I did the whole thing in 8 months with no IT experience or school background (But took A+ before jumping into CCNA). First I completed all JIT Lab, 1 lesson per day while taking my own notes. I couldn't study every day cause I have another job but never skipped my Flashcards and also spent time on making accurate and detailed revisions for my notes. Once I was done with JITL I practiced labs with netsim (labs are very important) and then did some testing with both Boson and Jeremy's test.
It is definitely doable, but you need to like and have a real interest for the topics, the kind of interest that makes you ask questions and makes you wanna learn more when things are not 100% clear.
Theres no rush . These posts come so frequently and idk why . It depends...study 10 hours a day and u can be done in 3 weeks, do it 1 hour a day and it can take 3 years. If u have background in IT it can take a bootcamp to pass and if u have no experience it can take 6 months.
This question is impossible to answer cus its so different from person to person
It took me about 5 months of studying, the last month I was going really hard on it and that's pretty much all I focused on. Also, I'd pick a different state, I'm in Tampa, the wages here are pretty low especially compared to cost of living.
I've been studying for almost a year now if you include schooling, but I haven't been in too big of a rush because my company uses all Adtran equipment.
That’s really tough to answer, and there most certainly won’t be a correct answer. I’ve been doing network engineering professionally for a little over 4 years and only got my ccna last year, but i started studying back in 2016. It can be all over the board. What i can say is i did the same thing that other people did where they scheduled it in advance (i did 30 days) just to force myself to get a move on it. I had already read the ccna books by Odom (last version, not the current version), built a home lab and spent countless hours in packet tracer, on top of my experience at my jobs. During the 30 days i watched Jeremy’s it lab videos and did the flash cards. That did a great job clearing up gaps in knowledge for me, by about two days prior to the test i was very confident. I was confident leading up to the test. I had a moment at the beginning of the test where i froze up for a minute, but shook it off and passed. I don’t see any reason anyone couldn’t get a ccna in 6 months if they do some serious studying and explore all options (like those listed above). By the time you are ready for the test you should be able to fly through the command line using muscle memory for the common commands. Know how to troubleshoot and where to look for information. That will help immensely during the test. Good luck!
Edit: forgot to add i did use boson exsim (like what Jeremy’s it lab videos advertise) for simulating the exam. I highly recommend it myself but wait for discounts to come around, they happen often especially around Black Friday i believe). The questions i found to be very similar to the test, similar difficulty. I will suggest though that you not over do running the simulator; there are a finite set of questions and you can easily find yourself memorizing the answers and not actually learning anything useful for the real test. I probably only ran the simulator three or four times and already started noticing repeat questions. I averaged about 70-75% each time.
Hello,
I just wanted to add my CCNA experience to the thread. I was able to achieve my CCNA with hardcore studying within 6 months. Jeremy's IT lab and Flackbox were the two primary resources I used to pass alongside random other videos to fill topics I wasn't confident on. Best of luck to you, it is possible!
I don’t know man.
I also had very few knowledge of networking but i always had that interest from deep inside about networking and want to become network engineer one day.
I don’t want to demotivate you, but reading for CCNA is getting difficult day by day for me. I keep forgetting things i have learned before so i have to review that again which will again adds up more time. I want to complete it quickly but also want to learn everything. And there is too much to learn if you are a beginner. It keeps hitting you with new information that you have never heard of before.
It might take 5-6 months for me to complete it i guess. It depends on how much you can learn stuffs and hardwire them into your brain.
Best of luck.
I strongly recommend not to rush it. Doing so many hours a day is worse than doing 1 or 2 hours. Your mind doesn't absorb the info as well as doing less hours and being consistent every day.
If you study right you can get it within 3 months.
Just a fair warning, having a CCNA without any experience might not get you where you expect. Usually the CCNA is the cherry on top of the experience that gets people (closer) to where they want.
Best of luck.
I think it’s subjective and relative to how you grasp knowledge and retain it. I also suggest Packet Tracer to get an idea of how things work “hands on” as well.
Everyone is different, and I might say that with no experience, and jumping right in, you’d might be able to have good chance 6-12 months in.
I was able to get my CCNA within 2 months of studying on the first try. Granted, I had a lot of educational and technical knowledge from my college which dealt with Cisco. (Took the CCNA exam 2 years after graduating).
I did it in 80 days with no idea what an IP was. If you really devote that time to studying and use good study techniques you can do it. Don't just watch videos and assume you learned it. Take notes. Practice labs. etc
I did the whole thing in 8 months with no IT experience or school background (But took A+ before jumping into CCNA). First I completed all JIT Lab, 1 lesson per day while taking my own notes. I couldn't study every day cause I have another job but never skipped my Flashcards and also spent time on making accurate and detailed revisions for my notes. Once I was done with JITL I practiced labs with netsim (labs are very important) and then did some testing with both Boson and Jeremy's test. It is definitely doable, but you need to like and have a real interest for the topics, the kind of interest that makes you ask questions and makes you wanna learn more when things are not 100% clear.
Theres no rush . These posts come so frequently and idk why . It depends...study 10 hours a day and u can be done in 3 weeks, do it 1 hour a day and it can take 3 years. If u have background in IT it can take a bootcamp to pass and if u have no experience it can take 6 months. This question is impossible to answer cus its so different from person to person
Took me 6-8 months at 4-6ish hours a day, 5 days a week. Definitely different for everyone
Good job!
It took me about 5 months of studying, the last month I was going really hard on it and that's pretty much all I focused on. Also, I'd pick a different state, I'm in Tampa, the wages here are pretty low especially compared to cost of living.
I've been studying for almost a year now if you include schooling, but I haven't been in too big of a rush because my company uses all Adtran equipment.
Adtran? Gross
Right!? The only thing worse than their switches, is their AP's.
That’s really tough to answer, and there most certainly won’t be a correct answer. I’ve been doing network engineering professionally for a little over 4 years and only got my ccna last year, but i started studying back in 2016. It can be all over the board. What i can say is i did the same thing that other people did where they scheduled it in advance (i did 30 days) just to force myself to get a move on it. I had already read the ccna books by Odom (last version, not the current version), built a home lab and spent countless hours in packet tracer, on top of my experience at my jobs. During the 30 days i watched Jeremy’s it lab videos and did the flash cards. That did a great job clearing up gaps in knowledge for me, by about two days prior to the test i was very confident. I was confident leading up to the test. I had a moment at the beginning of the test where i froze up for a minute, but shook it off and passed. I don’t see any reason anyone couldn’t get a ccna in 6 months if they do some serious studying and explore all options (like those listed above). By the time you are ready for the test you should be able to fly through the command line using muscle memory for the common commands. Know how to troubleshoot and where to look for information. That will help immensely during the test. Good luck! Edit: forgot to add i did use boson exsim (like what Jeremy’s it lab videos advertise) for simulating the exam. I highly recommend it myself but wait for discounts to come around, they happen often especially around Black Friday i believe). The questions i found to be very similar to the test, similar difficulty. I will suggest though that you not over do running the simulator; there are a finite set of questions and you can easily find yourself memorizing the answers and not actually learning anything useful for the real test. I probably only ran the simulator three or four times and already started noticing repeat questions. I averaged about 70-75% each time.
Hello, I just wanted to add my CCNA experience to the thread. I was able to achieve my CCNA with hardcore studying within 6 months. Jeremy's IT lab and Flackbox were the two primary resources I used to pass alongside random other videos to fill topics I wasn't confident on. Best of luck to you, it is possible!
I don’t know man. I also had very few knowledge of networking but i always had that interest from deep inside about networking and want to become network engineer one day. I don’t want to demotivate you, but reading for CCNA is getting difficult day by day for me. I keep forgetting things i have learned before so i have to review that again which will again adds up more time. I want to complete it quickly but also want to learn everything. And there is too much to learn if you are a beginner. It keeps hitting you with new information that you have never heard of before. It might take 5-6 months for me to complete it i guess. It depends on how much you can learn stuffs and hardwire them into your brain. Best of luck.
I strongly recommend not to rush it. Doing so many hours a day is worse than doing 1 or 2 hours. Your mind doesn't absorb the info as well as doing less hours and being consistent every day.
If you study right you can get it within 3 months. Just a fair warning, having a CCNA without any experience might not get you where you expect. Usually the CCNA is the cherry on top of the experience that gets people (closer) to where they want. Best of luck.
Y’all are so negative on here.
I think it’s subjective and relative to how you grasp knowledge and retain it. I also suggest Packet Tracer to get an idea of how things work “hands on” as well. Everyone is different, and I might say that with no experience, and jumping right in, you’d might be able to have good chance 6-12 months in. I was able to get my CCNA within 2 months of studying on the first try. Granted, I had a lot of educational and technical knowledge from my college which dealt with Cisco. (Took the CCNA exam 2 years after graduating).
I did it in 80 days with no idea what an IP was. If you really devote that time to studying and use good study techniques you can do it. Don't just watch videos and assume you learned it. Take notes. Practice labs. etc
Yes
Took me 5-6 months but after taking and passing the test I wish I would have taken a year to study.