CWNA Certification Journey
I managed to get my CWNA certification today, this was my 2nd attempt. The first attempt was a failure a few months ago.
Failed Attempt: 53%
Passed Attempt: 82%
Below are a few tips which I would like to share so that you get most for this certification.
It would be quite beneficial if you already work for a Network/Wireless service provider or Manage wireless network for a company. Being in such a position certainly pays and gives room for joining the pieces of this puzzle.
This course will require some monetary investment. I managed to get some certification videos. Though the videos are for old CWNA course but majority of the conceptual stuff does not change for new revision. Here is the link > https://www.udemy.com/certified-wireless-network-administrator-cwna/
There are no video training courses available on CBT nuggets or INE as of today. I did check with CBT Nuggets via twitter but they do not have any official dates for the.
So back to the actual course curriculum. It would be highly beneficial to check the course outline and objectives – https://www.cwnp.com/uploads/cwna-107-objectives-2017.pdf You can check the differences from CWNA 106 so that you can prepare better https://www.cwnp.com/uploads/cwna-107-what-changed-2017.pdf
If would be good a good buy to get the new sybex CWNA official study guide > https://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1119425786,miniSiteCd-SYBEX.html
This one is quite a thick book with over 1000 pages. I guess this book will be used throughout your career in wireless as a reference guide and a starting point for everything wireless. Some great work by the 2 David(s) Westcott & Coleman. When you buy the book you also get online flash cards + practice test questions valid for 1 year which you can use for further strengthen your knowledge.
Would be great and worth downloading the common terms used in the exam/book for the CWNA – https://www.cwnp.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/cwnp_exam_terms.pdf
I read almost 1-2 chapters per week. The book might give you a feeling of information overload every once in a while. Another resource which I used during the preparation were some podcasts listed below.
- CleartoSend – https://www.cleartosend.net/
- WLAN Professional – https://www.wlanpros.com/
- Packet Pushers – https://packetpushers.net/
- WiFi for Beginners – https://wififorbeginners.com/category/podcast/
Twitterati (Twitterverse/Twitter users) – Would highly recommend you to join and follow the wireless enthusiasts. Thankful to the wireless online community! Many of them have a vast industry experience and certifications which go a long way in helping and coaching someone who is new to the wireless domain.
Slack Groups to recommended –
wi-fipros.slack.com
cleartosend.slack.com
All the best with your CWNA Study and the Exam! Please buy the exam voucher directly form CWNP website (https://www.cwnp.com/cwna107v/) rather than going directly via PearsonVue. I saved $50USD by doing so.
I am on to the next Adventure of CWAP and will try and blog more often about the learnings from the course study.
