How to Network Tip of the Week #81 - 9th April 2009

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Welcome to the eighty first www.howtonetwork.net tip of
the week.

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Well..I've been back a week in the UK now. I made the
mistake of going out in my flip flops (what the Aussies
call thongs) yesterday. Of course I'm no longer in OZ so
I nearly lost a toe to the cold.

New developments for you. I'm having a bank of 500 CCNA
questions written for you by a CCIE at the moment who I
have used before. There will be a small charge to cover
costs unless you are a Platinum member in which case you
get it with my complements.

The theory content of the site is going to be improved in
a few weeks with new diagrams, improved switching and STP
content and more difficult labs. This is to match the
increasing difficulty of the CCNA exam which has just got
harder (I told you to pass quickly didn't I).

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Members Passing

You guys have been studying like crazy people. There are
almost too many passing to fit in here now but let me have
a go. Well done to:

Ani Thomas CCNA 876
John Cicala CCNA 903
Ahtsam Naqvi CCNA 876
Ewan Crowhurst CCNA 846
Labuthe Yannick CCNA
John Ssekibaamu CCNA 955
Jerome Beunel CCNA 888

If I can put a quote in from John Cicala who was very kind:

'Paul,
I passed the ICND2 exam today with a 903 score and I now
have the CCNA certification. Many thanks to you and your
website. I don't think I could have done it without
Howtonetwork.net. The tools and tips and encouragement are
well worth the price of membership. I plan to keep my
membership for the foreseeable future so I can practice
labs and continue learning.

Thanks,
John'

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$1000 Challenge

If you plan on taking the exam this month or have just
passed please make sure you are signed up for the
challenge. It costs nothing to be in it:

http://www.howtonetwork.net/public/632.cfm

I have $1000 burning a hole in my pocket here!!

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Would You Like to be a Cisco Trainer?

I have had several requests from people just like you to
come over to the USA to repeat the very successful Cisco
weekend training model that has been working so well here
in the UK.

Have a think for now but next week I am going to ask for
interested parties. We will then sift through all the
names to see who is a good match. This will also be
open to Canadian and Australian members. We are not sure
where we are going to hold the training yet.

I am not looking for technical superstars. We can teach
you everything you need to know to run a course and how to
fill it as well. For now, just work out if you like
helping others and would like to spend one or two weekends
per month running your own Cisco training business on the
side.

I am actually in Portsmouth and Boston NH next week from
16-21st April so if anyone wants to come and meet up with
me for a chat that would be great.

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Survey Update

Thanks so much to those of you who completed the survey. I
am going to take action of a lot of that. Just two points
which I would like to address.

'I want a more active forum.' - er..yes. So do I. Can you
all please post a question on there if you get stuck and
even better an answer. I certainly don't have all the
answers but I can see people are reluctant to post for
some reason. The forum is very friendly so please chip in.

'I want to be able to print the labs.' - You can, just
press on the printer icon. Or you can download the labs
in the challenge labs section which are in pdf.

The other comments like add voice, jobs, broken configs to
fix are all coming. I promise.

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Platinum Quiz

To make up for lack of new content last month while I
was on my honeymoon I thought I would give you all a
complementary CCNA exam:

http://www.box.net/shared/1cystm3i0z

If you are asked for a password it is winners321

Please unzip it before using.

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Reminders

A gentle reminder for all members.

When you set your rack account up you need to drop us an
e-mail to tell us. The 10 hours are not magically added.

Please also keep your local time changes up to date. You
need to do this manually.

racks@howtonetwork.net

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What to Do If You Fail Your Exam

Almost everyone on the site passes first time. I do accept
that sometimes it takes a second crack at the exam in
order to pass. I had to take it twice in fact and I had
studied very hard indeed.

Here are a few tips if you are not successful the first
time round:

http://www.howtonetwork.net/public/995.cfm

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Please forward this e-mail

Please think of any friends or colleagues who would benefit
from this content. They can join the howtonetwork.net tip
of the week at:

http://www.howtonetwork.net

All the best

Paul Browning
www.howtonetwork.net
www.subnetting-secrets.com
www.networksinc.co.uk