The IT Certification Megathread: Straight Outta CompTIA

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The IT Certification Megathread: Straight Outta CompTIA

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

Sickening posted:

Dear god no, don't do that. Don't throw your money away on a N+ if you are going to do the CCNA track.

What's wrong with having both?

# ¿ Aug 16, 2014 14:36

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 12:36

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

I just passed the ICND1 yesterday with a 960/1000. It was surprisingly easy.

Now, here's the interesting part. My manager had recommended a certain site which i thought was a braindump, so I initially declined. But after he spent a good 20 minutes reassuring that it was legit study material and not a braindump, I finally agreed and signed up.

I can safely say that it actually wasn't (maybe it was in the beginning) a braindump. If you just memorized all the answers to the questions on that site and expected to be able to take the test, one of two things will happen to you when you take the actual ICND1:

A. You would have gotten a good 80% of the questions wrong and failed miserably.

B. You would pass, but then later on have your cert revoked after they find out you tried to cheat.

Almost every question on the actual ICND1 was indeed found on this site, but in almost every case, the variables of the questions were different than what was on this site. IPs, subnets, interfaces, positions on diagrams, you name it. Trying to only use the site without actually know the material you were being tested on would be a 100% chance of failing so badly that it would be very obvious you walked in with a braindump.

But it gets even better! Cisco has gained my respect for being the sneakiest motherfuckers on the planet, as not only did they switch all the variables of their questions, they also included many trap answers too. They would often put in answer choices that were from this site, and in most cases that I spotted them, they couldn't possibly be right at all, which would only immediately be apparent if you actually knew the material.

Example: summarizing a list of subnet IPs, with the answers being /14, /16, /18, and /24. The correct answer being /16, but the trap answer being /24 as thats what it was for said question on the website. The real question wouldnt even have any class C IPs mentioned, so anyone picking /24 is either randomly guessing or attempting to use a braindump. And of course, anyone who picks enough trap answers is immediately branded as a cheater.

I really love that cisco does all that. The site I used actually explained WHY all the answers were right, which was the real help I got from it. I had just finished a 2 month college course about the ICND1 right before taking it, and so that's how i was so familiar with the material, but the site was great for reinforcing what i had already known.

But to anyone else thinking about trying it, DO NOT think you can just read a braindump and pass the exam. If you dont actually know all the material youre memorizing the answers for, you WILL fail at a bare minimum, and its highly likely they will find out you tried to use a braindump. Don't do it. Take the time and study, you'll thank yourself later.

I definitely can't wait to take the ICND2 though, it was really fun wading through all the sneaky trick answers that made enough sense to be possibly right(but were not) and still coming out on top. :eng101:

Umbreon fucked around with this message at 12:16 on Nov 16, 2014

# ¿ Nov 16, 2014 12:11

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

incoherent posted:

Because some day, someones going to ask you how to do X from your certification and you can't hide behind google ~forever~.

Yep. The only reason I even passed my exam was because I knew how to do all of the X they asked me about. Anyone who doesn't would have failed miserably

# ¿ Nov 17, 2014 08:30

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

Hey all, I'm looking to progress my CCNA into a CCNP. What are some good books that will cover everything I need to know for the CCNP?

# ¿ May 24, 2016 00:36

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

Jedi425 posted:

I just got done doing the ROUTE, and I can tell you that the Cisco Press books (the 'Official' Certification Guide and the Foundation Learning Guide) don't cover everything on the exam. I ended up doing a combination of the two, plus CBT Nuggets, plus searching the web for random bits that I saw on my first two attempts, and even then it took me 3 tries to pass. They cover the content of things you'll be seeing in sims and simlets very well, but there's a lot of weird questions about things like Cisco Easy Virtual Networking (it's just a goddamn trunk port you assholes), IPv6, and PPPoE that just aren't covered well (or hardly at all) in the books.

The only real advice I can give you is to read the exam blueprint on Cisco's website, and then don't trust Cisco ever.

Well poo poo. Are there really no better alternatives? I found tons of great stuff back on my CCNA, but CCNP has been slim pickins so far.

# ¿ May 24, 2016 21:25

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

Does anyone know some good practice exams for the CCNP, particularly TSHOOT?

# ¿ Feb 25, 2017 01:44

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

I failed the CCNP route by 20 points on the day my CCNA expired. Is it safe to assume I am turbo hosed beyond belief and now have to retake all three exams?

# ¿ Mar 19, 2018 10:13

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

LochNessMonster posted:

As far as I’m aware, yes you need to retake all of them.

I want to be upset about this, but I'm oddly looking forward to it. I've been moved to night shift at my new job and studying makes the shift pass by like lightning.

On the other hand, let my ignorance be a lesson to anyone reading this post, because God drat was this an expensive fuckup, lol.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2018 10:28

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

Oyster posted:

I just finished the Google courses yesterday, and yes, they do adequately prepare you for the A+, Net+, and Sec+, and more. I was extremely impressed by them.

The Sec+ has more buzzwords, but the Google courses were much more practical. The CCENT isn't much more than what's on the Google courses, it just adds some Cisco specific functions.

Is this Google course worth taking as someone with a CCNA and an A+? It looks really nifty for covering all my IT bases but I want to make sure they're not just blowing smoke.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2019 08:29

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

FCKGW posted:

It depends on what your goals are I suppose. I took it last month and I felt that it was a nice add to my LinkedIn page but I'm not sure I would spend too much time on it. There's supposed to be some "we'll get you in touch with future employers" but it seems that it's not much more than just a checkbox that says "share my info with employers" which then just goes into the ether when you're done with the program.There's not really anything in the way of a formal process.

That being said, if you have your A+ and your CCNA you can probably knock out the program fairly quick. I think I did the whole course in like 30-40 hours. You don't need to actually read the material if you know it, just skipped to the end of each chapter and do the test. Tests are pass on 80% or higher and you have 3 tries in a 8 hour period so you can knock them out quick.

The worst part is the peer-graded assignments. They're not overly difficult, but you need to submit your assignment and wait for another student to read it and give you a grade. I never had to wait more than a day or two though.

Some of the graded papers from your peers are bad, like I had one paper where the other student literally went to webpage and printed to PDF and submitted that. It was in the same layout and had ads and poo poo on the page. I marked that assignment as a failure and made a comment as to why, but you could tell from the student forums that there's an implied "grade for grade" type system where if you approve my paper I'll approve yours, no matter the content. The course is on autopilot, there's no actual teachers reading this stuff.

So if you're actually looking to have your knowledge tested, this aint it. If you're a self-learner and want something for your resume this would probably be a fine course. Sign up for the free 7 day trial and you can probably get at least 1/3 of it done in that period if you hustle. Don't spend more than a month or two on it depending on your level of knowledge.

Fantastic write-up, thanks a ton for this info. Guess I'll prioritize other stuff instead

# ¿ Feb 5, 2019 05:44

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

I'm currently taking the boson exams for the CCNA. When would it be considered safe to take the real exam based on my boson exam performance?

85% or above 3x in a row?

# ¿ Feb 25, 2019 08:37

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

FCKGW posted:

I'd say 85-90% is pretty good. I found Boson to be slightly harder than the actual test.

Make sure you are actually understanding the question too and not just memorizing the answer. Before you click on the answer, tell yourself WHY the one you are selecting is the right answer.

Absolutely, the fact that boson explains the WHY of each answer is why I bought these exams.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2019 06:45

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

Does anyone know if cloud guru has anything for AWS certs that aren't just videos? I'm terrible at learning from videos and prefer reading way more.

# ¿ Mar 18, 2019 11:12

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 12:36

Umbreon: May 21, 2011

If anyone's passed the CCNP in the last year, what did you guys use for the learning material?

# ¿ Apr 12, 2023 09:53

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