New FAQ

1. What kind of Questions should I expect to see on the CCNA exam?

All the information that is known about the exam is available on the Cisco Certifications pagerelating to the exam in question. The Cisco NDA forbids us from telling you anything more. This includes how many of each type of question we saw, whether or not a specific topic is covered heavily, and what specific questions we were asked.

2. How much does the CCNA exam cost?

You can find the cost of the exam in your country at the above mentioned site where you register. Again, don't take anyone else's word for it. You're going to pay Pearson Vue to take the exam, not me. So it only makes sense to see what they say it costs, right?

3. How do I register to take the exam?

Cisco exams are proctored Pearson VUE. You will find everything you need to know about registration and exam locations on their site. Don't just take the word of some random person on Facebook, get the information directly from the authoritative source.

4. What book should I read for the CCNA?

I've blogged about this before very recently, and you can find that post elsewhere on my blog. But to summarize, I'm always going to recommend the Official Certification Guide from Cisco Press. I don't care if someone said Wendell Odom is too dry, or the books are too long. There's a lot to know, and you may as well understand now that there are no shortcuts.

Many like Todd Lammle's book because it's shorter and it reads more like a stand up comedy routine.  First, Lammle assumes you have a certain level of knowledge already before you pick up his book.  Odom doesn't.  Lammle gives you the bare minimum needed for the exam.  Odom doesn't.  If passing the exam is your only priority, you're in for a rude awakening on your first day on the job. The router that's down isn't going to go easy on you because the root cause wasn't a CCNA exam topic.

You can find a large list of free resources around the Internet to assist your studies.

5. I have a question about my final results.

There's a great post over at the Cisco Learning Network titled Demystifying the Cisco Score Report. It says it's posted by the Certs & Lab Admin, so I'm going to assume this is legit. And while this particular breakdown is for a CCIE Written exam, pretty much everything that is said in the post applies to any written exam.

6. What degree should I get for networking?

Nobody can speak for every hiring manager out there. Every one is different, so there is no answer for this. In my experience, a college degree was a yes/no question without too much focus on what the degree was in. Some hiring managers don't care about a degree while others only care that you have one, and others still want it to be something specific. I chose a degree that closely matched the work I wanted to do in the future. You can't go wrong with that way of going about it. One thing I can guarantee is that nobody is looking specifically for somebody with a masters in Botany to work in their NOC.

7. Why did I get banned from the CCNA group?

The group has rules, and the rules are enforced. Its nobody else's fault that you either posted without knowing the rules, or you knew the rules but chose to disregard them. Every Facebook group, Website, Online Forum, etc. has rules and it's up to you, the user, to seek them out and follow them. This is true with anything you do in life.

8. Will you do my homework for me?

No, we absolutely will not do your homework. Do your own homework. I already know the material and your homework is one of the steps involved in your education. You want to pas the exam and earn the certification? Then you need to learn this stuff, not just write down what I told you. Obvious homework questions will be deleted, and the poster will be mocked. I don't care if you say it's not homework, we know homework when we see it.

Besides that, half of the "answers" I see given to homework questions are wrong anyway.

9. Which certification pays more, Cert A or Cert B?

Follow your heart, not your greed. If you want to strike it rich, maybe come up with the next Google or Facebook.  Every certification path has great opportunities, and you'll be paid well in any IT specialty if you do your job well. And you will do your job a lot better if you're doing something that you actually enjoy doing. If you don't know what you enjoy doing yet, you should be spending more time getting a job and gaining experience and less time worrying about 3 jobs ahead.

Bottom line, if it wasn't a marketable job skill, Cisco wouldn't bother maintaining a certification program for the skill.

10. What is router?

This question, and any basic question like it, doesn't have any place in a Facebook group or an online forum. It's something that you can easily Google, and not waste everyone's time. In case you're still unsure how, I wrote a post on how to Google things. Try it sometime, you may like it.

"What is the CCNA" is especially offensive. Why did you join our group if you don't even know what it is? If you don't know, then Google it.

When in doubt, try this post on how to ask better questions. Better questions get better answers. Take note when you will not show any router configs but still want us to figure out why can't ping across your 5 router topology.

11. Any question that conntains "Class A," "Class B," and/or "Class C".

Let me stop you right there. Classful networking is a relic of ancient days, and we simply don't use it any more. CIDR and VLSM aren't something that's off in the distant future (insert IPv6 or Duke Nuke 'em Forever joke here), they are the here and now. If your "practice test" or study guide that you obtained from some shady website talks about classful networking, you're going to fail.

12. I don't like the rules, who can I complain to?

Basically nobody. The admins set and enforce the rules. And as long as we do not violate any part of Facebook's TOS, that will not change. If you dislike the group that much, there's certainly other groups elsewhere that you would like better. Try one of them.

Of course, if you do want to scream at somebody, then by all means send me a private message on Facebook, even if it was a different admin that annoyed you. I've actually grown to enjoy the abuse.

13. I was treated unfairly by an admin, who can I complain to?

See question #12. I have nothing but respect for the other admins of this group, otherwise they wouldn't be admins. It's not very likely I'll take your side over them.

But again, feel free to scream at me all you want on Facebook.  I love the abuse.

14. Will the CCNA help me find a job?

The same goes for this as it does for the degree question. While experience trumps all, certifications and a degree will help you stand out from other similar candidates who you are otherwise similar to. But at the end of the day, it's up to the individual company to decide what they want in a candidate. Some want a degree, some want certifications, some want something else still. The job posting will tell you exactly what they're looking for in a candidate.

The bottom line is that having a degree and a CCNA helped me get my first job in I.T. Everyone had zero experience at one point, and yet the senior members of the group are all working in the field, right?

15. I has cert, job me now!

Sorry, but this isn't a jobs board, and these types of posts can and will drown out everything else if we allow them.. Since there's really no such thing as a "CCNA Job" despite what many posters say, there's no connection here. If you wish to explore career opportunities in your area, seek out a group dedicated to that topic.

16. I'm the network administrator or engineer and everything is broke. Help me!

Let me guess, you passed the CCNA by using Testking, and somehow lucked your way through the job interview. The hiring manager must have figured they could pay you less since you really didn't interview well. Now you see why you shouldn't have cheated. You can't afford my hourly rate as a consultant, so pick up a book and start learning. You're in for a long night.

My Fan Club

As I've mentioned a few times in the past, I act as an admin for one of the largest, if not the largest, Facebook groups dedicated to CCNA study.  You can find that group right here, or through the Facebook button in the top right corner of any page on this blog.  The group has a few other admins spread out through the world (so that our eyes would be on the page at different times of the day, ideally) and we run the group in accordance to our own moral compass, which for the most part aligns pretty well amongst ourselves and past admins.

Of course, the rules that we've set for the group don't sit well with some people.  If you're into something that doesn't jive with the rules, just simply don't discuss it in the group.  It's pretty simple, right?  Well for some it isn't that easy.  And since I encourage feedback from the community of users, I get it.  Here I've collected a few of my favorites.  There have been others, but many of them blocked me not long after and Facebook knocked it off of my messages before I could get a screenshot.  Warning, the language in these screenshots is a bit graphic.

This first satisfied customer of our services was removed for discussing braindumps and gets right to the point.

User number two was removed for the same reason.  Apparently cheating on exams means obtaining knowledge, and I'm just jealous somehow.   Interesting take.

User number three is my personal favorite.  I think he's asking me to create a group full of porn, and then show it to him?  I didn't realize that porn was so difficult to find.  I know that Netflix is taking over as the king of Internet traffic, but recent numbers show porn is still well over 30% of all traffic.

User number four was apparently upset that the free service we're providing him didn't get him an answer quickly enough for his satisfaction.  So he asked a few more times.  I believe this is the fourth time he asked, a couple times as a top level post, and a couple other times attempting to thread-jack another discussion.  Anyway, I did answer one of his other posts but he chose to ignore that and post again.  Needless to say, he won't have to worry about us getting back to him too slowly anymore.

Finally, this last one didn't come from the CCNA group, it came as a private message to the Free CCNA Workbook Facebook page, which I am also an admin for.  No commentary necessary, I think it speaks for itself.  Apparently when I took the screenshot of this one, I was feeling generous and omitted the name of this class act.  I wonder what he would have thought if I tracked down his instructor and showed them this?

And this is far from all of the nonsense I've gotten over the years, it's just the ones that amused me to the point of taking a screenshot.  That is not to say that it's all negative feedback, but that's primarily the thanks you get for a well maintained group.  The group has no spam, no flame wars, nothing violating the rules except for the very brief time it takes an admin to see and kill the post.  That is, except in my private inbox.  That's full of it.

CCNA Question of the Week 4

This week, we had an open ended question that covers a lot of areas.  This is a take on a question that was asked during the phone screening for my first I.T. job.  As with all questions in this series, do not make assumptions, and do not answer a question that was not asked. Just answer the question as completely as your knowledge allows.

Your computer was just started and you just logged in and then loaded your favorite web browser.  No other actions have been taken on this computer and no other programs have been launched.  You type www.yahoo.com into the URL bar of the browser and press Enter.  Between now and when the page finishes loading, describe everything that happens in order for that page to load.

The Official CCNA Group Rules

Group Rules:
1.This is a network for the network associate. All legitimate things CCNA related, as well as most other I.T. topics may be discussed here.
2.Things that may not be discussed here include (but is not limited to): Brain-dumps, any other form of copyright infringement, any illegal activity, spam, politics, and personal attacks. It doesn’t matter if it’s legal where you live, Facebook is an American website. If you like a post, that is considered the same as if you posted it yourself.
3.If certguard.com says it’s a dump, then it’s a dump and this isn’t open to negotiation.
4.Do not post homework questions with the expectation that the answers will just be provided. We are willing to help if you don’t understand something, but this group isn’t here to just do it for you.
5.The admins, and only the admins, will decide and enforce the rules.
6.Not knowing is no excuse. You shouldn’t be posting anywhere on the Internet if you don’t know the rules. Violators of any rule are subject to immediate banning.
7. No new accounts. No offense to anyone, it's just that accounts newer than 30 days are where the majority of spam comes from. If you get turned away for this, feel free to try again later.
8. No one word answers. If you can't explain why the answer is d, then you don't need to be the 15th person saying d. Contribute something meaningful to the conversation.
9. Don't try to add people to the group. Nobody gets in without an admin's approval, and I do not approve anyone who did not join on their own.

Group FAQ:
http://www.firewallninja.info/2016/07/the-official-ccna-group-faq.html

The Official CCNA Group FAQ

I've been one of the admins of the group for a few years now, and there's a handful of questions that I see repeatedly posted.  I'm talking about the things that somebody asks at least once a week in the group.  So I've started compiling this FAQ for the group that can be posted as a response to any question that falls within this list.  As with many posts relating to the Facebook group, this will be a living document and material will be added, removed or modified as necessary.

If you haven't already read my post on how to ask better questions, maybe take a minute to look at that as well.