CCNA Cisco Certified Network Associate Boxed Set (Exam 640-507)

1 Go with Cisco Press
I recently took and passed my CCNA, with little help from this book. Had I only studied this book, I do not think I would have passed. After reading and studying this book for a month, I was given a Cisco Press book, and I found I didn't know half of what I needed to. There are MANY things missing from this book, and they are constantly contradicting themselves. Very poor quality book. If you're studying for a Cisco test, buy a Cisco Press product. The Cisco Press book was much more clearly written, and there were few times in reading it that I was confused.

2 The purpose of Certifications
I think this book is very helpful. But I am disturbed by all the negative reviews that it has received. Cisco certifications, Microsoft certifications, almost all certifications are for people who have been in the IT industry for at least a year. It even states what I have written above in most of the certification books that I have purchased. These certification books are not for people with zero experience. That is a marketing sceme to up sales on their books. Which in turn, floods the job market with "Certified" people who end up being more harmful than good. I concede that there are some errors with questions and diagrams, but I find I have received more in-depth and permanent experience by editing these errors. Too many people desire to just cram all this knowledge in a few days, take the exam, and then forget what they have learned. And I wonder why I continually run into "Certified" people who make more mistakes than non-certified people with equivalent experience. If you have at least a few months PRACTICAL experience with cisco products and are looking to get certified ... I definitely recommend this book.

3 Passed the CCNA in 3 weeks using only this book
I found this book complete, concise, and easy to follow. I passed my CCNA in three weeks using this book and access to a 2600 router.

4 Frustrations and confusion
I have never written a review, but I felt compelled to get this information out. I am a Network Technician/Engineer, and was attracted to this box set, because I thought that it would have everything I needed to study for this exam. 1) The latest information needed to give me the best opportunity to pass the CCNA exam. 2) Lots of practice questions, and scenerios.

The first thing that I noticed is that there were lots of miss spellings, and problems with sentence structure. We'll I thought it's the latest addition, no big problem. The second was that I noticed miss information in the chapter text, and more confusing, in the end of chapter tests. Anyone who is familiar with this certification will know my frustration. The last thing that I noticed was the ExamSim questions were exactly the same as the post chapter tests, so they were no additional help. I e-mailed Syngress, to post the mistakes, and found myself spending way too much time editing their book. They e-mailed me back and apologized. I would not recommened this book until they revise it, and have ordered the Cisco Press CCNA book.

5 Good Study Guide
This book is decent- like the other reviewers it is not perfect, but it does have its value. My recommendation is to buy a few books to get ready for the exam- including this one.

6 Very Good but needs a little work.
Study for the CCNA Exam and you'll find that there are several books on the subject. However when a great book is coupled with an excellent testing package you'll find the study time is reduced.

The 2-book reference is a great set of material for the classroom or self-study. Book 1 - CCNA Study Guide covers the topics of the OSI Model, 802, standards, topologies, bridging & switching, IOS Commands, TCP/IP addressing and subnetting.

Also covered are IP Protocols, VLANS, IPX, and ISDN. ATM and Frame Relay. The book included hands-on exercises, Lab questions, and self-test at the end of each chapter. The book also details the 1900 switch, which is essential to passing the exam.

Book 1 also has a cd-rom included with over 300 practice questions. The cd includes CertTrainer, which is a self-paced trainer for the CCNA Exam. ExamSim is the practice exam software that simulates the real exam.

In book 2 - CCNA Test Yourself, you'll be given over 300 questions that cover areas like Bridging, switching, routing protocols, access lists, ISDN, PPP, frame relay and OSI. Also there is 1 practice test included in the book and you have the ability to download more questions from the web.

7 600 Page Paper Weight
At first the book seems promising. As you progress through the book you start to realize that these folks were not meant to teach this course or if they were...they should really go back to "Teaching 101".

The material jumps all around. What is talked about in the first chapter will not be focused or discussed in detail until the 7th chapter, but it is constantly being brought up TO chapter 7 (a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point).

As for going to look up a definition in the back of this book: you're better off looking online on Cisco's website, because 9 out of 10 times the definition in the book's glossary is the exact same thing that is written in the paragraph you're trying to decipher.

The way they explain how some networking things work needs to be rewritten (Where exactly? Too many of 'em to list here). They show a chart on one page and throw an explanation of that sam echart on another page so you are constantly having to flip back. Seems petty? Try using this book as a study guide and you'll see what I mean.

Subnetting is, as I have discussed with many people(even those w/the certif.), a confusing category. It took me about a week on one chapter of subnetting to figure out how the examples had come about. It should only take 5 minutes if you get a good explanation (and this includes borrowing bits from the host...)

On a less important scale: the CD that comes with the book had to be delivered to me by mail due to a manufacturing flaw: I re-ordered my book from Waldenbooks 3 times only to find that the CD was cracked! Once I talked to the company myself, they had the CD out to me in about three days. On the other side of the scale, the CD Test Exam has errors such as missing key words in a question, multiple questions that are "graded incorrectly" (you actually answered the item correctly but it marks it wrong). And if you like to stare at the computer all day, just pop in the CD. The whole book is on there.

OK.....so here's the recap. The book is poorly organized and not well thought out. Important fields are not as clear as they should be. The CD itself lacks attention to detail.

If you think this book is great, all the more power to ya, but take caution if you're interested in purchasing it. It's not only a waste of your money, it's a waste of your time.

8 Great just for the exam
Don't expect to pass the exam if you know nothing about Cisco routers. Although you won`t learn nothing else, it is a good complement for practising the layout of the exam. Learn with Cisco and practise with Syngress, I passed the exam with no difficulties.

9 Covers all you need
I just walked out of my testing center a new CCNA, and I owe a lot of it to this book. After taking a course at my local training center, I spent a solid couple of weeks reviewing this book. It hits all the key objectives and material you need to know in order to pass this exam. Obviously the more hands on the better, but this book really fills in the details.

10 Another great catch on the road to CCNA success.
With the newest CCNA exam, 640-507, now available to the public it is very important to have the best possible chance to pass the exam. The 2nd edition of the CCNA study guide is a great start in making sure you pass the exam the first time around.

The book takes on every exam objective and delivers an excellent study guide for those new to the CCNA arena. With some of the best coverage of TCP/IP and IP Addressing and sub netting I have ever come across, this is an outstanding work.

Other topics like LAN, VLANS, Cisco IOS 12.0, CDP, STP, STA, Access lists with IP and IPX are also covered in the book. The author's ability to make the ideas seems easier is a great plus. The author has taken the time to simplify the complex.

There are exercises, figures, diagrams, review questions and even screen shots of the router to make sure you are on the right track. Also the author gives you a very detailed breakdown of the 1900 switch.

Finally there is a cd-rom included with over 290 questions to practice before going live. The cd includes an e-book, which makes studying easier because you can bring the book with you. Overall a very good value for the money.

11 Good tool for studying.
Overall I really enjoy the technical books put out by Syngress Media. This book does give an excellent overview of the subject matter that is within the new CCNA test. However, I would recommend using this book in conjunction with the book written by Todd Lammle as the Syngress book does not go into a lot of IOS router commands. I used both books and was successful in passing the CCNA exam.

Overall, this is a good read and a keeper for my personal bookshelf of knowledge.

Sincerely,

Charles R. Steinmetz Jr. CCNA, CCDA