Customer Reviews

CCNP Advanced CISCO Router Configuration Study Guide : (Exam 640-403)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Todd Lammle has done it again! I don't care about the occassional error in the text as much as I care about results. I just passed ACRC about an hour ago. What more do you want?

The quote I'll use to describe the advantages of Lammle's book over Laura Chappell's official Cisco text is, "I don't need for you to explain the watch, just tell me what time it is," -- at least for ACRC testing purposes. I bought, studied, and will be keeping both books. You should consider doing the same because a bit of repetition never hurt anybody. While Chappell's book is the better in-depth, verbose reference, Lammle's book is unquestionably better for ACRC test preparation. The book is mapped directly to the ACRC test objectives and Lammle has trimmed a lot of the fat. The 259 question EdgeTest that comes on CD with the book is the push over the top. If you can answer every question correctly and understand WHY the right answer is the right answer and WHY the other answers are wrong, you're ready. Practice Lammle's exercise labs on your router, too, to get the much needed familiarity with the IOS commands.

Compared to a 5-day ACRC course which costs $1900 in my area (and likely requires another week or more of study before testing), this book for less than a 50 spot is a staggering bargain. Buy it and spend ample time with it. I invested a little over a month and I sit here today with ACRC behind me.

Todd, my pocketbook thanks you.

the Cisco press Adv. Cisco Router Config. book by Laura Chappell is ALSO needed inorder to pass the test. I bought both books and passed the test. I give a 3 star because out of the 17 CCNP's/CCIE's in my company, 99% had to use both books and did not find one better than the other. Although, Chappell's book had numerous syntax errors, but with Tod's book as a reference, one should be ok. It seemed like a lot of the questions I got for the test were from Chappel's book.

I just passed the ACRC exam yesterday! About Sybex, Todd's CCNA book was excellent. I studied that book and the exam notes and passed it, no problem. I thought his ACRC book would be of the same caliber, but I'm afraid it wasn't. It was a great effort though. But, if I didn't use the material from an ACRC course I took at a private institution, I would have failed the exam.

He's really got to revamp his OSPF section. Some of the examples in the book, Q&A, and CD test questions had wrong answers. The ACRC exam covered a lot of OSPF and EIGRP. That's very frustrating when taking an exam this hard.

I'm still a fan of Todd and Sybex, but I would buy the Ciscopress book too.

People tell me that his CLSC book is the same too.

This book is pretty good for ACRC, but provides only a portion of what you need for BCSN, which is what I passed. In addition to this book, I had to supplement it with papers on routing protocols from Cisco's site.

If you haven't purchased an advanced routing book yet, buy a book geared for BCSN. This one is good for ACRC, but ACRC retires July 31, 2000. This book will not adequately prepare for the newer exam. It does not go into near enough depth on BGP, OSPF, or EIGRP to pass BCSN.

I believe Todd is working on a newer edition for BCSN, so look for it when it comes out. He knows his Cisco routing!

This book is not enough for the exam. It does not cover OSPF and EIGRP enough. It goes into a lot of detail about things that are not on the exam. I just got the official Cisco book and it is filling in all of the holes from this book. Don't waste you time or money on this book.

Many of the negative reviews here actually made me hesitate to buy this book - but I eventually did. Now in my final weeks of preparing for the exam - which expires on 31 July - and having gone through most of the book, I have strong confident that I will pass. You see, for the last one year, I have visited braindump site and passed one certification test after another by a lot of craming (cheating?) but questionable understanding - but this is the first certification book that truely made me understand the subject matter. The whole book is clustered with examples and diagrams to illustrate the fine point - there is no sign at all of rushing the book to the press - and no sign at all of trying to cram any subject matter just to make you pass. Some reviewer has alert us of mistakes in the book - I don't see to many typo or mistake, but it is true that there are some glaring one. For example, the IGRP chapter is well written, the 2 minutes drill has at least one or two gotcha (at least it got-me) that I suspect will make excellent exam question, but somewhere along the pages it actually says T1 has a metric of 65 - which is correct - and ethernet has a metric of 1000 - which is wrong - I think it is 10. Also, it says " convergence means that all routers in the network share a common routing table" - which cannot be true - he must have meant to say something else. But despite this, I just love the way they make me understand something by using examples and diagrams - they don't cut corners here. On many topics, like access list and IPX filtering, I beleive the book might have exceed the exam objective, certainly exceeding the ACRC course that I have taken in 98. And it is this strength and depth of true understanding that make me confident of giving it a good show in the real exam. One reminder, don't skip the 2 minutes drill - they are not just summary and revision - but also a place to alert you of possible exam gotcha. The self-test have a few tricky questions that make me laugh at my own stupidity - and I love it. For those who want to do it before 31 July - go get it - 45 days with this book can make a different.

I passed every other exam in the CCNP on the first time(CLSC, BCRAN, CIT). I took this test twice with just this book and failed. I felt totally unprepared when i saw some of the questions on the test. The test concentrates on OSPF, EIGRP. THe book does not even have a list of OSPF commands. I had to look them up on the Documentation CD. I will not buy another Lammle book. I think this is poorly written, developed and structured for the certification test.

This book doesn't compare to the author's CCNA book for exam preparation. Lots of lacking material, especially on the routing protocols and explanation on VLSM. I recommend using another book to fully understand topics covered for the ACRC exam.

Lammle did a superb job with the CCNA study guide but this book isn't much more than an introduction to most of the topics. It does not contain information on all ACRC topics and skips over huge amounts of material with only brief comments. His writing style is fine but the content is weak. Compare this to Laura Chappels ACRC book and the difference is significant. I bought both, and I would buy this book again---only as a supplement. You aren't going to pass a tough exam like ACRC with only one book. I suggest at least two, three is even better.

As other reviewers have noted, you'll need to supplement this book with another, e.g., the Cisco Press book by the same title. The strengths of this book are the large number of review questions, and the lab exercises. The weaknesses are the mistakes, the absence of explanations for answers, and the lack of answers, in many cases, for the lab exercises. On some topics, it has information I have found no where else, and in many cases it has clear explanations that simplify complex topics. On the other hand, it sometimes omits important points.

The book is very useful, but I would not recommend using it exclusively to study for the ACRC test, although some reviewers have done so successfully.