Is money a bit tight for you? If money is an issue then I can empathize because I have spent most of my life being broke. I am doing okay now but all through my 20s and much of my 30s I worried about money.
When I first studied for my CCNA you only needed to know some theory so luckily I could just get away with buying a book which had some practice exams on CD ROM inside it. Now, when you come to study for your CCNA you are barraged with choices:
Router simulators Exam simulators Flash study packs Video packs Books Discussion forums and so on…
If you bought a decent amount of the above you would be looking at about $900. Even after spending that amount, I see people posting questions on the forum asking if they should buy product X from company Y.
It reminds me of when I was doing my law degree a few years ago. Many students would walk into the lectures carrying as many text books as they could manage. Their legs would be buckling under the weight of all the case study guides, law reviews, essay books and so on. I used to get a summary guide giving me the main points and then read more in the library if I wanted to build upon that knowledge.
In order to pass your CCNA exam you need the following:
1. A good study guide, either online or in your hands 2. Lots of labs to follow and challenge labs 3. Access to live Cisco kit…NOT router simulators 4. Some sort of study reminder tool such as flash cards 5. A forum where you can get help if you are stuck 6. Videos to watch if you are more of a visual person 7. Lots of practice exams
That is it. You can either find a company who can provide one of the above or use a resource which does it all. You can see where I am going here I’m sure.
You get all of the above here at www.howtonetwork.net as well as loads of extras including a structures 60 day study program, questions of the day, study advice and tips, full IOS command reference, easy way to subnet guide and probably the most helpful forum on the internet.
I honestly believe that you don’t need to buy another book, video or study aid. If you feel that you do, drop me a line to tell me what is missing from the site and we will add it if we feel it would really help.
In summary, less is more.
Thanks a lot
Paul Browning
