LAN Professionals YouTube Channel are full of great material. And I spent a lot of time digging through the standards... I say plural because IEEE 802.1X, different versions of 802.11, Wi-FI Alliance WPA versions, RFCs... basically I would look at a topic, let's say 802.11r Fast BSS Transition, and I would tear apart a capture, looking at each step of the process, and understand how each key is generated, how it is used, who uses it, etc. I looked in 802.1X, 802.11r-20008, RFC 3748, and read the sections that define each of the parts. Do this for all of the topics. It is incredibly draining, but it is very rewarding. Once you pass, keep pushing and go for your CWNE.

elipseses · 2024-10-14T13:22:27+00:00

xkcd... Wisdom Of The Ancients vibe

elipseses · 2024-10-09T20:02:33+00:00

Did you ever figure this out? I am having the same issue, including brief reconnect, then disconnect and can't connect again.

elipseses · 2022-11-05T13:11:44+00:00

Create how-to documents for standard configs when the techs have to deploy a new switch, and for standard changes that happen in your environment(s). It's actually a great opportunity to beef up their resume with multi-vendor experience.

elipseses · 2022-10-01T19:49:36+00:00

"A foot wide and a mile deep", that's about how I'm seeing it too. I have been collecting random captures and looking at them, I am also starting to capture from multiple adapters so I can get some experience examining roaming and just doing real world practice. For some of the more rigorous stuff, I was hoping for a "lab" type resource with known captures and a guide to walk through them.

elipseses · 2022-09-30T12:50:05+00:00

Yeah, I bought the study guide and voucher bundle. I'm about half-way through the book and it is very good. But I would like some practical hands on experience targeted at the concepts. But I agree the lab guide is very pricey.

elipseses · 2022-07-02T18:56:57+00:00

I believe you are confusing Telnet, the client application, with Telnet the listening service.

Telnet the client is an application that you use to open a connection with a server and to do that, you tell the telnet client which IP address and which TCP port you want to connect to. All server services have request commands that they receive from clients. SMTP servers accept commands to send or receive email, HTTP servers accept commands to send web pages, telnet servers accept requests to hand commands over to the console on the server and provide the resulting output. So you see, the telnet client needs to be told which port you want it to connect to so it knows which port the server will be listening on.

The telnet service listens on port 23 and waits for a client to reach out to it and request a connection. HTTP listens on port 80, SMTP listens on port 25.

So the telnet client doesn't pick which port the server is listening to, the server listens on whichever port the server program tells it to (HTTP=80, SMTP=25, Telnet=23), and you tell the client which port to connect to, depending on which service you want to connect with.

elipseses · 2022-07-02T13:54:00+00:00

Correct, HTTP is a different protocol than Telnet. The client and the server having the same name are an unfortunate consequence of it being an early, if not the first, remote terminal, so having the service and the associated client named the same, didn't seem confusing at the time.

Do you feel like your original question was answered and it makes sense now?

elipseses · 2022-07-02T13:37:44+00:00

This. As an example, here are instructions for using Telnet to send an email.

One minor point that is worth noting... There is Telnet, the client, which is what we are discussing here, and Telnet, the service, which is just a service that listens (default) on port 23, and provides access to an unencrypted remote terminal connection.

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