ICND before CCNA or not

Nutty

i have BSC IT&T from UL graduated last year but left it late to job hunt and hence still not working in IT field.. thinking of heading in the direction of sitting CCNA but wondering should i sit the ICND exams first as a refresh of the different networking and communications modules i did previously.. so should i just go straight towards the CCNA

briano

Well, You either do the CCNA exam or do the two ICND exams to get the CCNA certification. So, It'd be a bit of a waste to do ICND1 and then the CCNA.

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le0/le9/learning_certification_type_home.html

NullZer0

Hi Nutty,

If you have a solid understanding - which obviously you do - od basics like OSI, TCP/IP model, VLANs, RIP etc than I'd say go for the composite 640-802 exam to achieve CCNA.

The ICND1 stuff is pretty basic (infact the ICND2 is too) but you need to have a good detailed take on it.

Pick up the Cisco Press book for 640-802 and schedule the exam. Maybe look at using dynagen/dynamips for practice and then go ace it

Best of luck with your studies

CorkFenian

iRock wrote: »

Hi Nutty,

If you have a solid understanding - which obviously you do - od basics like OSI, TCP/IP model, VLANs, RIP etc than I'd say go for the composite 640-802 exam to achieve CCNA.

The ICND1 stuff is pretty basic (infact the ICND2 is too) but you need to have a good detailed take on it.

Pick up the Cisco Press book for 640-802 and schedule the exam. Maybe look at using dynagen/dynamips for practice and then go ace it

Best of luck with your studies

I would say go the ICND route..The 640-802 is for people who are reregistering their CCNA..I thought that ICND route would be easier,but have found to my surprise theres a good bit to it to know it..i dont just want to pass it.I want to know it as best as i can...I have the Official ICND books plus the Cisco Labs and the CBT Nuggets..I have done a good bit but much harder than any MS exam I have done..Really good detail in it..I want to appear strong on fundamentals of it when going for roles..Thats my own take on it..I'm coming from a desk side support\server comms background and have setup and organised switches and routers in real life...I know I need a lot more exposure though...

NullZer0

Eitherway the end result is the same.

However, the 640-802 is not ONLY to recertify. The ICND1 focuses on alot of stuff that should really be common knowledge for someone that has a degree in network engineering/IT subjects like the OSI, RIP, Binary Math & subnetting etc.

Best of luck with your studies

CorkFenian

iRock wrote: »

Eitherway the end result is the same.

However, the 640-802 is not ONLY to recertify. The ICND1 focuses on alot of stuff that should really be common knowledge for someone that has a degree in network engineering/IT subjects like the OSI, RIP, Binary Math & subnetting etc.

Best of luck with your studies

I appreciate what ure saying, but they into way more detail on those topics u mention than in network engineering modules of a college course, or Net+ etc. Plus all the courseware stuff I have by Cisco experts says that ICND1 is for newbies to Cisco....That is why it was introduced..To act as a bridge between it knowledge wise..Put it this way I seen loads of people at helpdesk level do the 640-802 straight off.Brain dump it without having no knowledge of what it involves and look like fools when going for interview.... I would go for ICND1 and 2 because I dont specifically work in it every day..Day in day out.I would have gotten exposure etc.
Like i said i was surprised at detail of ICDN1, have u done this exam?To be honest with you, if u found it very straightforward and easy with pass mark of 80% plus..I take my hat off to you and say fair play.In my experience the content looks very handy but they go much more deep into it than I would have thought for a CCENT..
I figure I'll get that first so an employer knows they havent got a brain dumper on their hands..Thanks for the advice, what type of Cisco qualifications do u have and do u work with it every day?

axer

You would have to have a good understanding of the material to sit the ccna directly because you will be under time pressure.

I sat the ICND1 and then the CCNA because it gives you more time to soak in the material and really understand it. It is slightly more expensive to sit the two exams though.

NullZer0

I've seen several different take on this guys and I think the best conclusion that I can come to is that it works differently for everyone. Everyone learns differently.

I would start with the ICND1 books and work on through that and then the ICND2 book depending on how you find it. Then decide to take whatever exam path you like. The both work out at the same price as far as I can remember (with the exception of completion time).

mark renton

There is a lot of information to get through in CCNA - I would reccomend ICND to break it up