Mike Meyers' CCNA (TM) Exam Passport (Exam 640-507)

Lou Rossi | Ron Anthony

Mike Meyers' CCNA Exam Passport is the sort of book you buy when you're studying for the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification even though you feel like you learned everything you need to know at work. It'll help you solidify your knowledge in your areas of experience, and fill the gaps in your knowledge--provided they're not too big. You'll be disappointed if you're expecting to learn the entire CCNA knowledge base from this book--or any other--but then you deserve to be. This book, like the CCNA itself, is for experienced professionals for whom the CCNA exam is a proof of competency, not a goal unto itself.

The travel motif that permeates this book's design frequently seems cutesy and forced--explanations of terms appear in "Local Lingo" boxes; potential pitfalls are marked as "Travel Advisories"--but the information provided stands up under scrutiny. Myers has condensed the CCNA syllabus to its essence and organized it thoughtfully, and as a result he's provided his readers with a useful test-preparation tool. His listings of IOS input and output, combined with simple and uncluttered "hockey puck" diagrams that illustrate network configurations, get right to the point. --David Wall

Topics covered: The subjects Cisco Certified Network Associates are expected to understand, which include the fundamentals of Cisco's Internetwork Operating System (IOS) and the effects of its commands on 1900-series (and similar) routers. Other sections deal with addressing and routing protocols, and with how to configure local- and wide-area networks (LANs and WANs) on Cisco gear.

1 Pretty Darn Good*
Well first off i got the 640-607 edition which i bought from barnes and nobles bookshop, i have no idea why that edition doesn't appear on amazon.com but that's another story, anyhow at the time the 640-607 was the current ccna exam, that exam was retired on September 30, 2003, i'm currently scheduled for the 640-801, so why do i find it(640-607 edition) so darn good, because its quite useful for getting a rock solid understanding of certain concepts that you might be little fuzzy or confused about in the "CCNA Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide, 4th Edition (640-801) by Todd Lammle" which should be your primary study anyhow. Personally i found the chapters on vlan, frame relay, ip access lists very, very useful in crystalizing those same concepts after i studying them first in the Lammle book.

The only drawback is that there are some typos here and there, but if you studied the Lammle book first, you'll find yourself making the corrections anyway. The primary reason i gave it 4 stars is because there is currently no 640-801 edition.

2 Book needs some work
If only this book had authors that were as good with networking as I am with world economic planning, it would be valuable.

--Alan Greenspan

3 640-507 is a retired test.
.
This book covers a retired exam (640-507).

Passport does not produce the CCNA 640-607 book.

This book will not prepare you for the CCNA any more.
.

4 Too many errors
Way too many errors. This is not a good book for someone who does not have any experience. The IP addressing section is a joke.

5 Short (what is good) but having tens of errors.
Lots of errors and all kinds of typos.
Some topics are missed.
Only good if you already know the material so
you will enjoy finding errors and misleading facts.
I am wondering if author ever read his own book.

6 ONLY STUDY MATERIAL NEEDED FOR EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS
This review is for the "CCNA Certification Passport" from the Michael Meyers Passport series. This series is geared toward the experienced professional that needs a study guide that is written in a concise manner and specifically for passing certification exams. This exam guide is no different. I have passed the CCNA exam and can assure everyone considering this book that it contains all the knowledge you will need to pass the test.

What I like about this book:

- Pithy explanations of all the tested objectives.
- Exam tips of what to expect and not to expect on the actual exam.
- End Chapter questions that do a good job of testing the understanding of material.
- Practice tests of acceptable quality included on the provided CD companion.
- There is no material on the test that is not covered in this book.
- A replacement for and half the page count of Todd Lemay's book.

What I don't like about this book:

- The travel theme is a gimmick and is not needed.
- The CD exams do not prepare you for the format of the real exam.
- Some extraneous information discussed not covered on the exam.
- A simulator would have been nice.

Conclusion:

A great CCNA exam prep book that is really all the experienced professional needs to prepare for the exam. Also, a complete replacement for the Lemay book that is twice the read. A simulator is not provided but for this test that is not such a big deal.

I recommend some additional exam taking software like Boson or Transcender (my favorite). Boson is less expensive and has a simulator for sell as well.

Study well and then take as many exams as possible before taking the real test. Also be on notice that the real exam requires a high score to pass, so be sure that you are scoring around 80 to 90 percent on the practice exams before the real test is scheduled.

Good luck.

7 Clear and Interesting Read
This book is great. I passed the 640-607 exam yesterday with 911/1000. I used the Sybex study guide, the Exam Cram and a course in addition to this. Apart from the hands on experience guaranteed by the course this was the single most important factor in my passing the exam. Unlike some of the other books the concepts are explained clearly and in a way that does not put you to sleep allowing you to read it quickly and feel that you have learnt a lot.

8 Excellent Overall Review/Summary for the CCNA
This is by far the *best* overall concise explanation of the Cisco Objectives for the CCNA I've found. The chapters are very well written, with enough examples for you to clearly understand the objectives. The book aims at covering the objectives for the CCNA in a straightforward, easy to understand format. At this it succeeds brilliantly. Out of all the books I've read self-studying for my CCNA (I come from an MCSE background), this is one of the two best. This book is not meant to be a "test" book with many exam questions, but the accompanying CD has a fair amount of questions to test your understanding. I could not give the book five stars because I felt the coverage on subnetting was inadequate. Overall, however this book has covered everything else exceptionally well.

9 Fantastic
Great overview of the CCNA objectives. Use this and a router sim and you are all set for either the 507 or 607 exams. The book is concise and easy to follow rather than Cisco press books that overwhelm you with really obscure details and words. Flipside, if you want a career in Cisco routers than look more into the CCNP exam. CCNA is for people such as admins of Windows boxes or Unix boxes looking to get some working knowledge of Cisco routers and switches. IE: This BOOK WILL NOT MAKE YOU A CISCO GURU but IT IS ENOUGH TO WORK AS A WINDOWS/UNIX NETWORK ENGINEER

10 Fantastic
Great overview of the CCNA objectives. Use this and a router sim and you are all set for either the 507 or 607 exams. The book is concise and easy to follow rather than Cisco press books that overwhelm you with really obscure details and words. Flipside, if you want a career in Cisco routers than look more into the CCNP exam. CCNA is for people such as admins of Windows boxes or Unix boxes looking to get some working knowledge of Cisco routers and switches.

11 Excellent, concise study guide.
Having browsed for hours at the various CCNA training books on offer, I finally chose this one.

Having been in IT for a few years with networking experience I found that this book was the best one to consolidate the knowledge required for the exam into a readable, concise format.

A lot of the full-sized texts are padded with extra words that don't seem to contribute to the overall depth or understanding of topics.

While these might be OK for the beginner or inexperienced networking people they are just boring and can be patronising for experienced people just wanting to get certified. (eg: the coverage of IP addressing in the Sybex one, not to mention the amount of unused space on the pages)

With this book I got the information that I needed, in a well written and compact format. I fully recommend this book for anyone that already has a bit of knowledge and doesn't want to bother reading through a lot of extraneous text.

12 Excellent, concise study guide.
Having browsed for hours at the various CCNA training books on offer, I finally chose this one.

Having been in IT for a few years with networking experience I found that this book was the best one to consolidate the knowledge required for the exam into a readable, concise format.

A lot of the full-sized texts are padded with extra words that don't seem to contribute to the overall depth or understanding of topics.

13 Some areas need a little more information - 4 1/2 stars!
Having passed the CCNA exam last year and having taught the ICND class over the past several months I am always looking for new material to better the class. Finding this book has given me new ideas and labs to create for the class.

In over 400 pages, this book has a narrow focus on only the exam objectives. While the book does a good job of covering the exam for those with limited knowledge or exposure you'll need alternative resources for studying.

Covering the OSI model, media, cabling, the IOS and boot process, CDP, config register, bridging, switching, spanning tree, the 1900 switch, VLANs, TCP/IP and subnetting gets you about two thirds through the book.

From there static and dynamic routing, RIP and IGRP, access lists, WANS, including HDLC, PPP, ISDN, DDR and Frame Relay finish out the coverage. Each chapter has questions and answers. There is also a cd with practice questions included and I think to make this the perfect study tool a router simulator should be included. Overall very good.