Study Aids - Updated Nov. 2021

Updated!

Hello Friends!

Today I will be talking about the study aids I use when studying for a Cert.

I generally like to study by myself because I can go at my own pace and stop to lab out a concept without having the worries of holding up a group. However on occasion I find that I need something to keep me accountable and to feel like somebody else is there. Well this has become my go to for that : Study with Me ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSQkQjPhnZw12Hj-SfsbX8w ) The woman who does this has many different videos some with music and some without but all of them amazingly useful.

MUSIC:
When labbing for long periods of time I tend to listen  to fast paced music which helps me think and keeps the pace up. For this I listen to Two Steps From Hell, Audiomachine and videos from this guy's playlist https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT5RMcRGa32Th0AZ0Dxxviw. <----This playlist of videos is also good for coding/hacking ;-).

BOOKS:
I like hard copies of books, but when I need to reference something obscure or need to look something up I use Safari Books Online ( https://learning.oreilly.com/home/ ) . This is a HUGE digital library of books and a lot of the times you can get new cert offical guides before the hardback is released. Safari also has video trainings for some of the certs which as we all know can get crazy expensive. 

VIDEOS:
In this category there are a whole bunch of different things you can go to, but I will pick the ones I use. I use udemy because its cheap and I have found instructors that I like that I feel cover the topics well. I have purchased Chris Bryant's Courses ( https://www.udemy.com/user/chrisbryant/ ) and David Bombal's Courses and Labs ( https://www.udemy.com/user/davidbombal/ ) Both of these instructors are phenomenal and depending on your learning type but you can't go wrong with either one of them.
On YouTube the Networking group Routergods (https://www.meetup.com/routergods/ ) I'm a part of has a channel that has amazing videos as well ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrjqoLWLLW1uXSvoPL3SQwg)

I also highly recommend joining The Art of Network Engineering! Thus group has been amazing and has helped me tremendously making progress on my goal of obtaining my CCNP. Come Join us!

https://artofnetworkengineering.com/

It’s all About the Journey- https://discord.gg/hqZ7XEG


TEST PREP:
Now test prepping sites can be difficult to choose from as you want to make sure you are getting legitimate sites that well help you learn the material not just memorize it. I used PearsonVue, AlphaPrep ( https://www.alphaprep.net/ ) and Boson ( https://www.boson.com/default.aspx?r=1 ) all which are quality sites and will help you learn. I however got the most out of Boson and found it the most through because it included sims which are extremely helpful being most exam like.

PACKET TRACER FILES:

This are networks I built in Packet Tracer to cement concepts, feel free to use, edit or add to as needed.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11cgrM3VDKeAfVdiY5qxs15YnWIsNR_3K?usp=sharing

These are the things that I used to study and pass my CCNA Cert exam on the first try. What are some of your study aids? Post them below







Comments

  1. PetruJuly 18, 2023 at 7:52 AM

    Very useful. Thank you for writing, Charles! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charles HSeptember 4, 2023 at 10:04 PM

      Of Course! I will add to this as I find more, but glad I could help :-)

      Delete

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