Frustrated and Embarrassed With My Studies 4

[ElijahBaley]

Hi,

Just wondered if anyone had any words of wisdom as I am really getting a bit frustrated and embarrassed at how long I have been studying for the CCNA exam (about 8 Months)
I keep seeing posts from people who appear to have no experience with networking or computers but seem able to read up and go and pass the exam within a few weeks.

I have been using the Sybex book and Simulater and have been going through it chapter by chapter, I feel that I am really strong on the OSI model and layer 2 stuff and my practical router commands are coming along nicely. I am very happy with my understanding of binary math and IP addressing but have a big problem with subnetting which is preventing me moving forward.

When I tackled subnetting for the first time I found that it was not as difficult as I had feared and I could work with it at that time, but as I progressed and turned my attention to other areas, I seem to have completly lost how to work with subnetting, consequently I ground to a bit of a halt when I started really working with the sim to get internetworks set-up and working.

I now question my ability and am rapidly losing motivation, can anyone help!!

Thanks for listening


EB

 

[docmeyer]

Go to cisco.com and get the ccna exam objectives, go over them and see how comfortable you are with the subjects.
Find all the free online exams you can find (skilldrill.com etc).
Passing them?
Looking good?
Set the exam date.
Go for it!

Doc
(no experience dude)

http://ccnatips.freeservers.com

The DI from PI

http://95south.150m.com

Virginia Beach, VA U.S.A.

 

[ElijahBaley]

Thanks Doc,

I think that I have found the solution to my own problem: work harder!

I just knuckled down and worked over the subnetting over again, I think that I am starting to get there now, still have a bit of a problem with class B masked host bits in th e fourth octet, but I am still working at it and I know I can do it.

EB

 

[heftyprawn]

Have a look at

http://www.learntosubnet.com

its an excellent free lecture based subnet tutorial

 

[bythespy]

I have a subnetting chart in the FAQ, but the formatting required hurts the effectiveness.

Go to this URL and look at the chart, if you can recreate this chart before you start the test you can subnet anything. The great thing about math and numbers is, they always add up!

http://www.avvidug.org/subnets.htm

Mspivey
CCNP

 

[networkstudent]

If your problem is subneting, don't worry anymore, its as easy as it can be.

English its not my native language but i'll do my best to explain some tricks, if your can't understand anything feel very free to ask me i'll be glad to try to re-explain.

let's do it in one way first:

you have the network 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 right?

so you need to create at least 9 subnets with the maximun number of host available for each subnet, let's do it:

1.- you turn to bits the last octect.

00000000 you need 9 subnets so lets calculate how many bits you have to borrow.

00001111 (right to left) the bits i've marked with 1's are the ones to borrow, why? we need 9 subnets borrowing subsequent bits, the first bit we borrow gives us no subnetting, the second has a value of 2 wich gives us 2 subnets, the third has a value of 4 plus 2 of the second you got 6 subnets, the fourth has a value of 8 plus 4 plus 2 you got 14 subnets so you have to borrow four bits.

The first bit is countes but not added, in other words, 00001111= 15-1 subnets 4 bits of subnetting.

Now lets get the subnetmask, just turn the bits you had borrowed from the righ side to the left side and you get 11110000 being the first bit from left to righ 128+62+32+16= 240.

now the subnet mask wich was 24 bits or 255.255.255.0 (11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000) now its 28 bits long or 255.255.255.240 (11111111.11111111.11111111.11110000) look at the last octect and compare with the subnet mask of the last paragraph.

Very well, hope you understood the first part, now how should i really realworld create the subnets? very esay, look:

remember the subnetmask we created (11110000) now we are about to take the last turned on bit (111-1-0000) wich is 16, that's all we need to create the subnets, look.

192.168.1.16
192.168.1.32
192.168.1.48
192.168.1.64
192.168.1.80
192.168.1.96
192.168.1.112
192.168.1.128
192.168.1.144
192.168.1.160
192.168.1.176
192.168.1.192
192.168.1.208
192.168.1.224
192.168.1.240 (wich this last subnet network address is 240, hosts, from 241 to 254 and broadcast 255)

If you understand this i cant help you understand the rest of the ip addressing, this are the basics but i can help you with really neat excersices, if you want just give me a response here.

Good Luck

Jose Paez
CCNA
Here to stay

 

[networkstudent]

oooooooooooooooooooops i've made a mistake, the last subnet is 192.168.1.224 with host from 225 to 238, boradcast 240 wich is the same number as the subnetmask, Sorry!


Jose Paez
CCNA

 

[ElijahBaley]

Thanks Jose

Thankfully I have moved on since I started this thread - I have got a grip on subnetting now and can work it out quite well (my problems are now VLAN's and Access Lists!!)

Anyway I got over this problem and will be taking the exam in 5 weeks time!

Cheers

EB

 

[networkstudent]

Glad to hear that Elija,

By the way, if there's any thing i can help you to understand something about vlans don't be afraid to ask.

Bye and my best wishes!!

Jose Paez
CCNA

 

[LetsJustTalkOk]

Hi,

I just started last week. I am having a hard time but the people I have been working with have been giving me guidance to far. Maybe you can help me. I really need some pointers from real people about this. I only have a month to complete the actual school work then the test in december. So im really investing myself into this. I feel at times overwhelemed but have about 5 years of real hands on exp. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is my first board to look for other resouces. Problem is I have to do a virtual lab(which stinks) and don't get any real on hands exp of real cisco equipment

 

[RASSEEYA]

download winmx search cisco find my tutor site and download anything you want
I can also be found at rasseeya@cableinet.co.uk

CCNA Tutor.

good luck

 

[bierhunter]

I've found that if I don't schedule the test and set a deadline, my studies will go on forever without even realizing it. I had to recertify my CCNA in the middle of my CCNP, because I didn't even realize how much time had passed.

It's easy to procrastinate until the credit card is processed. Once you pay for that test, the clock is ticking. It forces you to get working on it. That's how I motivate myself now.

 

[jimrebels]

I agree completely with bierhunter, the week between the time you pay and sit the exam you can really pack it in and force yourself to work hard as the money has been paid

 

[magsam]

hi guys ...

i would say thanks alot for "Jose Paez" for the subnetting explanation ... it was so wounderful ... i understood the whole idea ... but i have one demand if u would do it ... would u reply me with ur neat exercises, pleaes ?

thanks alot
magsam

 

[keno44]

if you have never taken a tech exam, i would do what was mentioned by bierhunter and others. sign up, cram and just do it. even if you fail it, you need exam experience, you need to know how these exams are presented. you'll get more comfortable with them as time goes on. how are the transcendors going...?

 

[ccbootcamp]

Best way to learn is from experience. Get yourself a couple of routers, and LEARN!!!! Network Learning Inc

http://www.ccbootcamp.com

http://www.routerie.com