CCNA FAQs & Tips

CCNA is a long topic to talk about and there are many tips that can help you save much time when sitting in the exam hall. From the comments here and information from other places, this article tries to summarize all the CCNA frequently asked questions to save you some time. Please feel free to ask anything that you are unclear about CCNA so that all of us can help you. I will update this article frequently to bring you newest information about this exam.

1. Please tell me how many questions in the real CCNA 200-301 exam, and how much time to answer them?

Until now, you have 120 minutes to answer 94 questions and three lab sims in the real CCNA exam. If your native language is not English, Cisco allows you a 30-minute exam time extension. But there are a few requirements to get this extension, so the best way is asking your teacher or mentor before taking the exam.

2. How much does the CCNA Exam 200-301 cost? And how many points I need to pass the exam?

It now costs $300 (big money, right?) :)

The passing score is 825/1000. But you will no longer see your exam score after your test. You will only see if you passed or failed as well as details on each section performance (in percent). Sometimes you will see the status remains “Score Pending” and you have to wait for a few days (up to 72 business hours) in order for the PearsonVUE portal to reflect your actual score (“Pass” or “Fail”).

3. How many ways can I get the CCNA certification?

Currently there is only one way to get the CCNA certification via taking the CCNA 200-301 exam. The ICND1 & 2 exams were removed and no longer valid so we cannot take them now.

4. I got the CCNA certification, will this certification expire?

CCNA certification is valid for three years. To recertify, pass the current CCNA exam again, or pass any one professional concentration exam (wireless, security, voice), or pass one technology core exam, or pass one CCIE lab exam (note: currently there are no CCIE Written Exams) before your certification expiration date.

5. If I failed the exam, how long must I wait before retaking it?

Cisco requires five waiting days before retaking a failed exam.

6. If students fulfill the exam requirements for the CCNA certification, will they also receive CCENT certification?

No, students who certify at the CCNA level will not earn CCENT certification. The purpose of the CCENT certification is to provide an option for those who aren’t ready for CCNA.

(Information from http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le0/le9/learning_certification_type_home.html)

7. Which sims will I see in the CCNA exam?

Currently there are three lab sims for the exam. But the sims are randomly chosen and they are different from each exam so we cannot say which sims will appear in your exam.

8. How many points will I get for one sim?

Well, Cisco doesn’t tell how many points you will get for each correctly solved sim but from my experience, you will get from 80 to 100 points for each sim. Cisco maybe is a bit rude for sims because you will just get a few points if you can’t solve the sim completely. So be careful with the sims and try to write all the commands on paper many times for practicing before taking this exam.

9. Can I use short commands, for example “conf t” instead of “configure terminal”? Will I get full mark for short commands?

Yes, you can! You can also use the “Tab” and short commands without any problem.

10. How much time should I spend on each sim?

Cisco recommends that you should not spend more than 5 to 7 minutes for each sim. But if you solve other questions (multiple choice and drag drop questions) quickly then you should not spend more than 15 minutes for each sim. Recall that you only have 90 minutes so if you spend 15 minutes for each sim x 3 sims = 60 minutes (now the sims have been reduced to 3 but we calculate 4 sims for safe). The 30 minutes left is for solving 40 multiple choice questions. If you are not a native English speaker and have 30-minute expansion (ask your teacher or testing center to confirm) than you can spend 20 minutes for each sim.

11. Can I pass without doing sims?

As mentioned above, each sim will cost you from 80 to 100 points. In the real exam you will have to solve 4 sims that give from 320 to 400 points. Suppose you answer all other questions perfectly then you will get 600 to 680 points but the passing score is 825. It means that you surely fail if ignore them.

From the calculation above, if you miss only one sim the chance to pass is average but if you miss two, the chance to pass is very, very low.

12. In the exam, how can I access to the routers in the simulator?

On the right-side of each sim you will find all devices you can access to. They are displayed in tabbed-format.

13. I want to ask if out of 3 tasks in the sim, I answered 1 or 2 tasks wrongly, do we get 0 marks for that sim or get something for other correct tasks?
You still get points for the tasks you answered correctly so try to answer as much as possible for that sim.

14. In the real exam, I clicked “Next” after choosing the answer, can I go back for reviewing?

No, this is a very important thing about CCNA exam. You can just go forward! You can visit http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/wwtraining/certprog/training/cert_exam_tutorial.html to be familiar with the exam interface.

15. What is the key to pass CCNA?

The CCNA exam covers many aspects of networking and most of the topics will be asked. But the most important topic is subnetting so make sure you understand how to subnet. Of course other topics are important too so you shouldn’t bypass them.

16. I need to know if the exam questions are the same in all the geographical locations?

Yes, the exam questions are the same in all geographical locations. But notice that Cisco has a pool of questions and each time you take the exam, a number of random questions will show up so you will not see all the same questions as the previous exam.

17. I am going to take the exam in a few days and I wonder can we have a pen and paper for IP calculations or calculator itself?

You are not allowed to bring a calculator or anything else to the exam room. You can’t use the virtual calculator in Windows, too. You will receive a rough paper or a small board to write everything you need during the exam. However, you should bring a pen or a pencil because sometimes the exam hall doesn’t have one (yes, some exam centers are not good) and maybe it will make you more comfortable.

18. I failed the exam. Will I see the same questions and sims in my next try?

Cisco has a pool of questions and sims so you will see some same (but surely not all) questions in your next exam.

19. What are your recommended materials for CCNA?

There are many options you can choose, but below are materials used and recommended by many candidates. The links below contain our referral number so you will support us too if you buy with them while the price remains the same:

Recommended Books (updated in October 2024):

• Understanding Cisco Networking Technologies, Volume 1: Exam 200-301 by Todd Lammle
  
• CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide Library by Wendell Odom
• CCNA 200-301 Portable Command Guide by Scott Empson
• 31 Days Before your CCNA Exam: A Day-By-Day Review Guide for the CCNA 200-301 Certification Exam by Allan Johnson

Video Training:

• CBT Nuggets
• Train Signal
• Testout

From my point of view, these video are just optional materials and they cost much, you can definitely pass the CCNA exam without buying them. If you have strong budget and want to learn in a more comfortable way then buy them! (but it is difficult to pass if just listening to them without reading books, believe me!)

Simulators & Emulators (luckily, they’re the best and free):

• Packet Tracer
• GNS 3
• EVE-NG

Packet Tracer is light, quick and convenient for common tasks but sometimes it doesn’t act like real devices because it is a simulator. But currently Packet Tracer is the best choice for CCNA level. A good point of Packet Tracer is that Cisco has many good labs (.pkt files) to practice with. 

GNS 3 and EVE-NG are emulators so they are really good as they use real IOS so all the commands are available but these IOS are copyrighted so it is hard to get. Besides, GNS 3 needs much RAM to run so from my experience you should use lowest routers and switches that support your lab requirements. If you need to configure OSPF or EIGRP, use higher routers and switches. These three simulators are enough to practice labs for CCNA but if you want to learn about other simulators, check out my Free Router Simulators article.

Websites & Forums:

• Cisco website
• 9tut.com of course :)

About Dumps…

If you use dumps make sure you understand the concept behind each question. It’s a very big mistake if you just learn which answer is correct without understanding the concept. Notice that in the real CCNA exam, you will be given different IP addresses, subnets and more options to choose; so it is easier to understand them than to learn them by heart. Finally, my advice is you just should use dumps as a final review after finishing the CCNA course.

20. I am going to take the exam in a couple of days. Where can I get newest information from candidates who have just passed the exam?

You can visit the Share your CCNA Experience section in this site, scroll down to the bottom of that page to read newest information about CCNA exam.I really want to say thanks to all candidates who are willing to share experience after taking the exam. It is an invaluable gift for CCNA candidates.

21. I passed CCNA. Do you have any site similar to 9tut.com for CCNP?

We have digitaltut.com for ENCORE (the Core exam of CCNP Enterprise certification), certprepare.com for CCNP Enterprise ENSDWI (a concentration exam of CCNP Enterprise certification) and networktut.com for ENARSI (another concentration exam of CCNP Enterprise certification). For Security track, we have securitytut.com for SCOR exam and cftut.com for SNCF exam (a concentration exam of CCNP Security certification).

We also have other sites (but only for sharing experience) like voicetut.com for Voice/Collaboration track, dctut.com for Data Center track, sptut.com for Service Provider track, wirelesstut.com for Wireless track, opstut.com for DevNet track. Hope you enjoy these sites and find useful information too!

22. I am going to get my CCNA exam and I have a question: in the drag and drop questions are the answers must be arranged?

It depends on the questions. If the question clearly states that you have to arrange the answers in a given order (for example, from smallest to greatest; from lowest to highest; step 1,2,3…) then you have to arrange them correctly. In most cases, you don’t need to arrange them so don’t worry and don’t try to learn the order shown in the materials you use before taking the exam.

23. How can I join the Premium Membership on 9tut.com?

You can join the Premium Membership on 9tut.com at this link. After the registration you can login via this link.

Is there anything you want to ask, just ask! All of us will help you.

(Please don’t ask for copyright materials here)