Lammle does an excellent job of explaining complex networking concepts (particularly subnetting) in terms simple enough for someone with no previous exposure to networking to understand.

Unfortunately, some subjects were oversimplified, to the point that I felt underprepared for the CCNA test. If you are an excellent student, or you retain 100% of what you read, this book will get you a passing score on the exam. For the rest of us, I recommend Wendell Odom's CCNA Self Study Certification Library (Cisco Press - ISBN 1-58720-095-3). There's more to read, but you'll enter the exam more confident and better prepared.

-sean henning

The most challenging thing a certification test-prep book faces is the way it invariably will be misused. There is an old saw about using the right tool for the job, which in essence tells us to use the correct planning, strategy, and action to get the result we want. The majority of people purchasing a book like this are planning to take the CCNA exam and want some help preparing. This makes sense, and this is why I myself purchased Lamle's book. While it worked, and I passed with a 901, I couldn't help but wonder how much more difficult it would have been without hands-on experience with the devices, protocols and processes themselves at work. I have not yet met anyone who studied for, and passed, the CCNA test without any prior hands-on network experience.

It makes me very nervous to read someone's review suggesting, "This is the only preparation you need". To pass the test, you will likely need some experience as well, and to avoid the Catch-22 of requiring experience to get the job, yet also the job to gain the experience, I would recommend seeking first a junior position in the field, where you can not only get the experience, but also the mentoring of senior networking staff.

However, once you pass the test and have the cert, we face another challenge: "Does the cert verify your ability to apply what you know?" Not really, but that's why you cannot stop learning and developing your skills set there. You will likely need the CCNA to get the interview for the Networking job you seek, but you will need interview skills to get the job, and you will need to be able to APPLY your technical knowledge to keep it. Lamle's book is one of the best prep books out there for the CCNA. But if you plan to have a long-term career in Networking, do not think for a moment that you can stop there. And I'm not just talking about the next level of Cisco Certification.

Buy this book and study it, but make sure you maintain a long-term professional skills development plan, and if you don't already have it, start building your experience in the field. You'll need it.

Good luck!

This book definitely helped me pass my CCNA. The material in this book will definitely provide you with the tools you need in order to configure Cisco equipment and pass the CCNA the first time.

I passed the exam with a 901 the first try.

The good news: this test won't exist after March 2004. You couldn't register after September 2003.

The bad news: I cannot believe Sybex allowed this to go to print. There were errors in the book that were not mentioned on Sybex's "errata" section of their website.

Example: Page 166, the IP address 10.0.0.0 was subnetted with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.192 (come on grab a pencil, you know you want to). Todd Lammle says the fourth subnet is 10.1.0.0 but I thought it was 10.0.1.0. My IP subnet calculator confirmed what I thought was right.

This may not be all Sybex's fault though since Cisco changed from the -507 exam to the -607 exam and within a year's time we already had the -802 exam coming out. So, I'm guessing they were rushed to get a book out before customers would be looking ahead to the next exam.

Even though he covers everything and there is a lot of good info here, I can't see giving more than 3 stars because I had to double-check everything because of the multitude of errors; and you can't possibly read this with 100% confidence that the material is correct.

I studied and passed my CCNA with this book in first try, it covers thoroughly on all you need to know about the exam. The bonus questions are useful too, few of them are pretty similiar to my exam questions.