I’m preparing to take my CCNA exam soon. I’m looking for a good source of sample questions to practice.
There are two types of question on the exam.
I have already got a load of multiple choice questions to pracitice with. I don’t need any more of those. It’s the simulation questions that have me worried. Does anyone know a good source of this type of question?
I can’t speak to their quality, but… CCNA simulation questions
Transcender used to be the standard, and as far as I know it still is.
-Joe
If you must use a simulator, Sybex makes one that’s pretty good. Comes in a kit with a textbook called CCNA Gold, I believe.
You can also get real Cisco switchgear with study guides on eBay for pretty cheap and you’ll have the real deal. It’s old surplus equipment, but gets the job done.
Here’s my advice on cruising the CCNA:
Pound the facts with the multiple choice guides. Sounds like you’re there, so relax about that.
Practice subnetting so you can do it fast fast fast in your sleep. A lot of the questions involve doing this. You must be able to assemble facts and work out the digital math and get the required data FAST, so like it’s second nature.
You must have practice with your hands on a console. If a sim is all you have, it will do for CCNA, but obviously the real thing is preferred.
You will find that the facts and questions are not hard. They are trying to determine if you are competent in Cisco routing and switching. They do this by not really giving you enough time. Any novice could work through it using command line help and thinking about it–but you don’t have time. You can only finish if you know the stuff cold and can execute commands starting from scratch. You can do it if you’re practiced at it, but if you’re not, you’ll run out of time.
So, you can’t waste time dawdling with subnetting, head-scratching and over-analyzing and forgetting to get in enable mode or the name of commands. The quicker you can subnet and perform commands is more time you have for the stumpers.
Go to the Cisco site and read their guide on the CCNA where they explain the different types of questions (there are about 5 types I think). They also throw in 1 or 2 questions that are not graded, but are for their own purposes, polling whether CCNA candidates are familiar with other concepts. So don’t freak out if you get a question on something outside the scope of the exam. They’re just messing with you. Answer best you can and move on.
Good luck. If the above describes where you’re at, it will be a snap.
Good luck. I’m going for my CCNA tomorrow (Monday 22). I got an Exam Cram Practice Questions book. So far, I’ve forgotten a lot of stuff I learned last year (I’m on my second year of a two year Network Technology program).
I’ve found the Test Out CDs quite good, but I haven’t used their CCNA one. Also, unless your company is paying, you probably don’t need it enough for the CCNA to justify the cost.
http://http://www.testout.com/products/ccna/640-802-CCNA.htm
I had a video tutor thing for the CCNA at work. It helped me with a couple of things I couldn’t get my head around when reading them in print. I’ll try and dig out the name.
ETA: Good luck to you and Nobody
Just make sure you know how to subnet, that way all those questions are basically a gimme.
Hope the weather is better where Peter Morris than where I am. I had to reschedule due to snow shutting down the testing center. That’s OK though. It gives me more time to study.
I completed my CCNA last Friday by doing the ICND2 exam. (2nd attempt) The Boson simulators are what I used to get a feel for the console hands on. There are lab exercises and you can build a realistic network of your own and play with it. It’s expensive, but there are…alternate sources. I found the Transcenders to be OK for the gimme questions.
You definitely need to have subnetting down cold, especially with “hard” subnet masks. I didn’t have a single question referencing a /8, /16, or /24.
If you fail and retake fairly quickly like I did (2-3 weeks later) there’s a good chance some of the questions will be the same, which should help you improve your score next time.
The important thing to remember is that you can’t go back to a question, and you don’t have time to waste. Good luck.
Thank you for all the suggestions so far. I’ll check them out after Christmas.
Any further suggestions will be welcome.
$250
Approx 3 Hours round trip drive
Crashed and burned.
Gotta wait till next week at the earliest to set up another appointment.
It’ll be another $250
It’ll be another roughly 3 round trip drive.
<sigh>