I have a question about the A+ and Networking +

[azarzycki]

I have looked into getting my certification a few times. Money is really the obstacle. What is the best way of studying for the test? I know there are many books out there saying they're the best but what do you guys think? Can you study on your own? Should I take a cert class at the local college? I would love to hear everyone's input on this.

 

[8fold]

It really depends on your learning style. If you can learn from books, then it's just a matter of finding the book(s) that best cover the test objectives.

On the other hand, if you need a little jump start, a prep course can be just the thing to keep you focused and get you started in enough time to study everything you need to before test time.

I can learn pretty well from books, but I prefer a live classroom learning environment for the structure and the timing.

 

[callthatgirl]

Question...why do you need it?

Do you need to learn the skills or feel it will help give you credentials?

 

[MobileTechie]

I really would not bother spending money on a course. You can definitely pass those exams using a book on your own, no problem at all. They are not very hard.

 

[almightybunghole]

I have A+ and Network+, the network one I actually got a week or two ago.

In high school I had some rather uninformative A+ and CCNA courses, but most of the knowledge came from working on computers and learning.

For both tests, I used these:
amazon.com/CompTIA-Certification-All-Guide-Sixth/dp/0072263113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263688421&sr=8-1

amazon.com/CompTIA-Network-All-Guide-Fourth/dp/0071614877/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263688421&sr=8-4

It comes down to be able to make smart decisions about crap you've never heard of, or that's my experience with CompTIA tests. If you go in level headed with an understanding of the material, not answers, you should be good.

Also, a good site for cert information would is proprofs, they have some good info and practice tests:
proprofs.com/certification/comptia/a-plus/index.shtml
proprofs.com/certification/comptia/network-plus/index.shtml

I forgot that the night before my network+, I watched all of these free videos on the subject, and are available to stream from the dudes' site:
professormesser.com

Good luck, el duderino.

Sorry about the hyperlinks, the forum won't allow me to post any outside URL's because I am a n00b.

 

[lgtechcomputers]

Yeah - I agree with some of the comments.

For the A+, or the Network+, there's no need to pay for a course. They are generally overpriced and there's nothing that you cannot learn from reading a couple of books and doing some hands on practice on your own.

If, however, you're going to say get a BS in IT and it is part of your curriculum then you can take advantage of that but you can be ahead of the game. If you have the A+ before college, they may transfer credits for you.

After several years of being A+ certified, I bought one of the "Michael Meyers" A+ books and I thought it was easy to digest and had plenty of good information.

Good Luck! It should not be too bad to deal with those two certs.

 

[molotov256]

I just passed the A+ Essentials exam last Friday (woot), and plan to sign up for the for Practical Application exam next week. At $168 a pop, they're not cheap, but it does look good on a resumee.

As degrading as it sounds, I bought a copy of "CompTIA A+ Certification all in one for Dummies" because it had gotten pretty good reviews, and it seems to have covered most of the bases pretty well. I also made some flashcards to help me memorize stuff I wasn't too familiar with. The book came with a CD with some lab exercises and practice tests which is kinda nice. Some of the labs were kind of weak, and I didn't have access to all the equipment necessary to do some of them (I don't have a computer with Windows 2000 server kicking around... ya know...), but all in all it's a good package.

I'm not sure what your motivation is, but if you've got the drive to get certified, I'd say go for it. It's probably true that most customers won't really know the difference between an A+ Certified technician and an ASE Certified mechanic, but in my case, I'm doing it more for my own confidence than theirs.

In the wise words of the Almightybunghole, "It comes down to be able to make smart decisions about crap you've never heard of". After taking exam 1 of 2, I couldn't agree more. I think I used process of elimination a lot more than I'd planned, but hey, that's a legitimate troubleshooting technique, too!

So yeah, forget paying for courses. If you're pretty computer savvy already, just grab a book for under $50 and brush up on your terminology and whatnot before you go in. Good luck to you!

 

[MobileTechie]

and if you buy z used book and resell it, your education cost nothing.

The exams however are expensive.

 

[DanF]

There's nothing wrong in taking a basic course. Sometimes we forget basic stuff, especially if we don't deal with them regularly. For example, myself, I forgot almost everything about networks and have started to see the basics once again, simply to refresh my memory (that is really bad! lol).

But I don't think you should spend the money and actually take the course at a private institution or even exams... mind you, I'm talking about the A+ and the A+ Networking. Since you're already experienced, all it takes is to refresh your memory and take a look at the stuff once. Of course, make sure you get updated material and not 10 years old books.

I did the IT Essentials (Cisco) back in 2001 but although I've passed all tests, I practically knew nothing, until I started doing computer repairs 2 years ago. We had hands-on practice, but it's nothing like working on your own and learning by your own mistakes. I'm pretty sure you already know this.

I would instead save the money for something else. Maybe a small investment for your business or for yourself... maybe a more advanced course like CCNA or whatever you like. Maybe you prefer programming over networking instead... go for whatever you'd like to as long as you're happy

 

[K007]

One thing that I didn't see mentioned here, is failing the exam.
I did fail 3 exams and I had to take them again, and pay again.
The money you pay for the course is a once off.
But if you fail an examination, you will have to pay again and take it again.
This is really frustrating.
At my first fail, when I saw the result on the screen, I thaught I was going to collapse right there.
It is frustrating because in many occasions we believe we study enough and we have high expectations.
But the sad truth is, anybody can fail.

So, what did I do wrong? Or maybe what I did't do enough?
It was all self study, so there were gaps. I did't have the time to go to a course, because I was working loooong hours.

Realizing that the gaps in my knowledge was the main cause, all I could do was:
Repeat those exam prep tests until passed 20 times in a row with 100%
Everytime I had a wrong answer, I would go back to the material and study thoroughly.
It took me much longer, but guess what? I have drastically improved the way I was studying. No more notes all over the palce, pen marks on the books, etc.
My self study has become a lot more structured.

I hope the story of my failures willl help someone.

NOTE:
Passing the exams is only part of becoming a professional.
Thre are scores of techs out there who only learned how to pass exams and nothing else.
Don't follow that path.

 

[almightybunghole]

In the wise words of the Almightybunghole, "It comes down to be able to make smart decisions about crap you've never heard of". After taking exam 1 of 2, I couldn't agree more. I think I used process of elimination a lot more than I'd planned, but hey, that's a legitimate troubleshooting technique, too!

As an example with my Network+, I had never seen any instance, or mentioning, nor ever used or even remembered what PoE is. I marked that question just in case later on in the test there would be some mentioning of it. And quite literally, question #100 helped me deduce the meaning of PoE, as being power over ethernet.

Unfortunately, having taken 3 CompTIA tests, a lot of the stuff is rather odd, there are some super easy, nearly offensively simple questions, and there are others with such a degree of subjectivity it's really tough to figure out what they're talking about. Process of elimination and wise deduction of what they're looking for is the best way to take a test.

Check out that video website though, there's some good stuff in there and really helped me with my Network+ cram session.

 

[gez]

If money is the main obstacle then self study is the way to go. I passed the A+ last year through self study and was glad I took this route.

With regards to the A+ exam be aware that there are currently two versions of the exam.

There is the 600 series (220-601, 220-602, 220-603, 220-604) which will be retired on 28th Feb 2010 in the US.

Then the current version which I presume is the 700 series (220-701, 220-702) has no retirement date.

The objectives for the current exam can be downloaded Here

There is also a new version of the book almightybunghole linked you to, Here is the link to the new book.

I used the Mike Meyers All in one and found it to be an excellent book, very informative and not too dry a read considering it is an exam preparation book. Like almightybunghole I also used professor messer’s site but I obviously watched the A+ series. I found they complimented the printed material well and was nice when I got tired of reading. Again be aware the A+ videos on the site are for the 600 series exams and will not cover the new ones, although I expect a lot of it will still be relevant.

When I started self study I came across a great site with lots of information and a great bunch of people. certforums. This is a great site if certs are your thing.

Good luck whatever you do
gez

 

[azarzycki]

Thanks a lot everyone.

I am knowledgeable about a lot, but I am constantly learning new ways or methods to things. I plan on eventually getting certified, just so I have it. I'm hoping that people won't care if I am certified or not, in the meantime. I'm looking up all of the resources you guys have given me.

Thanks again.
April

 

[Courtesy]

Self Study! I used every type of media that was available to me. First I studied the Mike Meyers A+ Exam Guide which had great labs in it. The Exam Cram A+ guide focused on the objectives from every domain helped me big time on those items. Lastly,I watched the A+ essential videos from Trainsignal(thank you Bit Torrent) and also took practice exams many times over. The A+ Essential Exam was pretty easy, but the 220-602 was a little bit more challenging. Just make sure you have a used computer to poke around in and you'll be alright.
Good Luck!

 

[Tom from Cleveland]

I just passed my A+ exam last week - without a formal class. As in your case, I didn't have the money ($1,300 and up) for a classroom course. So, I got a couple of good A+ guides from the local library. Even though they were for the 600 series exam they were good foundation books. I supplimented these with a newer book from Amazon: CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide. It's not bad and under $60 I believe. "A+ In-Depth 2009" is also very good (about $40 on Amazon).

I would read several books and take time for some serious study. I took 6 months to prepare - mostly because of the $300+ in testing fees. Passing the test without an instructor is definitely possible and I think you end up learning more. Good luck!

 

[lgtechcomputers]

By the way, if you earn your A+, Net+ and Sec+ certs, before end of 2010, then you'll be certified for life. Starting 2011, people will need to recertify every 3 years.

 

[supertech365]

mike meyers books keep you focused. His books give you a lot of extra advice and real world examples you can expect in the field

 

[ITTech]

If you are technical and have done technical work then the A+ exam is not tough. Yes there is a lot of memorizing of dry infomation to pass the exam. But I would say about 60% of the material you would feel comfortable with if you are an experienced tech. I have taught the A+ class many many times. I dont claim to know everything but there is a lot of book knowledge you need to commit to memory in order to pass the exam.

The exams are not realistic. They are multiple choice and really no way of testing your hands on knowledge but instead are a test to see how much you can memorize. The new 700 series exams are suppose to be simulation based. I have not read up on them yet but If they are it would be a great thing for techs who have hands on knowledge.

The test is not hard. Just go through some practice exams (transcenders and the books mentioned in posts here)

 

[Eddie]

Another +1 on Mike Meyers books. I used them for A+ and Network+, passed all first time. I'll be defo buying them for the Microsoft certifications.

 

[azarzycki]

That is great to know....

By the way, if you earn your A+, Net+ and Sec+ certs, before end of 2010, then you'll be certified for life. Starting 2011, people will need to recertify every 3 years.

Guess I better start busting my butt for more jobs so I can pay for the certs. Thanks for the info.