Failed CCNA - 838

[ElijahBaley]

Hi, I failed the CCNA 640-607 exam today with a 838

I am pretty shell shocked as I thought I was ready, I was cosistently scoring 90%+ on two Boson practice exams spread over a total of eight 'quizes' I felt comfortable with everything covered in the Sybex book and practised using the sybex e-lab (three 2500 routers and a 1900 switch) often setting up a three router WAN with static and default routes or using RIP and or IGRP succesfully.

The first question that I had was a easy multiple choice but was followed by two labs which were more complex than I expected and ate into my time.

I feel totally destroyed but I suppose I have come this far, I must not give up now

Bridging & Switching 100%
Cisco & Network Basics 67%
LAN Technologies 100%
Network Management 83%
OSI Model & Layered Communication 83%
Routed Protocols 80%
Routing Protocols 50%
WAN Services 67%

Does anyone have any words of wisdom to help me get this cert in the bag,

Thanks for all your help


EB

 

[CiscoTek]

How did you feel you did on the Sim's? Did you double check your changes to the config's? For example: If you have a router that is not communicating make your changes and verify that all of the routers can communicate. If you change any passwords make sure that the passwords are entered correctly by trying them. Don't forget the "copy run start" commands. I went through the same situation you did. The mind game was harder than the test. I was alway worried about the time left in the test. Take your time and verify that the changes you are making are working. It is hard to swallow that a 838 on a test is still not passing. Your scores show that you are getting the multiple choice questions correct, but the sims seem to be where you are getting dinged. Take your time... Verify your changes.... You will pass next time. Keep us informed on your progress.

Good Luck,

CiscoTek MCSE CCNA

 

[k0mbachi]

Elija:

Is the Sybex esim ISBN number 0-7821-2728-2? If so, I just received this today from an ebay purchase. Is there a version number on the box? This appears to be an evolving product. I'm aware of two Sybex products focused on CCNA. I also have the Cisco esim package and will be comparing the two this week. Did you work the sample esim from the cisco site? Did you go through the esims multiple times until you could do the sims without thinking? Is there any reason for not working with all the question banks until you score perfect everytime? Did you see questions on the exams that simply weren't covered in the bosen and sybex questions?

Did you have the sim that was documented earlier on this board? Without revealing details, do you remember the scope of any of the esims?

Did you feel you did ok on the simulations?

FYI, I am displeased with the presentation via both the Cisco and Sybex drivers, to the point that I have converted all (actually, most; some don't convert easily) of those questions into "transdumper" format. Transdumper is available free on the web and runs within a browser. The advantage is that you get immediate feedback and going thru a bank of questions requires minimal keystrokes. Probably most important is that you can save out missed questions to a separate bank and review just those. Of course none of this helps with simulations.

I empathize with your situation because I'm planning on taking the test this month, presuming that I have developed a feeling of readiness, not currently present. I suspect that you could have been victimized by the random selection of questions from the test bank and, on another day, you may have passed. One thing I've noted from the two Cisco sources for questions, 200 from the esim package, 300 from the Odom book, is that they tend to twist the questions in a variety of ways so that you recognize test elements from any given angle.

The problem with studying for this exam is the scope of detail required. I have been impelled at least a dozen time to post queries on this board on subject detail, but instead have spent the time with web research. So far I haven't found a comprehensive clearing house for all information required for the CCNA exam. I'm extremely disappointed that I haven't heard back from Cisco regarding the missing solutions for esims from Odom's book, particularly since there appears to be a growing emphasis on simulations during the exam.

Enough ranting. Hang in there; you're too close to quit now.

 

[ElijahBaley]

Thanks for your comments guy's,

Yes it was the the sims that got me, I started very calmly with the first one and tried to go about it systematically - I thought that I had identified the problems correctly and set about putting them right but before long I started to feel the heat from the clock, the intro recommended no more than 10mins per lab but I was still sweating with the first one after 14mins. I did not copy run start (it was not specified, so I did not do it - (usually I can't stop myself from doing it after every config change!#*) - anyway I moved on knowing that I had not completed this lab satisfactorily, I then had another similar lab and again tried to remain composed and I think I did ok on this one, though again I used a lot of time – the rest of the exam was ok, but I had four or five ‘difficult’ questions which I was not totally sure about, (had a lot of ISDN) generally I was a little surprised at the quality of the multiple choice questions.

I think I know what I have to do now, really get to grips with the details and practice, practice, practice with a sim (I have some reservations with the sybex sim as it does not support all commands and can be misleading)

Most importantly I think I need to work out and practice a systematic approach to troubleshooting a WAN sim – there is some good advice in another post in this forum

I started out on the Cisco track as I wanted to learn more about internetworking and WAN technologies, so even though I failed the CCNA this time I still feel that I have learned so much and am really enjoying doing so, just a shame that my £100 was flushed down the toilet!!

EB

 

[dogbert2]

Given the fact that you scored ok in every area except

cisco - network basics
Routing Protocols
WAN services

A couple of questions right in Routing Protos or
WAN services would have pushed you over 849. I would
hit those areas again hard and retake within a month
(make sure you stay current on other areas also).

 

[eliteal]

I feel your pain. I also failed the test with 838 needed 849 so that was jagged pill to swallow! I am accustom to over preparing for exams so when I sat down I was not that nervous until the first router SIM took me over 15 minutes to complete. Call me an idiot but it took me a couple of minutes to get to the router since I never taken a virtual SIM like question. After reading a couple of posts it is clear that I did not check my answers in the SIM lab, I however did “copy run star” at the end of each change in the config. A couple of questions that I know I got wrong were strangely worded. I believe these questions were put in place more to trick than to measure skill. My suggestion to you is look at the posts that include the SIM discussion and DO NOT GIVE UP. I will be taking this exam again this week with a new attitude for the SIM questions. Wish us both well!

 

[k0mbachi]

ElijaBailey and eliteal:

I've recently been frustrated during learning details from the Cisco Flash product. Answering the question:

(fill in the blank) transparently reconfigures bridges and switches to avoid the creation of loops with "spanning tree" is marked incorrect. The required answer is "spanning tree protocol".

Answering the question:

(fill in the blank) is a switching method that allows the switch to discard frames with errors with "store and forward" is marked incorrect. The required answer is "store-and-forward". Pulling up a search for "store and forward" on

http://www.cisco.com

shows that, of the first 25 hits, 12 include the hyphens.

I would hate to think shananigans of this nature are preventing you two from obtaining certification status.

 

[Pavlos]

THE ONE WHO DARES THE ONE WHO WINS!

gOOd LucK CCNA
System/Network Administrator

 

[wardicus]

just try again - the only consolation i can give is that it is worth it, and employers like cisco certs because they are hard.also ccnp is easier than ccna.

wait til you have a crack at the ccie then, now that is hard.

wardicus

ccna ccnp mcse+i mcse 2k mcdba

 

[dogbert2]

CCNP exams are NOT easier than CCNA exam...there are 4 of them, compared to one (CCNA). The BSCI will simply KILL you, if you don't know EIGRP, VLSM, Summarization, BGP, OSPF, and IS-IS...I took the remote access exam last year, it's no pushover either.

 

[faisallt]

hay don't worry thats the first exam. luck is always with the braves. now u have familiar with the exam environment. now u have more confident. CCNA always tough. CCNP will be very easy. just read the text book of Cisco press throughly. thats all nothing else. all paper always from the text book. ather resources always divided your concentrations. thats my way. i am very tense when i appear in CCNA, but now i am CCNP in 4 months and inshallah will be CCDP on 30th. thats the confidence required. good luck and more determine. God always do right.