Inc Staff Syngress Media
1 Great Resource Guide!
The books has indepth guide to some of the troubleshooting tips that most books don't have. I used it and did pass my exam. This book is not for people who expect to troubleshoot networks by just reading books and never had any hands on practice. I strongly recommend it.
2 Worth the Cash
I've found this book to be very helpful in my studies for CIT. The layout is nice, and I've found that the objectives for the exam are well defined and called out so you can follow along well... I'm glad I spent the money because the book does have value.
3 As I expceted Ingress still does not know how to write books
Still, this book is just the rest of their Cisco books. One word: worthless. I can't even give it to anyone else because it will make them fail the exam. So if you would like to fail, I recommend this book for you.
4 Don't use this as your only study material for the exam!
I took my CIT 4.0 Exam after reading and taking notes extensively on this book, I also ran the practice test included on the CDROM a multiple times, I went into the exam confident I would blow it away after 10 questions, none of which had been adaquately covered in this book, I began to worry.
I ended up passong (barely) but not because of anything I had gleaned from this book, if not for Todd Lammele's excellent CCNA prep guide and my hands on experience I would have failed miserably.
I strayed from Lammele's book on this one b/c it was out of stock, I will never make that mistake again. This book is 800 pages of general info without any really good instruction, as for the practice tests, I've taken Cisco Sales Certification exams that are harder!
5 Exam info missing.
Where's the beef? Only one or two questions from this book were on the CIT exam. Not a study guide for the exam. Helps you memorize troublshooting techniques.
6 Not a bad book, But DOESN'T PROVIDE KNOWLEDGE
What I mean by not providing knowledge is the how to? and Why? They actually made a good effort, two CCIE's reviewed the book and one CCNP. So the technical expertise was there. In the case of this book was the failure to teach opposed to here are the answers MEMORIZE THEM, when you encounter the problem in your netowork GET THE ANSWERS FROM YOUR MEMORY. This method doesn't work because under intense pressure, your mind doesn't think of simple things(It does around 3a.m. in the morning, mainly because this is when your mind files things during the day into it's filing cabinet, referred to as REM sleep) As a memory expert, I can tell you troubleshooting is not a memory sport. The whole key is understanding the technology, learn the protocols, how the protocols interact with certain equipment. Shortly after reading this book, I purchased "Cisco Internetwork Troubleshooting" author: Laura Chappell. This book also had two CCIE's review the book Dan Farkas CCIE #3800 and Henry Benjamin. Laura has Novell background with over 15 years of experience, so I would say she qualifies to challenge the CCNP. Here are the sections that really killed the challenger FDDI, ATM, X.25 and overall troubleshooting methodology. Several TCP/IP, Netware, Appletalk, Fast Ethernet, VLAN, and ISDN troubleshooting techniques are discussed. Provides you with the logic used to resolve real life problems experienced every day. If you are reading this book most likely your aiming for the CCNP and/or CCIE. Believe me the CCIE is more than just book knowledge and hands on experience. It becomes a matter of technique, you are required to keep notes of how you resolved certain problems. So even if you resolve the problem by luck, if you can't explain to the proctor how you did it, and why the points are gone. I don't want to explain the entire book, because I would deprive you of learning, which essentially is what brain dumps do. Sure you may get the job because you eventually got a cert, but let the network go down at a major bank, and you can't resolve the problem(Get the picture). I have seen these type of problems first hand, asked the IS guys what have they attempted so far? (I can tell from the tone in the voice alot of guessing is going on). The last thing you want to happen is you don't have a logical reason for why the network was down the entire weekend! At a major corporation in Los Angeles this happened, as a consultant I witnessed the outsourcing of a entire IS department! My point use the debugging tools, keep good notes, ask the correct questions(especially dealing with TelCo's). To bad we had to waste our money, but at least we got a CD! (I like to think of the glass as being half full)
7 This book's title should be changed.
If you want to learn about network troubleshooting, this is a great book. However if you want to use this book as your preparation tool for CIT exam, forget it. You won't pass the exam even if the exam is open book. I suggest that the author should change the book's title.
8 Couldn't pass the exam with this book.
I passed the ACRC using the Lammle Sybex book and the Laura Chappel ACRC book. This was the only CIT book out at the time, so I thought I'd use it for the CIT exam. I failed. Many typos in practice questions and the CD is useless. However, the authors seems to be pretty bright and know real world info you can use in a production enviornment. Look for a different book to pass the CIT exam. I think there are other Cisco books out related to the CIT exam. Check those out.
9 Missing test info
This isn't really a CIT exam guide. Some good study material that can help you if you combine with the Cisco class.
10 Well Written
Well done book that will provide value in one's studies
11 Don?t understand the Bad Reviews
This book was/is great. Very well written, concise, maps well to the exam objectives... The exam watches and two minute drills are right on. However, experience is a key. I have to laugh at those who expect a study guide to do it all for them. I've spent a lot of time, money and practice in order to study for and pass these exams. They are difficult, and study guides are written for assistance, and this one gives it. By the way, in response to the reader below, I've used Syngress books to pass my CCNA exam, as well as the ACRC and CIT exams. Sure, there are some typos, but I've never seen a technical book that's perfect. Trust me, this book will provide valuable assistance. Thank you, and good luck.
12 Should be one star, but...
Has some info you can use in the day-to-day grind. However, nothing on the exam is in this book! Jezz, call it something else, but not a Study Guide for the CIT exam. Better written then their CCNA book, but same conclusion: You can't pass an exam from this damn company!
13 Stay away from this book
I bought this book to prepare for the CIT 4.0 exa, and I wonder if the authors even bothered to look at the exam objectives. The book is excellent if you want to learn the various debug commands in the cisco ios, but if you plan on passing the CIT 4.0 exam, you would need to get most of the material from somewhere else
14 Don't bother buying this one
This is a horrible book. You will NOT pass the test even if it was open book. They say you must be very familiar with password recovery then never discuss how to do it. Anyone who buys this book will be disappointed.
15 Decent...Did help pass the test
Be prepared to use CCO with the book. The book reads well
16 This book is well written.
One of the best books on the market. Covers a lot of material. Well written. Definitely THUMBS UP..
17 More a brain dump than a study guide!
There is an awful lot of information in the book but it is extremely poorly organised, with very few examples or diagrams. I've spent a great deal of time trying to extract and reorganise the important information from the huge monolithic textual descriptions used in the book.
Also a great deal of the information in the book was new to me, but I passed the CD test first time without reading the book. The CD questions and end of chapter questions go into about one quarter of the depth of the information presented in the book.
However, the two-minute drills are a good idea.
18 Couldn?t be better
Good book! I've read it cover to cover three times, and have learned a tremendous amount, and reinforced a tremendous amount more. I could not recommend a book more. If you're looking to pass the CIT exam, and learn more, this is the book you want. I am so glad I bought it. Thanks!
19 Great coverage for the exam
Good information---covers all Cisco CIT exam stuff. Good general information. Very helpful.
20 This will do the job.
What a great book! This book was, and is, tremendous. Great layout with exam watches and from the classroom fields. I really found the two minute drill as an excellent way to re-enforce the test objectives. I'd recommend this book to anyone that is getting ready, or even thinking of taking this exam. As an aside, I've noticed that the majority of low reviews for this book tell you to stick with Cisco Press books- kinda makes you wonder who on the Cisco Press staff is spending their time writing crap about other good books so theirs look better. I think that's a pretty low way to try and get business.
21 ZERO STARS given, but it is not one of the choices
What a waste of $50. This was my first Syngress book purchase, and simply I was horribly disappointed. The book does not help at all with the CIT test and is poorly written. If this book is indicative of the Syngress CCNP books, this will be my first and LAST PURCHASE in the series.
22 Absolutely Not The Book To Buy To Pass The CIT Test.
This book is poorly organized and material descriptions are very weak. Test questions barely relevant to actual test. I don't think anybody can pass CIT test by studying this book. If you really need good material for CIT test, turn to CiscoPress!
23 Excellent Study Aid
The reader from Connecticut below seems to think that if you read this book, you'll fail. The people who rate this book low are crazy. I'm so tired of people who expect a study guide to do all the work for them These exams are not easy, and you really should have experience before tackling it-A study guide IS NOT a substitute for experience. In any event, this book is an excellent study aid, with solid coverage of exam objectives. Very strong on Campus Switches, and VLANs. Also strong on Troubleshootong BRI. (with a great subsection on DDR). I found that the CD was great, with a good self test on it. In my opinion, this book will be an asset to anyone getting ready or even thinking of CIT. BTW, I also bought Syngress ACRC book... Looks like it may be just as good as this one. I'll post a review for it when I'm done reading it (may be awhile as I need to get through CIT first) Thanks for listening :)
24 Dont waste your money
Do not buy this book. I bought the CCNA book from them and it was awful. The only reason why I bought this one is because it was the only one out there and I thought that they wouldnt put out another one as bad as the CCNA. I was dead wrong this book is just as bad as the CCNA. I called them and they admitted that there were a few mistakes and they would fix them. Trust me there are alot of mistake and this book only covers about 1/4 of what you need to know. Save your money and wait for other books to come out. I know everyone is trying to get there CCNP done ASAP but using this book will give you a false sense of knowledge and then you will fail.
25 This book is not enough to pass the current CIT exam
I was very surprised to sit down at the actual exam and find that 80-90% of the questions on the 640-440 exam were not covered in this book. Many exam questions were in fact, well out of the range of this book. Having said that however, I do believe the book contains some useful general information, just not enough to pass the exam. I guess I will wait for the Cisco Press book.
26 Good review of exam
As any CCNP or CCIE will tell you, a book cannot replace hands-on experience. Too many people rely on just a book and they bomb. This is not a low-level topic!
That said, the book is a very good review and I have bought it for my staff who are studying for various certifications. To verying degrees all have found it helpful (three have passed and two are still to take this exam specifically). My two CCIEs thought it was good too.
It's not necessarily a great reference book for after the fact---for someone who is pretty advanced anyway.
It's worth the money---especially with the Amazon discount.
27 good study tool
I gave this book the full-court press and it is worth what I paid for it. It covers every objective that Cisco published for the exam and has good, in-depth coverage of all topics. I haven't taken the exam yet, but a colleague used the book (and an online course) and said it helped him pass.
28 Book is useless
I have passed two of the CCNP tests. The first I did with a Syngress book and said I would never buy one again. There were parts on the test that were never covered in the book. The second test I used Cisco Press and the book was MUCH better. I would recommend using a Cisco Press book before another Syngress. I have read this book and found out what it was lacking when I went to take the test. Stay away from Syngress books!
29 Don't buy this book!
I have taken three Cisco exams so far and two of them were with Syngress books and one was with a Cisco Press book. I thought I learned my lesson when the first book was bad but I didn't. I learned it again wit this book. The Syngress books do NOT cover all the sections on the exam, not the way the Cisco Press book did. This book also had me reviewing material that was not even remotely on the test. I will NEVER but a Syngress study tool again.
30 Author understood the material
I have read this book from cover to cover compared it with the Cisco Documentation and confirmed it's accuracy. Several of my collegues have attended the CIT courses and I have the book from the training classes attended. This book maps exactly to the questions asked. The PREVIOUSLY TWO REVIEWERS REFER TO THE CCNA BOOK. As the ultimate book worm I can tell you that no two authors are the same. If any of you have the ACRC book from Cisco compare the Appletalk and IPX sections to this book, they map exactly. The one thing that makes this book stand out is the study sections. This technique was first used in the CCIEPrep.com book. I think you will find it useful when preparing for the CCNP exams. Remember understanding is better than memorizing! Practice the commands, review the questions,pass with 90% or better and you are on your way.
31 A pleasure to read
I've just finished this book and passed the exam and I found it very true in its coverage of the exam components.
It is well written, the examples are great, diagrams are good and I relly liked the sample exams.
32 A well-written study guide
I've already taken the CIT test, so I can tell you that this book does cover the material. The descriptions of IPX and Appletalk functionality are the best that I've ever read.
The author's writing style is very personable and down-to-earth. The book uses copious sniffer captures, diagrams, and show statements to illustrates the principles that are covered.
