CCNA Blog

CCENT or CCNA?

2010-11-14T14:07:00+00:00

CCENT stands for Cisco Certified Entry level Network Technician. Cisco launched the CCENT is 2008 to help make gaining a networking certification easier. Before the CCENT existed the CCNA was Cisco’s entry level qualification.

As a networking student, you now have two routes to gaining the popular CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) certification. You can either take one exam or take two exams (ICND1 and ICND2). When you pass the ICND1 you get the CCENT certification, then when you pass the second exam (ICND2) you will be CCNA certified.

Certification	Exams
CCENT	Pass one exam - ICND1
CCNA	Two options: Pass one CCNA exam or pass ICND1 and ICND2 exam

Each ICND exam is approximately half the CCNA syllabus giving you the time and flexibility to gain a certification (CCENT) and learn the subject matter in more depth while working towards your CCNA.

If you are fairly new to networking it would be preferable to take earn the CCENT certification first (by taking the ICND1 exam) rather than trying to learn all the knowledge required to pass the CCNA in one go. On the other hand if you have been working in IT for some time and already have a good understanding of networking you may prefer to take the CCNA exam straight away. Take a look at the pros and cons of obtaining your CCNA via the CCENT route below.

Pros and Cons for CCENT

Pros	Cons
Less to study and memorise	You will pay for two exams (ICND1 and 2)
Less pressure/commitment on yourself	Takes longer to pass the CCNA
Learn the subjects in more depth	CCENT is not as well known as CCNA
Get a CCENT qualification when you pass	You won’t be able to apply for CCNA jobs
	Your knowledge will be tested to a greater depth over two exams because its roughly twice as many questions than CCNA exam

Quiz Engine Upgrade

2010-11-07T20:59:00+00:00

We’ve been working on some improvements to our CCNA test engine over the weekend.

Next time you take one of our quizzes you’ll notice that you now have to work against the clock to complete the quiz in the allotted time. We believe this will get you used to managing your time when you take Cisco’s CCNA exam for real!

If you don’t complete the quiz in time you’ll still get the opportunity to review the questions you did answer, but you won’t get a final score.

If you notice any bugs with the upgrade, please contact us.

Taking the CCNA Exam in India

2010-10-19T18:47:00+00:00

We get a lot of emails asking how much it costs to sit the CCNA exam in India and how to locate a test center. Well as of October 2010 the price is $250 USD. You can check the latest price on the Pearson VUE price list, just look for the 640-802 exam code.

Locate a Cisco Test Center in India

Cisco CCNA exams delivered by a company called Pearson VUE. Go to this page to find a CCNA test center in India. Choose India from the drop down menu and then select your region.

8 Tips to Help you Cram for your CCNA

2010-10-10T15:48:00+00:00

Here are some tips for helping to cram for the CCNA exam.

Restrict your revision to the exam topics on the CCNA syllabus
Concentrate on the subjects where your knowledge is weak
Buy a good CCNA certification book such as Todd Lammle's CCNA Study Guide
Buy a CCNA exam simulator or use our free CCNA test engine
Create a single page of revision notes per topic, you may want to use our CCNA cheat sheet as a starting point
Book your exam in advance to give you some motivation
Review your revision notes and start to memorise the information
Condense your notes, add sketches, diagrams, mnemonics to aid your memory

CCNA Training

2010-10-07T18:58:00+00:00

The CCNA certification is a good networking qualification whether you are already a networking professional, an IT student or simply looking for a change of career.
The route you choose to study for the CCNA exam will depend on your background knowledge and experience.

Below we outline the different routes to CCNA certification and who they are best suited to.

Cisco Academies – Cisco academies are good for the newbie or career change students. They allow you to attend a local college part-time or full-time and provide the support and hardware to learn in your own time. Search for your local Cisco Academy.

Cisco Boot Camps – Boot camps are a quick way of gaining the required knowledge to pass the CCNA exam in a short space of time. They are ideally suited to candidates that have some experience with networking because there is a lot of information to learn and take on board. Search for CCNA boot camp in Google for a supplier.

Self Study – If you have the patience and dedication to learn from a book or eLearning course this is probably the cheapest route to the CCNA cert. Beware this route lacks the support and guidance of a tutor, and without Cisco hardware you’ll need to rely on simulators and or second-hand Cisco routers to learn the practical skills.

Whatever route you choose, our free CCNA practice questions and low cost CCNA cram sheet will ensure you are fully prepared when it comes to taking your CCNA exam.

CCNA Exam is not all Multiple Choice

2010-10-03T18:44:00+00:00

Unfortunately Cisco CCNA exam questions are not all multiple choice like our CCNA Test. They vary from question-to-question and can include the following types of question.

Multiple Choice – Select the best answer from a choice of answers.
True/False – Identify the true statement from a selection of statements.
Select Multiple Correct Answers – Select all the answers that apply. You are told how many answer options you need to choose.
Select All That Apply – Select all the answers that apply. You are NOT told how many answer options you need to choose.
Freeform Response – No answer choices are provided, you are required to input your response.
Exhibit – You are given a diagram or configuration and asked questions relating to it.
Scenarios – Asks a question that you might face in the real world.
Simulations – Tests your ability to fix and configure Cisco devices.

CCNA Pass Mark

2010-09-29T17:20:00+00:00

Cisco does not publish the pass mark required to gain the CCNA qualification. Cisco’s exam policies state that the CCNA “passing scores are set using statistical analysis and are subject to change.” “Cisco does not publish exam passing scores because exam questions and passing scores are subject to change without notice.”

However the general consensus on CCNA forums and websites is that an average pass mark of around 85% (850/1000) is required to pass the CCNA exam.

CCNA Exam Cost

2010-09-28T19:49:00+00:00

To find out how much the Cisco CCNA exam will cost in your country you can look at the Cisco price list on the Pearson VUE website. Find your country in the list and look for the correct CCNA exam code, currently 640-802.

CCNA 640-802

2010-09-28T18:36:00+00:00

CCNA 640-802 refers to the current version of the Cisco Certified Network Associate exam. The CCNA exam is 90 minutes long and contains between 45-55 questions. It is available in English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Korean, French, Portuguese languages.

The 640-802 exam tests your knowledge of networking, in particular it covers the following topics:

Network media
TCP/IP and OSI models
IP addressing
Switching and routing fundamentals
Access Control Lists (ACL)
Virtual LANs (VLAN)
Wide Area Networks (WAN)
Operating and configuring IOS devices

Click here to locate a test center.

Alternatively you could choose to earn your CCNA via the Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT™) pathway, which divides the CCNA course into two exams making it easier to study.