CCNA renewal - 640-507 to 640-802

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Hi,

I've just joined today and am thinking of renewing my lapsed CCNA qualification to perhaps change career path. I've been made redundant as a software tester (11 years experience), but used to work for Cisco in the past and had my CCNA and got light use out of it at the time.

I passed the 640-507 exam in mid 2001, so my qualification expired mid 2004.

I see that the current exam is 640-802 (although you can do two separate exams now it seems).

Does anyone know how different 640-802 is to the older 640-507? Is it feasible that I could just swat up on my notes from the old course and pass the new 640-802?

I'm obviously wanting to limit expenditure and if it would be possible to just pay the £123 (or whatever) for the exam rather than pay for a whole new course then that would be great.

I did pass the exam in 2001 with ease, so I don't have a difficulty with the material at all and it's a big part of my testing history to date. I'm just concerned about how much this might have changed in the last 7 years.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

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As someone who took the exams in 2001 and again last year, they are quite a bit different. In my opinion, the current exam is more difficult than the 507, which wasn't exactly easy to begin with. I don't think brushing up on your notes will be enough. If you can, get access to a few Cisco devices and get the latest copy of the Cisco Press Exam Guide.

 

Thanks BosonJosh,

Thanks for your prompt reply. I suspected things might have changed a bit and was considering at least getting a book. The Cisco Press books are good from what I remember.

Are there any good simulators around these days? I remember these were available in the past, but I guess they're never as good as the real thing.

Thanks

 

I can't really give you an unbiased recommendation, as Boson has our own simulator called NetSim (I work on Boson's practice test team). So, of course, I think there are pretty good simulators out there

As you said, though, a simulation can't be as good as the real thing. If you can get access to equipment, it'd be very helpful. But, if you can't, a simulator will be a good alternative, in my opinion.

 

I thought I recognised the name "Boson" from somewhere! It's all coming flooding back!

 

Yeah, the new CCNA is *much* harder than the 640-507, which I also took in 2001. Cisco Press and Sybex are both worthy of consideration. And, like Josh, I can't really give an unbiased opinion of practice exams and router simulators. ;)

Welcome to the forums!

 

aclwalker,

I never took the 640-507 CCNA exam so I can't comment on understanding the foundation level of knowledge you had once upon a time. However I did take and pass the 640-607 CCNA exam first time. Due to that first time pass, when I tried to take the 640-801 CCNA exam, I went in way overconfident and I failed the 640-801 CCNA exam the first time. Then, after a couple months of digging out of the exam fail depression and studying again, I passed the 640-801 CCNA the second time. So that's my experience with a single "generation gap" between CCNA exams.

Since you're facing not just one CCNA certification exam generation gap but three, you're definitely going to have to invest more than just the 640-802 CCNA exam fee to get yourself caught up to the present. Here's where you came from, and the generations in between to the 640-802 CCNA.

Source:

1. 640-507 CCNA - http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/current_exams/640-507.html
2. 640-607 CCNA - http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/current_exams/640-607.html
3. 640-801 CCNA - http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/current_exams/640-801.html
4. 640-802 CCNA - http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/current_exams/640-802.html

Maybe to help smoothen your transition, you might be able to find the 640-801 CCNA exam materials relatively cheaply. Then once you've studied up to the 640-801 CCNA level, then get the 640-802 CCNA material and study those.

 

Mmm... I wouldn't bother with the 801 stuff.

 

Hey, thanks for that. I didn't realise there had been so many changes. I had noticed there was an 801, but didn't realise there was a 607 too. OK, it looks like it's maybe best to buy a book or two at least.