I85PREP
⌘ K
CCNA study materials
CCNA study resources

CCNA study plan

CCNA · Give each week a clear focus.

8 weeks · About 6 hours per week

Week 1

Network Fundamentals

  • Convert between binary, decimal, and hexadecimal for IPv4 addresses and masks without a calculator

  • Calculate network ID, broadcast address, and usable host range for any /8-/30 prefix

  • Map each OSI layer to its PDU, devices, and protocols, and describe encapsulation/decapsulation order

  • Compare router, switch, hub, firewall, and AP by collision/broadcast domain behavior

  • Distinguish TCP vs UDP behavior and identify the well-known port numbers for common services

Your checkpoint

Score 90% or better on a closed-book, timed 25-question subnetting and fundamentals quiz, with a written error log of every missed item

Week 2

Network Fundamentals & IP Connectivity

  • Interpret a routing table entry by entry (prefix, mask, next hop, AD, metric, outgoing interface)

  • Configure IPv4 static, default, and floating static routes on a multi-router topology

  • Explain how longest-prefix match and administrative distance resolve competing routes

  • Describe the IPv4 header fields and identify where fragmentation and TTL decrement occur

  • Compare IPv4 and IPv6 addressing, including address types and neighbor discovery basics

Your checkpoint

Build a 4-router static-routing lab in a simulator with redundant paths; all end-to-end pings succeed and both a primary and floating static failover are demonstrated with captured routing tables

Week 3

IP Connectivity

  • Configure single-area OSPFv2 (network statements, passive interfaces, router ID) on three routers

  • Verify OSPF neighbor adjacencies and states using show commands and troubleshoot a deliberate mismatch

  • Tune OSPF cost and explain how DR/BDR election is determined

  • Configure and verify a first-hop redundancy protocol (HSRP or VRRP) for a default gateway

  • Differentiate interior gateway routing concepts: distance vector vs link state, and classful vs classless behavior

Your checkpoint

Deliver a 3-router OSPF topology with full adjacency, an intentional failure scenario you diagnose and fix, and a one-page write-up of show ip ospf neighbor and show ip route output

Week 4

Network Access

  • Configure VLANs, access ports, and 802.1Q trunk links, and verify with show vlan and show interfaces trunk

  • Configure inter-VLAN routing using both router-on-a-stick and an SVI on a multilayer switch

  • Predict and verify spanning-tree root election, port roles, and states after a topology change

  • Configure EtherChannel with LACP and confirm a bundled link with show etherchannel summary

  • Explain native VLAN behavior and troubleshoot a native VLAN mismatch

Your checkpoint

Build a 3-switch Layer 2 lab with VLANs, trunking, EtherChannel, and inter-VLAN routing; every VLAN reaches every other VLAN and STP root placement matches your written prediction

Week 5

Network Access & Security Fundamentals

  • Describe wireless fundamentals: 802.11 standards, channels, bands, and the roles of WLC and AP in a CAPWAP architecture

  • Configure switch port security (maximum MACs, violation modes) and verify with show port-security

  • Configure DHCP snooping and dynamic ARP inspection, and explain how they stop rogue-server and spoofing attacks

  • Configure standard and extended ACLs and place them where they actually filter the intended traffic

  • Harden device access: local AAA concepts, SSH-only VTY, enable secret, service password-encryption, and unused-port shutdown

  • Identify common threat categories and the purpose of VPN, IPS, and endpoint security controls

Your checkpoint

Harden a small lab network with port security, DHCP snooping, DAI, and an extended ACL; produce a verification transcript showing permitted traffic succeeds and blocked traffic fails

Week 6

Security Fundamentals & IP Services

  • Configure static and dynamic NAT/PAT and verify translations with show ip nat translations

  • Configure and verify a DHCP server and relay agent on a router

  • Configure NTP, syslog, and SNMPv3 basics, and read a syslog severity level table

  • Explain DNS lookup flow and the role of the DNS server record types relevant to a network engineer

  • Describe QoS concepts: classification, marking, queuing, shaping/policing, and where each fits

  • Compare file-transfer and management-plane services (TFTP, FTP, SCP) and their security implications

Your checkpoint

Deploy a lab with PAT to an outside network, a DHCP pool with relay, and centralized syslog plus NTP; capture configuration and show-command output proving each service works

Week 7

Automation and Programmability

  • Interpret JSON-encoded data and identify objects, arrays, keys, and values in a sample response

  • Explain REST API characteristics (statelessness, HTTP verbs, status codes) and authenticate to a sandbox controller API

  • Compare configuration-management models: traditional CLI, controller-based, and infrastructure-as-code

  • Distinguish the roles of Ansible, Puppet, and Chef and identify which are agentless vs agent-based

  • Describe SDN architecture layers (data, control, application planes) and the function of a DNA Center-style controller

  • Explain the purpose of a Python script using a network library at a conceptual level

Your checkpoint

Write a one-page summary that decodes a sample JSON API payload field by field and maps three automation tools plus SDN planes onto a hand-drawn architecture diagram

Week 8

Network Fundamentals & Network Access & IP Connectivity & IP Services & Security Fundamentals & Automation and Programmability

  • Re-run every missed quiz item from Weeks 1-7 and log the root cause of each error

  • Complete two full-length timed practice exams and score each domain separately

  • Reconfigure the three highest-error topics from a blank device configuration

  • Build a one-page cheat sheet of subnetting shortcuts, show commands, and OSPF/STP decision rules

  • Verify readiness by scoring at or above target on every domain, not just in aggregate

Your checkpoint

Two full-length practice exams scored with per-domain breakdowns, plus a remediation sheet listing every sub-70% domain and the exact lab or drill you will repeat before test day

Milestones

Week 2: Explain the routing table out loud from a captured show ip route, and pass a 20-question subnetting drill at 90% or better

Week 4: All six domains' core show commands are recognizable, and the Layer 2 lab passes end-to-end connectivity with correct STP root placement

Week 6: Score 70% or higher per domain on a first full-length practice exam, with no domain below 60%

Week 8: Score 85% or higher overall and at least 80% in each of Domains 1, 2, and 3 on the final practice exam