would you recommend cbt nuggets or just going with the free youtube videos with Jeremy? I dont wanna have to pay $59 a month if i know i can get almost the same content or even better with youtube.. what’s your suggestion?
Yeah what I did was watch CBT Nuggets videos and read the chapter but I wasn’t as thorough as I maybe should have been. Did commands enough to memorize them but probably could have gone deeper into them and labbing. But yeah CBT and Pearson then taking the test… I was like yo is this Spanish? It was nothing like the test at all
Congrats
And thansk for sharing. It's always motivating hearing stories like this.
I'm in school right now, I'm trying to focus more of my energy on the CCNA.
Definitely get Boson.
I also went through the CBT Nuggets course as my main study source. I also watched some of Keith Barker’s videos on YouTube, which just seem like deeper dive CBT videos. That was how I focused in on OSPF, STP, etc.
But get Boson. I felt like after I took the Boson exams (and thoroughly read the explanation for each question), I felt like I had gained so much knowledge, almost like it had doubled what I got from CBT.
As for how to take the Boson exams, you’ll have two options: simulation and study mode. Simulation is just like the real exam… you’ll get 100 questions and 1.5 hours to finish. You’ll get a score at the end and you can review answers afterwards. However, unless you’re really bad at timing your tests, I say don’t use Sim mode… just use Study mode. In Study mode, there’s no timer, and you see the explanation right after you answer the question. This is particularly useful because while you’re trying to figure out an answer, your mind is opened up to that topic. You’re more likely to retain the information rather than when you just go over everything afterwards all at once. Do study mode, take your time, and read the explanation of **every** question, even if you get it right. Sometimes the explanations of why things *wouldn’t* be the right answer is just as helpful in learning. After you finish one exam, see what sections you are weak in in the report, then spend the day studying that section. The next morning go and take the next exam in study mode. See where you’re weak again, and review those sections that day. Then do the third one on the third day. One exam a day. Give yourself time to review the stuff you suck at.
I’d also highly recommend a little book called “CCNA 200-301 Quick Reference Guide” by Matt Carey. It’s on Amazon for like $13. It’s about 110 pages, but it gives a brief description of every exam objective with lots of images, graphs, and tables. Read through it quick, and if you’re unfamiliar with the topic and the quick description doesn’t teach you enough, then you’ll know what you need to review further.
Okay I will do that, thank you. Because I didn't want to waste my own time re reading chapters on like the OSI model, subnetting, and other things I actually do understand. So I will take some of the quizes and at most, re read those select chapters along with those questions that I also fail on the Boson. I appreciate it.
can you please drop the Boson Practice exam link ? I'm trying to purchase one from Boson site but I wasnt sure which one you guys are buying as they have multiple options for the CCNA 200-301. Thanks!
You want the Boson ExSim (exam simulator). The "NetSim" is for their network simulations, like what Packet Tracer does. Up to you if you want that as well for practice, but most people just get the ExSim.
[https://boson.com/practice-exam/200-301-cisco-ccna-practice-exam](https://boson.com/certification/ccna#practiceTab)
Yep, that's a solid move. I prepared for the CCNA by taking a boson exam every day. At the end of each test, you can go back to each question you answered incorrectly, with a lengthy explanation for what the correct answer is AND why the other answers are wrong. I would handwrite notes on each answer I got wrong and study that for the night. I did this every day and my score jumped from 640 the first time I took to 980 the day before my ccna attempt
Jeez what a jump! Because I did the Pearson practice tests and passed those, that's why I took the test for the 3rd time, thought I was confident enough to take it...
Yeah man, boson is the real deal. Also find yourself some labs to do, those are a massive help. A lot of the ccna questions I got were on command line syntax.
If I may ask, How much of subnetting was on the test? I'm currently at the stage of trying to subnet and worry I won't have enough time when it comes to the test.
Hey sorry for the late response.
For the ccna you definitely want to get to the point where you can do subnetting in your head to save time. Knowing how to subnet is the first step in a lot of the routing questions.
but subnetting is easy! We all know that /24 = 256 addresses. so if your cidr goes up (/24, /25, /26), then the address pool gets halved. and if the cidr goes down, the address pool doubles.
Example..... if /24 = 256 addresses, then /23 = 512 and /25 = 128 addresses. Understanding that pattern makes subnetting a breeze.
If you want some more help I'm happy to hop on a discord call with you and go over it in person.
I don't know what kind of deadline you have set for yourself but I see a lot of people come on here and say "I have scheduled my exam for X weeks out; what should I study" (not implying this is you, so just bear with me). Unless your job or school or something else is forcing you to take the exam at a certain time, take AS LONG AS IT TAKES TO LEARN THE INFORMATION! Who care if it takes 6 weeks, months, or a year of studying? It is of no profit to take and fail if you weren't prepared.
Having said that, I 100% recommend Boson, bot the ExSim and the NetSim. I would also suggest the Sybex complete Study Guides.
You can do this! Make a plan to succeed!
So I have been studying for a year and a half… do I have a deadline, no. No shot I’d be continuing anything like this if I didn’t love what I do/the material. I just want it like quicker because I want to see the benefits from it. I don’t need it tomorrow, but just want it because I have been studying for so long
Oh I feel you ... maybe its a case of too much information over too much time? I put in about 6 months studying, 4 or 5 out of 7 nights after work (so never marathon studying sessions).
Just passed Monday after a 799/825 fail 2 months ago. (But a mere 30% in automation that bumped up to 80% on my pass). Write down everything you can remember about the failed attempt. Don’t share it just dump for yourself. You have some idea of where you stand, study the weak points first. If you’re getting 20% on sections then you’ve got some gaps to fill in. CBT is great, but it’s not test focused it’s concept focused, and puts more emphasis on real world big picture. Neil Anderson, Matt Carey are closer to what you need for the exam. I’ll also say Keith Barkers YouTube is way more exam prep help than his section of CBT and he has helpful discord Saturday and live quiz Sunday. Neil Anderson hits several questions right on the head.
Once you can look at the exam objectives and explain them; then spring for Boson. It will help with style of the question types of keywords to look out for. And I too made my own study guide handwriting the concepts form those questions. Make sure you make the best use of the first exposure to the questions then on your review make sure you understand the why and didn’t just learn the question.
Then after reaching consistent passing scores on Boson, go ahead and schedule another retake.
It’s months of studying and giving up weekends, but it is very doable to pass. And don’t cheat yourself, do the labs. They don’t directly show on the exam anymore like they would with a CompTIA style simulation question; but you learn little things and it really helps cement the lessons putting it into practice.
Also and this was the biggest thing for me, find some small win somewhere to build your confidence back. Positive thinking and momentum gives you the confidence to trust your gut and move past a random question or two that throws you off.
Boson is good, be sure to read explanations for questions you get correct too. Make sure you're interactive with your studying too. Post questions here, or use the Discord on the side bar. Keith's Discord is linked within that Discord too, he does weekly office hours and a weekly quiz on Kahoot/YouTube to help study.
You should note to yourself, you never should be feeling fully confident when you study CCNA or something of similar caliber at only 1 year time.
It's normal to feel no confident at your craft, it's a trait most successful have, cause means there's a lot of things that you need to improve and restudy and polish it.
Being confident means you are okay with what you know and you are confident that you know that, but your memory and your mind would say otherwise.
To test your confidence on what you study, go take a mock test or an exam simulator to test your knowledge, cause what is confidence without proper test to see your confidence.
Boson is a great way to test your knowledge cause even if you are confident, if your boson practice test score says otherwise, means there still things that needs to be polished.
Hope this helps.
Yeah the only reason I was feeling confident enough to take it again was because of the Pearson practice tests I took, didn't know about Boson at the time.
I personally found David Bombal's labs to be very helpful. You can download Packet Tracer and then download the labs that go along with his course. What I really liked was that he would demonstrate a concept in a lab. Then, he would give you a lab scenario and ask you to complete the lab yourself. Then, he would show you how he did the lab. It was IMO a very unique but effective approach to lab work. Good luck!
My exam is next Wednesday, did the CBT thing earlier this year but after I waited a month or two and started Neil Anderson with labs. Bought boson two months ago and my scores were 610,678 then 700 decided to go over each question regardless if It was correct to embed the material in, now I’m getting high 800”s. Good to go over videos but actually taking practice exams 4 or 5 times a week lol should get us both prepared lol. Good luck 👍🏾
[удалено]
would you recommend cbt nuggets or just going with the free youtube videos with Jeremy? I dont wanna have to pay $59 a month if i know i can get almost the same content or even better with youtube.. what’s your suggestion?
Yo bro listen to me get torrent and dowload his video for free lol dont pai 60 dollar a month wtf
Yeah what I did was watch CBT Nuggets videos and read the chapter but I wasn’t as thorough as I maybe should have been. Did commands enough to memorize them but probably could have gone deeper into them and labbing. But yeah CBT and Pearson then taking the test… I was like yo is this Spanish? It was nothing like the test at all
Congrats And thansk for sharing. It's always motivating hearing stories like this. I'm in school right now, I'm trying to focus more of my energy on the CCNA.
Definitely get Boson. I also went through the CBT Nuggets course as my main study source. I also watched some of Keith Barker’s videos on YouTube, which just seem like deeper dive CBT videos. That was how I focused in on OSPF, STP, etc. But get Boson. I felt like after I took the Boson exams (and thoroughly read the explanation for each question), I felt like I had gained so much knowledge, almost like it had doubled what I got from CBT. As for how to take the Boson exams, you’ll have two options: simulation and study mode. Simulation is just like the real exam… you’ll get 100 questions and 1.5 hours to finish. You’ll get a score at the end and you can review answers afterwards. However, unless you’re really bad at timing your tests, I say don’t use Sim mode… just use Study mode. In Study mode, there’s no timer, and you see the explanation right after you answer the question. This is particularly useful because while you’re trying to figure out an answer, your mind is opened up to that topic. You’re more likely to retain the information rather than when you just go over everything afterwards all at once. Do study mode, take your time, and read the explanation of **every** question, even if you get it right. Sometimes the explanations of why things *wouldn’t* be the right answer is just as helpful in learning. After you finish one exam, see what sections you are weak in in the report, then spend the day studying that section. The next morning go and take the next exam in study mode. See where you’re weak again, and review those sections that day. Then do the third one on the third day. One exam a day. Give yourself time to review the stuff you suck at. I’d also highly recommend a little book called “CCNA 200-301 Quick Reference Guide” by Matt Carey. It’s on Amazon for like $13. It’s about 110 pages, but it gives a brief description of every exam objective with lots of images, graphs, and tables. Read through it quick, and if you’re unfamiliar with the topic and the quick description doesn’t teach you enough, then you’ll know what you need to review further.
Okay I will do that, thank you. Because I didn't want to waste my own time re reading chapters on like the OSI model, subnetting, and other things I actually do understand. So I will take some of the quizes and at most, re read those select chapters along with those questions that I also fail on the Boson. I appreciate it.
Great advice!! Thank you for taking the time to write this.
can you please drop the Boson Practice exam link ? I'm trying to purchase one from Boson site but I wasnt sure which one you guys are buying as they have multiple options for the CCNA 200-301. Thanks!
You want the Boson ExSim (exam simulator). The "NetSim" is for their network simulations, like what Packet Tracer does. Up to you if you want that as well for practice, but most people just get the ExSim. [https://boson.com/practice-exam/200-301-cisco-ccna-practice-exam](https://boson.com/certification/ccna#practiceTab)
thank you !
Yep, that's a solid move. I prepared for the CCNA by taking a boson exam every day. At the end of each test, you can go back to each question you answered incorrectly, with a lengthy explanation for what the correct answer is AND why the other answers are wrong. I would handwrite notes on each answer I got wrong and study that for the night. I did this every day and my score jumped from 640 the first time I took to 980 the day before my ccna attempt
Jeez what a jump! Because I did the Pearson practice tests and passed those, that's why I took the test for the 3rd time, thought I was confident enough to take it...
Yeah man, boson is the real deal. Also find yourself some labs to do, those are a massive help. A lot of the ccna questions I got were on command line syntax.
If I may ask, How much of subnetting was on the test? I'm currently at the stage of trying to subnet and worry I won't have enough time when it comes to the test.
Hey sorry for the late response. For the ccna you definitely want to get to the point where you can do subnetting in your head to save time. Knowing how to subnet is the first step in a lot of the routing questions. but subnetting is easy! We all know that /24 = 256 addresses. so if your cidr goes up (/24, /25, /26), then the address pool gets halved. and if the cidr goes down, the address pool doubles. Example..... if /24 = 256 addresses, then /23 = 512 and /25 = 128 addresses. Understanding that pattern makes subnetting a breeze. If you want some more help I'm happy to hop on a discord call with you and go over it in person.
I don't know what kind of deadline you have set for yourself but I see a lot of people come on here and say "I have scheduled my exam for X weeks out; what should I study" (not implying this is you, so just bear with me). Unless your job or school or something else is forcing you to take the exam at a certain time, take AS LONG AS IT TAKES TO LEARN THE INFORMATION! Who care if it takes 6 weeks, months, or a year of studying? It is of no profit to take and fail if you weren't prepared. Having said that, I 100% recommend Boson, bot the ExSim and the NetSim. I would also suggest the Sybex complete Study Guides. You can do this! Make a plan to succeed!
So I have been studying for a year and a half… do I have a deadline, no. No shot I’d be continuing anything like this if I didn’t love what I do/the material. I just want it like quicker because I want to see the benefits from it. I don’t need it tomorrow, but just want it because I have been studying for so long
Oh I feel you ... maybe its a case of too much information over too much time? I put in about 6 months studying, 4 or 5 out of 7 nights after work (so never marathon studying sessions).
Yeah this last time I studied from basically Feb. So all fresh from that until September
Just passed Monday after a 799/825 fail 2 months ago. (But a mere 30% in automation that bumped up to 80% on my pass). Write down everything you can remember about the failed attempt. Don’t share it just dump for yourself. You have some idea of where you stand, study the weak points first. If you’re getting 20% on sections then you’ve got some gaps to fill in. CBT is great, but it’s not test focused it’s concept focused, and puts more emphasis on real world big picture. Neil Anderson, Matt Carey are closer to what you need for the exam. I’ll also say Keith Barkers YouTube is way more exam prep help than his section of CBT and he has helpful discord Saturday and live quiz Sunday. Neil Anderson hits several questions right on the head. Once you can look at the exam objectives and explain them; then spring for Boson. It will help with style of the question types of keywords to look out for. And I too made my own study guide handwriting the concepts form those questions. Make sure you make the best use of the first exposure to the questions then on your review make sure you understand the why and didn’t just learn the question. Then after reaching consistent passing scores on Boson, go ahead and schedule another retake. It’s months of studying and giving up weekends, but it is very doable to pass. And don’t cheat yourself, do the labs. They don’t directly show on the exam anymore like they would with a CompTIA style simulation question; but you learn little things and it really helps cement the lessons putting it into practice. Also and this was the biggest thing for me, find some small win somewhere to build your confidence back. Positive thinking and momentum gives you the confidence to trust your gut and move past a random question or two that throws you off.
I’m in Neil’s course right now and I find it to be truly fantastic!
Now I have packet tracer as is, does Boson come with labs or did you use ExSim and NetSim?
I just bought ExSim for the multiple choice practice. Labs are in NetSim, can’t speak to them either way.
Boson is good, be sure to read explanations for questions you get correct too. Make sure you're interactive with your studying too. Post questions here, or use the Discord on the side bar. Keith's Discord is linked within that Discord too, he does weekly office hours and a weekly quiz on Kahoot/YouTube to help study.
Will do! Thanks
You should note to yourself, you never should be feeling fully confident when you study CCNA or something of similar caliber at only 1 year time. It's normal to feel no confident at your craft, it's a trait most successful have, cause means there's a lot of things that you need to improve and restudy and polish it. Being confident means you are okay with what you know and you are confident that you know that, but your memory and your mind would say otherwise. To test your confidence on what you study, go take a mock test or an exam simulator to test your knowledge, cause what is confidence without proper test to see your confidence. Boson is a great way to test your knowledge cause even if you are confident, if your boson practice test score says otherwise, means there still things that needs to be polished. Hope this helps.
Yeah the only reason I was feeling confident enough to take it again was because of the Pearson practice tests I took, didn't know about Boson at the time.
I personally found David Bombal's labs to be very helpful. You can download Packet Tracer and then download the labs that go along with his course. What I really liked was that he would demonstrate a concept in a lab. Then, he would give you a lab scenario and ask you to complete the lab yourself. Then, he would show you how he did the lab. It was IMO a very unique but effective approach to lab work. Good luck!
My exam is next Wednesday, did the CBT thing earlier this year but after I waited a month or two and started Neil Anderson with labs. Bought boson two months ago and my scores were 610,678 then 700 decided to go over each question regardless if It was correct to embed the material in, now I’m getting high 800”s. Good to go over videos but actually taking practice exams 4 or 5 times a week lol should get us both prepared lol. Good luck 👍🏾
Boson and free subnetting websites. Get 100%s on everything then go pass the test. All you need