Over the long weekend I made a decision to start studying again, I watched the Trainsignal ICND2 videos and spent some time practicing in my home lab. I made a top down study plan to map out the areas from the blueprint I think are the core skills to focus on for the exam and this is what I came up with:
Subnetting
- Develop speed and accuracy
- VLSM Calculation, application and speed
- Describe IPv6 Protocols, Dual Stack and IPv6 Tunneling
Switching
- Configure Vlans and Trunks
- Configure Router on a Stick
- VTP/RSTP configuration and troubleshooting
- Port Security/Unassigned Ports/Trunk Access
- Interface Troubleshooting
Routing
- Configure and troubleshoot OSPF and EIGRP
NAT + ACL’s
- Filtering ACL’s
- Configure/Troubleshoot allow/deny Telnet and SSH
- Configure/Troubleshoot NAT from CLI
- Acces-list (show command)
WAN Links
- Troubleshoot and Configure both FR and PPP
- VPN, describe benefits/role/impact/components
Before I took the CCENT I spend between 30-60mins a night subnetting by using subnettingquestions.com, to build my speed back up I am going to start doing this again. I spent most of the weekend watching the switching videos and brushing up on my VTP/Vlan/Trunking skills so I am feeling pretty good about that.
I had originally wanted to take the exam in April but this has well and truly passed. I took the cisco press practice exam and got a 67% and I know if I am a bit more dedicated over the next few weeks there is no reason why I cant pass the real thing.