Study Plan 4.25.2010 #1

Study plans and first update:

1. Prepare Lab Environment.

- 2 1230 Series APs or 1131 Series APs.- Switches- Sniffers- AirMagnet for Surveying- Variety of Antennas- Radius Server - Cisco Secure ACS- Cisco 4100 Wireless LAN Controller

2. Memorization (Practice Tests)

- CWTS- CWNA- CWSP- CCNA Wireless (my production environment)

Basically, I drill through each question, answer, and explanation the first time through it. It normally takes me about one hour per 50 questions or so. Then on the second and subsequent rounds, I seek to improve my scores up to about 100%. I may vary this or perform questions on a per topic basis. Normally I shoot for about 6-10 questions per minute range by the time I've actually mastered the question banks.

Wait...!!!

I then let it sit for about a week and I run through the entire banks of questions again - noting where my score and not taking credit at all for any guessing.

The trick here is ascertain how much of the material do I now understand and will likely retain long term.

I usually do this for a few weeks or so. Relentlessly.

3. Read.

Normally I will read about 1 - 4 chapters per day. In addition, I will research topics as I go and blog about my experiences - I probably post about 10-20+ posts per day on various forums, blogs, emails, etc. So if I had to guess, I'd say I probably write about 5-10 8x10 pages of material a day or so.

Yes, I do find myself re-reading.

Yes, I take the time to explore the glossary.

Yes, I lab up whatever I can.

Yes, I do try my luck on the questions if there are any.

Yes, I love hand written notes with a pencil and paper and will probably write at least a 3 ring binder full despite everything else.

4. Videos.

I live video learning. I've found a few sites that bring things home quite well. The CWNP has a nice 5+ hour video series on 802.11n that I'm currently engaged in watching.

I take notes usually - pencil and paper usually. I don't often read them, but I am a creature of habit and it I write it, I usually retain it forever like some kind of elephant or something.

I have access to other videos on Wireless from CBT Nuggets, TrainSignal, Laura Chappell, the Pine Mountain Group (formerly) and maybe a few others.

So I've probably got plenty - some of this is dated material.

Let's see, I'm going to share with you the most effective form of studying I've ever done and let's see how it pans out for the CWNA. I learned this approach back in my Biology class in high school with Mrs. Wiggins (Wiggie Wiggie Wiggie). Anyway she was one of my favorite teachers I ever had even if she did think I was "hypo" (hyper-active).

5. Practicals.

- I'm deploying a WLC Network with Guest Wireless and Guest Wired access for my job using the Cisco 4400 Series Controllers. I have 3 of them deployed and 2 more are currently in the works. These are managed through Cisco WCS software. Which I'm still learning.

- I use AirMagnet for Site Surveys. I intend to perform an informal wireless Survey at each of my sites and this is in-line with my current job expectations as a Network Engineer for my employer. I guess I can kill another bird with that stone and take some sample sniffs as I go for later re-use and review during the CWSP.

- The books are awesome! Jam-packed with facts from recognized industry professional. To top it off, they have a lot of practical simlets that even have packet captures with interesting frames highlighted for discussion.

- I'll probably take it a step further to cement things in my head a bit. This means if there is an example and I have the equipment or means to do so, then I'll lab it up a bit and sometime comparatively to ensure I know my options. I highly recommend this method if you have the capability and resources to do so.

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Note: I've deliberately not specified a time line yet, since I work 24/7/365 at my job and my schedule can be sporadic at time as a the lead network engineer for my state. I'm the upstream for the Florida team sometimes and I take my work very seriously all the time.

Ok - I wrote this a few days back.

I got my books last week. I kinda thumbed through the CWNA book for a look at what to expect in the coming weeks and maybe months. There are 18 chapters so I'm going to strive to perform about 1 chapter a week. If I can get more in maybe I will but 1 chapter will be plenty given the style I am using.

4/25/2010 - I read chapter 1, wrote out the objectives that mapped to chapter 1, read the summary, and then wrote the terms used in the chapter out by hand. This made a nice and tidy 10kb notepad document.

4/27/2010 - Tonight I spent 2 hours typing out the Sybex flash card deck for 120 questions. They were not just from the first chapter. Ouch!. I think took the Sybex chapter 1 test, it was 20 questions. I breezed through it in 3 minutes flat at 75%. It turns out it looks to the same as the questions at the end of the chapter. Kewl. I prefer e-quizzes.

I guess to be true to my plan I need to go and grab my laptop and bring these questions to 100% and maybe speed up the process to 10Q per minute or so.

Anyway, it looks like that is where I am so far 2 days into the game.

I'm going to be out of town performing some sensitive upgrades on some core devices (thus my in-person cameo appearance) this week and the schedule will preclude my study efforts. It's a rough schedule.

I'm hoping for a small conference call with Rick Todd, J.C. Bogard, and our host George Stefanick this weekend assuming it fits everyone's schedule. From what I gather we are each taking a slightly different approach and of course, we all have different backgrounds in the field. George is tackling the CWSP for example and so he's our guide and he's working hard for it at the same time.

I think we'll all learn a lot and have fun doing it.