some people tell me that time is an issue taking the ccna exam, can anybody tell me how realistic these remarks are. should i try and fly through some "q's" so i can spend more time on say the more challenging ones.......

Time is only an issue if you can't subnet quickly or you REALLY don't know the material. IMO, the main difference between finishing in 30 minutes (with 60 minutes to spare) and running out of time with 10 questions left is being able to subnet in your head.

Time (or lack of it) was what got me the first time I attempted the CCNA exam several years ago. I knew how to subnet and was able to run by those (a lot of them) questions relatively quickly.

It was the simulations and trying to figure out what they wanted or what the issue was which got me. My exam threw 4 simulations at me. Once I spent 35 minutes on the first one I gave up, raced through the rest of the exam, bypassing the next 3 sims. I failed with a 770.

Practicing on real equipment (or good simulator software) is a must. I purchased a used lab (3x2501 routers and one 1900 switch) and used that to pass the 840-821 INTRO exam a couple of weeks ago. I have the ICND exam in 2 weeks.

Practicing typing the commands is a must to really learn stuff. It's one thing to read about it in a book, but something else entirely to type it in and get it working for real.

My Cisco Networking Academy instructor would make us hand-write the commands down during a test to include the correct prompt you would see based on what command you had just typed and such.

I made an attempt at the BSCI test with just reading for a few weeks and I failed. But having purchased some used Cisco equipment to use at home has helped me learn a lot more than I ever could have just reading.

Dave

A lot of it depends on how many simulations you get. I got 4 on my first try and took 15 minutes on the first simulation. If that had been the only sim I think I would have been fine but getting 3 more after that killed me. I basically had to skip the 4th one because I had 15 or so questions left and only about 15 minutes. If I would have had more time, maybe 10 minutes, I would have been fine. I needed 849 and got an 847. I was so pissed.