I want to take this time to congratulate Sue Lange and Sultan Ahmed, two brand-new CCNAs, and to thank them for their comments, which they've given me permission to share with you. I make it a point not to run a lot of ads on the blog, bu Sue's experience is very common among frustrated CCNA candidates, so I want to share her entire, unedited email with you.

"I used Lammle's and Odom's books, and the tools that came free with them. I purchased cisco's recommended "cisco-press simulator" from Boson, and purchased several additional testing products to get practice of testing under pressure. I was dismayed because NONE of these products agreed on answers and explanations to very similar questions. The more I read the more conflicted the material became.

The more practice tests I took, the worse my scores got. Often I'd take a situation from one book, plug it into the simulator only to get a different response from the simulator than the book showed, leaving me to wonder which was right. Or I'd take a practice test, and get the 'wrong' answer on a question, so I'd look at the book only to find my answer was right...it was the test that was wrong. Sometimes two test products would have the same question but differ on opinions as to the correct answer.

All this compounded my frustration and I really felt I had no hope of passing the test. Unless someone has been in this spot, they can't begin to understand the problem with "too much (bad) information".

Then your product showed up in my web searches. What a difference! No frills, just plain "meat and potatoes" with real world practice to boot.

It's not that simulators are inherently bad, after all, airline pilots do all of their training in simulators before they are allowed to touch the real thing. However, those simulators cost millions not hundreds. For router practice, there just isn't a good substitute for the real deal. It didn't serve just for hands on skills with the command sets. All the confusion created by multiple authors went away when I saw how the real routers behaved in given circumstances. It was like coming up for air after being under water for so long.

It was just so exciting to see something work the way I thought it should, and to know that what I thought I understood about how routers worked was right after all. I don't know what I will pursue next. I considered the CCNP but my interest lies more in the security areas with SANS being a close second.

However, I have to say that I was so thrilled with the success I had setting up scenarios using your lab equipment that I can imagine I'd have a lot of fun just doing infrastructure designs and configs. Whatever direction I take, I know for sure I will look for tools on your site first.

Thank you for getting me past this hurdle. I am the type who never says 'die' but I was truly ready to give up on this. Your approach to test taking was solid and practical, and your encouragement helped more than you can know. I won't be so intimidated by the next test, whatever it is. I'll just buy some lab time and study guides from you!" - Sue Lange, CCNA

That's what The Bryant Advantage Ultimate CCNA Study Package is all about. Join Sue and Ahmed today. Become a CCNA with The Bryant Advantage.

http://www.thebryantadvantage.com/UltimateCCNAStudyPackage.html