Customer Reviews

CCNA ICND Exam Certification Guide (CCNA Self-Study, 640-811, 640-801)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Beware of the currrent version of the exam--640-801 and 811! It seems to be designed to eatup and spit out newbies. I recently took it to recertify my ccna and narrowly failed it after easily passing the practice exam included with this book.

This book covers more material than I think you need to know, but does not cover all of the material you'll need to know! Most importantly is that the router simulation questions included are much easier than they should be. I scored a 90 on the practice exam and failed the ccna. Beware.

I have read through this book 2 times now and have failed the ICND test 2 times as well. I had purchased the Intro book as well and passed the test with flying colors. Upon finishing the second book I thought that I had a pretty good understanding of the material covered but when I went to take the test I was wrong. I have gone over the material in this book so much that I can answer every book, CD, and exam test engine question correctly in my sleep. When it comes down to it, about 25 percent of the questions on the test are not covered in this book. It has good information, just not enough information. If you plan on buying this book you should consider buying another to go along with it and read that one as well before you test. Which one...? That's where I'm at - it's on to another book and hopefully a 3rd times a charm ICND test.

This book and the 640-821 book was all I used to pass the 640-801 test. The 801 book was not out at the time. But the books are missing some things you need to pass the test (I.E: dial up and interface details). The router software is "ok". Boson wants you to spend an extra $150 to get the full software to do some of the labs.That skinks and is underhanded of them. I had to take the test 2 times to pass because of the missing information. If you use these books go to cisco and download the 2500 - 2600 trouble shooting manuals and read them.

I've now taken the ICND test twice, and failed both times. My scores are very, very close, however I keep getting questions that are not covered in this book at all. Several questions about the particulars of OSPF and VTP that were not covered. I even had a question about the debug command that was not covered in either the ICND or INTRO books.

The biggest surpise was when I learned that the Cisco Press division is completely seperate from the certification division. In other words, you're not getting information from even the same department as the people who are writing the test. So don't make the same mistake I did and think that there is some advantage to getting Cisco Press books over Sybex or any other of the competing titles. You might even be better off avoiding Cisco Press books, because I'm starting to think they make their text incomplete so that you will purchase more of their books (For example, what is the difference between the "Self Study" book by Stephen McQuerry and the "Exam Certification Guide" by Wendell Odom?).

If you're looking at this book, chances are you've already passed the 640-821 INTRO exam. If that's your starting point and you used the Cisco Press CCNA INTRO Exam Certification Guide, you'll find more of the same in this book. (Note: If you haven't taken the 40-821 INTRO exam or bought the Cisco Press CCNA INTRO Exam Certification Guide, get the "CCNA Certification Library, 6th Edition" - it contains the CCNA INTRO Exam Certification Guide and this book and is cheaper than buying both separately.)

Pro's:

- For those of you who have been using Cisco equipment for a while, the "Do I Know This Already?" quizzes at the beginning of each chapter are indispensable. These will keep you from wasting time reviewing things you already know. Taking them also keeps you from possibly missing some arguably odd things Cisco deems important enough to include in the exam.

- Odom and Cisco Press definitely do a much better job explaining routing protocols and STP in this volume compared to past CCNA study guides.

- The accompanying CD includes a PDF of the book and exam and router simulators. If you use the simulators, make sure you download the latest updates from the Cisco Press Web site.

Con's:

- As I've said in other reviews, for whatever reason the universe will not allow publishers to print error-free exam study guides, and - just like the Cisco Press CCNA INTRO Exam Certification Guide - this book suffers from it's own share of errata. Although both books share the same three CCIE's as technical reviewers, this book has racked up "only" THIRTY-TWO errors since the first printing. Again, errors undermine learning and that defeats the purpose of the book.

- For some inexplicable reason the PDF version of the book on the CD was an older printing than the book itself. This will drive you nuts when you start finding errors in the PDF book that aren't in the printed version.

Some reviewers have noted that you may see questions on the 640-811 ICND exam covering topics that weren't covered in this book. Although that's possible, I suspect it is more likely those reviewers got questions covering material that wasn't in the *exam simulator* included with the book. The ICND exam includes some router simulation scenarios, and if you're not familiar with the CLI (configuring ACLs, etc.) you will probably have trouble with the exam. The router simulator included on the CD is okay - i.e. it's enough to pass the exam. However, nothing will reinforce the information in the book better than hands-on use of a router (or routers).

I'm giving this book 4 stars, mostly due to the errata. As a general rule, it's always wise to study from multiple sources when preparing for an exam. But, if you only have enough money to get one book, this one should be on your short list.

First of all, I assume you want to opt for the single CCNA test instead of taking the separete INTRO/ICND tests (And I certainly encourage you to do so!). This assumption is important because in the single CCNA test you will NEVER need to memorize useless tiny details (e.g., "What is the RFC# defining ICMP?") that might appear in the INTRO test; instead, you definitely have to be able to tell what the right implementation is in a given scenario where something is not working right. This book does have all you need - Yes, read this book and you are exposed to everything you need! Someone who mentioned poor OSPF coverage by the book is definitely wrong. Please make sure you get a copy that says "2005 update included." For some reason, I still see the outdated copies of Cisco press books out there.

[PROS]
Excellent coverage of all major topics, especially (1) frame relay, (2) NAT, (3) Different behaviors of default routing depending on classfull/classless routings, (4) supernetting, etc.
[CONS]
Too much coverage in fact - you will never see RSTP in the actual exam, for example, so skip it completely. Also don't bother memorizing RFC#s, ITU#s, etc. even when Odom says you should memorize them (Such a comment in the book is for those who take the separate exams - certainly not for the single CCNA test).

Two pieces of advice that are probably the most important things of all: (1) No hands on experience? Definitely buy a simulator program! I recommend Bosom though it has some *obvious* bugs that won't slow you down. SemSim is a joke, fyi. (2) The only test engine you ever need is pass4sure (Don't even try one that comes with this book). Do some research online until you find it. Good luck!

CCNA INTRO Exam Certification Guide and CCNA ICND Exam Certification Guide by Wendell Odom are prefect choise for CCNA exam preparation. Both books are easy to read for non-native English speakers (like me), all concepts are well explained and illustrated with good examples. Books also covers all exam topics, I used only those books for exam preparation and I answered all questions except one.

Two big problems exist with this text

#1 Insufficient coverage of OSPF. The designated router ID election process & neighbor discovery are NOT sufficiently covered in this text. You WILL be asked several questions on the CCNA exam.

#2 DEBUG/SHOW outputs are not properly explained; case in point FECN/BECN-- which one is from the DCE/DTE? Hmm? You certainly wont find out from THIS text.

/!\NOTE: be sure and download the errata from ciscopress.com

Wendell Odom did a fantastic job explaining the various aspects of Cisco networking. The book was easy to read and he produced some very creative ideas to clarify some of the tougher material. This book is an excellent source on OSPF, especially the commands. When I took the CCNA exam, I was shocked at how inline the material was compared to the actual exam. The test questions in the book are an excellent source to judge your understanding of the material; however, the exam questions you receive on test day will be much more difficult. If you are able to fully understand what was discussed in the book, you will have no trouble passing the exam. Therefore, I strongly believe that this book provides more than enough information to pass the exam.

I purchased this book set and passed the INTRO exam easily but have failed the ICND exam twice. I found the exam to be much more difficult than the practice questions. The exam gave me 60 minutes and at the end of 50 minutes I still had several questions left. Starting to have doubts as to whether this book was the best source of my study material.