Cisco Press CCNA 640-821/811 Versions

I should add that I do have basic networking experience but not on Cisco. I tried the full 640-801 exam fall of 2004 and failed with a 770. Got hit w/4 sims and pretty much ran out of time.

I've gone cover to cover on the Intro book and done all the chapter questions, Foundations and practice exams included. Scoring around 970-980 on the practice exams.

OK, I haven't finished the book (have chapters 14-16 to go) but took an preliminary Assessment exam from Prometric and failed with an 82.9%

Reviewing the missed questions and this one stands out:

Q: Identify the methods of logging into a Cisco 2950 switch: (choose 3) A: Console B: Telnet C: Auxilary D: Serial

I chose A, B and D but was scored as an incorrect answer. Their answer was A, B, C.

The Cisco Press book specifically states a Cisco 2950 doesn't have an auxilary port.

Dang this stuff is frustrating!!!

And another one:

Q: How many usable subnets (exclude zero and broadcast address) are created when using a subnet mask which borrows 5 bits from the host field of an IP address? A. 8 B. 10 C. 32 D. 30 E. 31

I chose "D" since 2 to the 5th power is 32 minus the zero and broadcast addresses.

They said "E" was correct.

????? Every example in the 5th printing (02/2004) of the Cisco Press book you do NOT use the zero subnet.

The Cisco Press books are filled with inconsistincies and errors. I would suggest going to the appropriate update page for your book and check "Errata" for all corrections done in later printings. Hope that helps! -Russ

Done that but the inconsistencies (so I think) are in the Prometric assessment exam as noted below. I looked at Richard Deal's CCNA book by Osborne and it also states the 2950 switch has no auxilary port.

well, it looks to me to be D. THe question even tells you to not use those 2 subnets.

does it really matter? you understand the concept. if you understnd all the concepts then you can afford to drop a stupid mark like that.

That's an error. The question explicity says exclude zero and broadcast subnets, so it mustt be 30.

You can afford to drop a "stupid mark like that" when you get enough of the rest correct to actually pass the exam.

You MUST understand subnetting for CCNA - something like 25% of the questions will involve it.

A,B and D are correct. There is no Aux port on a 2950. The Preliminary exam is wrong. Send an email to Prometric telling them so.

That's inaccurate. The Cisco Press Intro & ICND books average only 1 error per 36 pages, the same as the Sybex 640-801 book.

That's a great suggestion, for any book.

Yeah. In the errata for the last Harry Potter book, Dumbledore lives...

I used the Sybex and Cisco Press Flash Card books to pass the exam. I found a lot more errors in the Sybex (but they have an Errata web page). Don't be fooled by the Cisco press exam demos either. I whipped thru the practice tests in 1/2 hour each time I did them with a score in the 90's. In the real exam I had 30 seconds left after 90 minutes (although I would say the Cisco Press demos emulate the exam pretty closely). It's just the wording of the questions in the exam.

I'm working on my MCSA now and am finding the same problem with the Osborne books. They are mainly grammatical errors, but it is really annoying ! You would expect more from these kind of books and expect them to use a spelling and grammar checker.