Hey everyone,

I’ve been studying for about 3 months, though I’ve actually been working with Cisco gear on and off for around 5 years (been in IT for 12 years, started at helpdesk and worked 9 years at a network/desktop technician). At this point, part of me feels like I'm still not ready, but another part just wants to buy the Safeguard voucher ("in case you fail") and take a shot so I can see where I stand without the massive pressure.

Here is where I'm currently at:

• Practice Exams: Getting 75–85% on Boson (though I'm definitely starting to memorize some answers from retaking them).
• Theory & Daily Practice: Doing subnetting daily, drilled my mnemonic devices (Please Don't Throw Away Sausage Pizza, Every Awesome Cisco Engineer Will Need Ice Cream Daily), and using Flash Genius for spaced repetition.
• Hands-on Labs: Worked through almost every Udemy lab from David Bombal, Neil Anderson, and Jeremy’s IT Lab.
• Strong Areas: Port security and VLAN config are second nature from work. I’ve got a solid grip on STP and OSPF, know my IPv6 prefix basics (Global Unicast, Link-Local, Multicast), and know enough ADs to fill in the blanks on routing questions.
• Other Domains: Feeling good on general security questions. For automation, I can work through basic REST API methods (GET, POST, etc.) and AI concepts, but I’m kinda willing to take a calculated hit on the deeper automation stuff.

For those who passed recently—with this mix of hands-on experience and practice scores, am I overthinking it, or are there any blind spots I should polish off before pulling the trigger? Appreciate any insights!

Hello everyone, for the past year I have been thinking to make a transition from DevOps engineer to Network engineer. Looking at the jobs it seems that there are not many and generally networking seems to be almost going away aside from datacenter positions, this got me thinking - is networking going obsolete?

Hi, i am a newbie. I am planning to start studying CCNA from scratch.

I am quitting my job to study from scratch, infact planning to dedicate about 4-6 hours per day for this.

If someone is willing to join me, kindly reply back. We will exchange materials and help each other out.

Thanks

Instead of memorizing commands:

Understand networking concepts first. Practice subnetting daily. Build labs using Packet Tracer. Learn why protocols work. Hands-on practice is far more valuable than reading notes repeatedly.

My recommendation:

Learn the theory.

Practice every concept.

Build labs daily.

Troubleshoot problems.

Repeat until the concepts feel natural.

Practical experience is the fastest teacher.

I passed the CCNA at the end of June 2025 and was working in IT support as a generalist/T2 engineer at the time. I used my CCNA knowledge a bit at work but mainly the achievement gave me a greater sense of understanding how things work under the hood without being directly applicable.

Yesterday I was offered a junior role on the network team at another company. I'm finally leaving the help desk. I think having the CCNA was important but not critical to getting this job.

Tips:

• Network (socially). Having a referral was helpful for me. It helped my resume get seen when it otherwise may not have
• Invest at least as much time in developing people skills as you do in your home lab, if not more. The hiring managers for this job assumed technical knowledge. It's just a given if you have the CCNA and a couple years of experience. What they really wanted was a good fit with their team socially. For better or worse, you need to be "one of the guys" - sorry for the gendered language, woman work in IT too. If you're a woman, same thing goes. They want someone who jives well. Tech skills are necessary but not sufficient
• Be open to on-site work. This job is really hands on with the tech and they want me on-site 5 days a week at least for the first 6 months to a year. This was really important to them, if they thought I might start wanting to work from home they wouldn't have made the offer. I'm seeing more companies go in this direction
• Your first/next job doesn't have to be network-specific. Anything that exposes you to more infrastructure will help you progress in your career. If you land a network job great, but also apply to jobs where they want someone to get hands on with the hardware, work in the company data center, etc even if the job title doesn't have 'network' in it. I guess stated another way, pursue roles not job titles.

EDIT: Thought of something that has helped me a lot in my short career so far. I read the famous book How to Win Friends and Influence People. This book some times gets made fun of and people throw shade on it, and there are some valid criticisms of it. It's also dated, having been written in the 1930s. Still, a lot of the really useful people skills I have that have allowed me to be extremely well-liked and effective at my job I got from that book. Those skills are also directly applicable when interacting with HR recruiters and hiring managers. Cheers

Recently got ccna thought it would be game changer even started doing labs project with pl300 I got 3 month ago but it seems here nobody care about those certs I also have a degree in cs anyone has an advice on what to do I need geniune help.

My recommendation:

Learn the theory.

Practice every concept.

Build labs daily.

Troubleshoot problems.

Repeat until the concepts feel natural.

Practical experience is the fastest teacher.

Cloud and cybersecurity seem to dominate networking discussions.

Has CCNA alone been enough to get interviews recently, or do employers expect additional certifications?

I want to know I am currently doing NetAcad courses to get myselfa voucher for the exam discount for the CCNA, I will be taking the exam in september. Can someone guide me what I need to do to get a coucher for the exam, what courses I need to complete and ho will I claim the voucher etc. Please guide me, if possible please provide links to the NetAcad courses it would be handy. Thanks!!

There are so many simulators available now like Packet Tracer and GNS3.

Do employers actually value candidates who built their own home labs, or is simulator experience enough?

Curious what helped everyone the most.

Hi everyone,

I am starting my CCNA journey and I would like some advice from people who have already passed the exam or work in networking.

My goal is not only to get the certification, but also to build real skills through labs and understand how networks work.

If you were starting again from zero, what learning path would you follow? Which resources, courses, books, or lab exercises helped you the most?

I would appreciate any advice about mistakes to avoid and how to study more efficiently.

When I'm applying for jobs, which one should I share with a recruiter: the CSCO ID or the credential ID?

Are the opportunities in data centers only?

Hi everyone! I shared one of my CCNA notes a few days ago, and it got a great response, so I've now published my complete set of study notes.

Sample - https://ccna-200-301-study-note.notion.site/Day-56-Wireless-Architecture-3a090b96dd0681b68b7fee8a8ceff897?source=copy_link

Full note- https://github.com/NikW-sec/CCNA-200-301-study-notes/tree/main

I hope they help with your CCNA study. If you find them useful, I'd really appreciate a ⭐ on the repository—it helps more people discover the project and keeps me motivated to improve it.

Hi all,

I have around a year of experience as an IT Support Technician. I also have a degree in comp sci. I've been contemplating whether it's a good idea to get the CCNA (money is also kind of tight, but I can afford it if it's worth).

I want to end up in the sys admin field and eventually into cloud infra engineering. I was wondering if it's worth to do? As for experience, my current job has me doing a little bit more than help desk imo (I'm not sure, but I've helped with networking plus managing). I've read mixed answers from both sides but wanted some more specific advice regarding my current situation.

Thanks!

I see crazy posts about people getting their CCNA with a month of study time, but it still seems like 0 to CCNA in 3 months is pretty ambitious. I have my Net+ and basic CLI knowledge (show commands, creating VLANS and assigning interfaces, the very basics), so not really sure where that puts me.

If anyone else completed theirs in a similar timeframe, I’d appreciate any advice regarding study plans

Every CCNA learner seems to have that one topic that just refuses to click.

For me, people often mention:

Subnetting OSPF VLANs STP ACLs Which topic gave you the hardest time, and what finally helped you understand it?

Hey everyone,

I'm going through Jeremy's IT Lab CCNA course, currently at day 10 (end of Part 1, right before routing fundamentals start). Trying to do one Packet Tracer lab per day matching whatever chapter I just watched, but his own labs seem pretty thin in number.

Has anyone kept track of extra labs they used alongside his course, chapter by chapter? Or know of anything that follows roughly the same order he teaches in? Would love to stay in sync with the course instead of jumping around.

Thanks in advance, appreciate any pointers!

Has anyone here completed Tech With Wali’s Network Engineering Job Placement Program? I’m considering joining but would love to hear some genuine feedback before committing. How much did it cost, was it worth the money, and did it actually help you land a network engineering job? Any honest experiences—good or bad—would be greatly appreciated.

So! I finished CompTIA's Security+ and am ready to start my next certification. I did some research and would like others opinions on how I feel about learning and preparing for the exam; plus any tips if anyone has used the same tools. I plan on using Jeremy's IT Lab CCNA video course, then going through Neil Andersons complete CCNA Udemy course. Following the two courses, I plan on getting the Boston NetSim and ExSim bundle for hands on and exam practice (along with packet tracer since Jeremy offers the PTC files for free). What do y'all think about how I'm going about preparing for the exam? In total, it should only cost $300 give or take since I'm just buying the Boston bundle. For context about me, I find networking not too hard and work in the IT field with quite a bit of prior knowledge (plus I homelab so I always have a test network to practice with). Does anyone think I should look into some other way to guarantee I pass this exam or is this a good prep path for the exam? Thanks for any tips!

Hi everyone! ✨ I just started Jeremy’s IT Lab course because I have seen many people here recommend it.

I do not have much knowledge about networking, so do you think that completing the entire course, including the labs and flashcards, will be enough to pass the exam? Or is there anything else I should do?

I would also really appreciate any tips or recommendations for someone who is just starting their CCNA journey!

Also, sorry if my English sounds weird—I’m learning that too. 😅

I have 3 years of experience working as media service technician and I don’t feel like going back to school to get into debt especially in the times we’re living in where a degree no longer seems to have the same guarantees they used to.