Get your CCNA in 2019

About this video

NetworkChuck lays out his 2019 plan for earning the CCNA, opening with motivation about owning the week and a clip on discipline from a network automation engineer. He explains the two routes available at the time: the single composite exam, which he puts at $325, or the two-exam route — ICND1 (CCENT) and ICND2 at $165 each — which he recommends and which costs the same in total. He argues study needs four categories: a book, a video series, labs, and practice exams. For books he recommends Cisco’s Official Cert Guide and exam-cram titles; for video he calls CBT Nuggets, whose price he says had just dropped from about $84 to $59 a month, the gold standard, with David Bombal’s roughly $10 Udemy course as a cheaper supplement. For labs he stresses hands-on practice is essential, recommending Boson, free Cisco Packet Tracer paired with Bombal’s labs, GNS3 in Azure, or physical gear, while noting GNS3 is harder to set up for beginners. For readiness testing he recommends AlphaPrep, which he says uses machine learning to estimate exam readiness. For viewers on a tight budget he advises starting immediately with a low-cost lab course rather than waiting for perfect materials. He closes with study tactics: the Pomodoro method (25 minutes focused, 5 minutes break, longer break after four rounds), a fixed time and place to study, and scheduling the exam in advance and not moving it.

Key takeaways

• Creator recommends the two-exam CCENT + ICND2 route over the single composite exam, saying total cost is the same
• Effective CCNA study, in his framework, combines a book, a video series, hands-on labs, and practice exams
• Labbing is presented as non-negotiable because doing the tasks makes concepts stick better than memorization alone
• Low-budget starting point he suggests is a cheap Packet Tracer labs course rather than delaying until all materials are affordable
• Study system: Pomodoro 25/5 sessions, a set time and place daily, and booking the exam date upfront as a commitment

Episode details: published March 5, 2019 · 18:23 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are NetworkChuck’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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