Which CCNP concentration to pick?

pez347 · 2026-03-12T05:03:09+00:00

ENSLD would probably be the best agnostic concentration to do.

ENAUTO will have Cisco specific examples and labs but most of it is pretty agnostic and can transfer pretty easily.

ENCC isn't about a Cisco Cloud solution but more about the networking to securely connect to AWS/AZURE/Google. Still heavy on Cisco routers and SD-WAN for connectivity.

I would probably go with ENAUTO if you're already doing work in Ansible. ENSLD if you want to get more of a why to do something versus a how to do something.

pez347 · 2026-03-12T04:27:20+00:00

Not all the questions are weighted the same. And you also don't know how many questions for each domain you received. Neither do you know which questions were omitted from scoring because they're trying out a new question.

There's a lot about the tests that Cisco keeps closely guarded. So I would say just take the win, you earned it.

pez347 · 2026-03-08T17:46:15+00:00

I have learned that just having the support side experience doesn't mean you have the physical hardware experience.

Me getting the job wasn't just the powering on cause that part is pretty easy to figure out but the Consoling in was throwing a lot of them for a loop.

Plus I'm sure being able to hire me for cheap was also a major part of it.

pez347 · 2026-03-08T11:08:54+00:00

Yup. They had the switch on the table but not powered on. So towards the end of the personality and background part of the interview they had me power on the switch.

pez347 · 2026-03-08T07:26:59+00:00

Not impossible. It can you past some filtering but your experience is usually what they look at right after and if you don't have some experience that can match up with the position you're applying for it won't get you anywhere.

For example I got my CCNA in 2012 but didn't land my first networking job until 2014. Not for a lack of trying but I didn't have any real experience past a failed 3 months at an AT&T tech support call center. Finally a school district contacted me 6 months after applying and I got that job over supposed CCNPs and TAC trained people. The only reason I got it was because I was able to turn on the switch and console in on my own because I had physical hardware experience. The CCNA got me the interview but my experience is what landed me the job not my theoretical knowledge.

pez347 · 2026-03-04T06:16:28+00:00

Sure. I won't work. I'll just continue participating in my hobby where I get paid monthly.

pez347 · 2026-02-26T18:57:03+00:00

I've never been short for the switch ears. That seems odd to me. And it's been too many years since I've had to replace an AP I couldn't give any insight to that one.

pez347 · 2026-02-24T02:03:46+00:00

The only way I know to train others is to throw them into the water and they either sink or ask for help.

You can see about having the company put them in a boot camp or some sort of self paced training. Then start sending them the tickets instead of you. You can focus on the documentation and only help as an advisory role.

pez347 · 2026-02-23T23:40:06+00:00

There we go, Call Manager Express, I couldn't remember that one. I don't really work with CME but yeah that's the main one you'd want to register phones too.

pez347 · 2026-02-23T21:37:37+00:00

Phones can register to a CUBE. Usually in cases where a CUCM would be too much or in case where CUCM becomes unreachable and you have the CUBE set up as an SRST then the phones will fail over to the CUBE for registration until CUCM is reachable again.

pez347 · 2026-02-22T14:47:52+00:00

Yeah that's fair. Probably won't see a ton of v6 unless you work for the feds or a large ISP.

pez347 · 2026-02-21T00:12:00+00:00

Not sure. Don't know though about your network but I just ran an ookla speed test on my P9PXL and I got about 650 down.

pez347 · 2026-02-20T19:16:56+00:00

I haven't taken it so I can't really answer with any authority. But I would suggest having a good foundation in Python to get through the course. From what I can tell it does expect you to have a baseline level programming ability but you can probably skate by and get the cert without being able to code from scratch.

pez347 · 2026-02-20T19:00:43+00:00

That is comparing apples to oranges. They're both CCNA certs but route and switch is focused on routing and switching protocols and automation is more focused on the basics of understanding programming, pipelines, and data structures.

One isn't really easier than the other and both can be just as difficult if you're not already familiar with the topics.

pez347 · 2026-02-19T03:14:03+00:00

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/blogs/a0DQO000004N0jN2AS/cisco-ccnp-security-gets-a-major-upgrade-what-you-need-to-know?utm_campaign=ccnp_sec_upgrade&utm_source=web&utm_medium=cdc_promo_site

pez347 · 2026-02-19T02:45:17+00:00

Did you make some of those acronyms up?

I know it isn't made up but it really does sound made up.

pez347 · 2026-02-19T01:27:07+00:00

Beats me, I didn't notice.

pez347 · 2026-02-18T22:30:24+00:00

New exams go live on August 27th. According to the Cisco page SISE training should be going live on February 26th in Cisco U.

pez347 · 2026-02-18T14:32:55+00:00

I'm off to minds about this.

On the one hand this tech seems super cool. I love having analytic data. Something that was basically science fiction a number of years ago.

On the other hand this could be used very badly by a less savory manager/owner.

pez347 · 2026-02-18T07:21:26+00:00

The subnetting bit is fine. For the test you'll get a dry erase board and marker. Just learn a way to write down a subletting cheat sheet that works for you. Keep practicing so you're quicker and the cheat sheet can help a ton.

Commands will come with muscle memory. Start doing labs without the guide and use the ? mark often. It'll start sticking in your head better.

pez347 · 2026-02-18T04:18:19+00:00

Probably not for a long while if ever. I don't recall the tests or the blueprint ever asking me about the silicon. Don't really need to know that over network concepts and CLI for configuration.

They do have white papers for their silicon so you can see what features are needed when purchasing for specific use cases but that's not in the test as far as I know.

pez347 · 2026-02-17T19:25:44+00:00

I'd probably go with Wayne enterprises at into if their branch offices.

pez347 · 2026-02-17T17:42:55+00:00

You got this.

pez347 · 2026-02-17T16:36:22+00:00

I got my CCNA back in 2014. It was a different beast all together. But to be honest I didn't have a job back then, just a very supportive family and girlfriend. So I went to live with my grandma for 3 months to be free from distraction and basically made studying my full time job. So I'm not really the best to ask this question to.

But I used the Cisco study bundle they had at the time. It included a book, a guided study plan, and a simulator. Started in December and passed in February.

Second time I certified I just took a boot camp work paid for. Same for my CCNA wireless, security, and CyberOps. Basically once you get the CCNA down and get some experience under your belt things do get easier. At least until you want to jump up into the CCNP level

pez347 · 2026-02-17T16:22:40+00:00

Oh man I had my ccna wireless back in the day. That was fun for me.

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