200-301 CCNA study resources
Ace the exam
Quick Reference
Courses
Books
Acing the CCNA Exam by Jeremy McDowell
Practice labs
Practice exams
Subnetting
Exam purchase
The process
I started off with Neil Andersons CCNA Bootcamp course in January 2023. The first few lessons were about networking fundamentals and mostly theory with very little practical stuff. As you progress you would get labs at the end of each lesson. It also included downloadable Anki cards for revision.
As I was doing the Neil Anderson course I was also doing random Boson NetSim labs, once I finished the course I focused on just the labs while I revised and started reading the CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide Library book (Commonly referred to the OCG in forums and user groups) to fill in gaps and go over things I didn’t understand, I didn’t read the whole book. It is a good idea to study from at least two different sources as you might understand a certain topic better if it is explained in a different way.
Around June (about 6 months after I started) I started doing Boson’s practice exams (ExSim) and scored 66%. So I knew I needed to improve. The good thing about Boson is that it explains the answer to the questions in depth with links to additional resources.
I wanted to find additional content for the CCNA and I found Jeremy’s IT lab on YouTube and I was really impressed with the content. I used it to fill in gaps and get a different perspective on certain topics. This course also included downloadable Anki cards for revision.
In July I decided to buy Jeremy’s book Acing the CCNA exam even though it was part of the Early Access Program which means it hasn’t been finished. But did find useful information in there.
At this stage (6 months from the start) I was trying the Boson exams every 2 weeks (3 in total). They recommend not to do each exam more than twice as you will start to memorise answers and it doesn’t reflect your actual knowledge even if you score higher every time you do a practice exam. Here are some tips on how to use the exams. I didn’t do each exam in one go either, it has a study mode where can stop and carry on later. I know that isn’t exactly like taking a real exam but it’s what I could manage, as I was doing it in-between work and really wanted to get good sleep instead of staying up late to complete a whole practice exam.
In August I decided to book the exam as I got around 838 points in the last practice exam (Exam C). I read in a post that you could be ready for the real exam once you score 840 points in Exam C. As I wanted some more exam practice without repeating previous practice exams, I bought Jeremy’s IT lab CCNA practice exam 1. This one was even harder than the Boson ExSim exams which was good because it highlighted what I needed to revise. The only downside was that the exam experience was not exactly like the real exam, but I still recommend you get this.
Closer to the exam I sat through a whole practice exam in one sitting to get an idea of how to manage my time during the 2 hours, I used 2 practice exams from Pearson Vue which were included in my works O’Reilly’s subscription. I also did a random exam from Boson ExSim a few days before the exam to help feel more confident and get one last practice before the real one.
Throughout the last 2-3 months I was also doing the Boson NetSim labs. This helped me to familiarise myself with the commands needed to configure Cisco devices.
For the last month I started reading 31 days before your CCNA exam. It was good for revision and it covered a different topic each day. If required, it had suggestions on what to read from the OCG for further study.
One thing that I practiced throughout the 8 months of study was subnetting. I would do two exercises a week more or less, Boson NetSim had Subnetting labs and I also found some webpages (Links above) with random subnetting questions.
It’s a good idea to get really good at working out subnets using binary as opposed to using charts. Some people suggested using charts as it is faster than working out your answers than binary. They suggest you write everything out on the laminated card before the exam starts during the instructions and signing of the agreement. In the end I didn’t do that, I think it would have been too stressful for me plus I did use all three of the provided sheets during the exam as I couldn’t wipe off the marker pen. I used the time before the exam to relax read the instructions carefully and familiarise myself with the question format, you do go through some mock questions before you actually start.
In closing
In hindsight I think I would have liked to have spent more time with labs, I struggled with this in the practice exams and in the real exam. I bought Cisco CCNA Packet Tracer Ultimate labs by David Bombal a few days before the exam on Udemy, I didn’t have time to use it but it was recommended in a user group. I currently use it in my spare time as practice and to refresh my memory. It is really good as the videos walk you through the exercises.
I recommend you get at least the practice exams from Boson as it closely simulates the real exam experience, ideally get the ExSim and Netsim kit. One thing to note is that you you have access to the Practice exams/labs for a year from the date of purchase.
The exams from Jeremy’s IT lab are also excellent, they are also accessible for a year. I actually didn’t use the second practice exam as I wanted to leave it as an option for later if I failed the real exam. Remember not to attempt practice exams until you have gone through at least one course or book and have a good understanding of all the topics.
In terms of Anki cards, I know it is difficult in the beginning because of the volume of cards but it will get easier as the repetition increases and reviews include less cards. I did miss the odd day, but I kept at it from the beginning. I know some people use Anki cards towards the end of their studies, but the idea is to use the space repetition feature which is better for memorisation, therefore there is no need to cram before the exam.
I used the complete Anki deck from Neil Andersons course and about 60% of decks from Jeremy’s IT lab. I suggest you only stick to the decks from one course and add them to your Anki app as you complete each topic not all at once. I found Jeremy’s IT labs Anki cards were better for most of the topics. I did create my own Anki Cards as well for things that I wanted to memorise.
All in all I am pleased with myself. It’s a good idea to have a plan and stay motivated, you can read more on that in a previous post, see below.
