I took the ROUTE exam yesterday afternoon. Felt confident going in but midway through the exam I wasn’t quite sure.

Compared to the CCNA exam, ROUTE is much tougher. Looking back, I probably would have labbed a lot more.

My theory to labbing ratio wasn’t that great. This time around I’m going to be labbing heavily, trying to create my own networks.

I took my exam at the Coleman University on Balboa Ave in San Diego. If you’re taking your Cisco exams in San Diego I would recommend this place. It’s newly renovated so the test center is sectioned off from the actual campus. The computers are brand new which means my test ran without any problems. They have lockers where you can keep your personal belongings. Comes with a lock as well.

As for the exam itself.. I didn’t have any problems. The wording of the questions were clear. My recommendation for anyone taking the exam is to lab while you read. Get to know how things actually work.

I would recommend getting a real lab or you can get by with GNS3 for this exam.

In the end, I ran out of time but only because I spent the remaining time working on the last question which was probably the hardest for me.

I’ll say that there isn’t one particular topic that you should focus on for this exam. Know how to do everything in the blueprint. Create your own lab, break it, fix it, configure it and try to do it quickly (just because of the time restraint).

I’m going to study right after I finish writing this blog post but here’s what I’m doing differently:

• Get my hands on the CCNP ROUTE Lab Manual
• Read the CCNP ROUTE Foundation Learning Guide
• Lab
• Lab
• Lab
• Watch the CCNP ROUTE videos from INE

• Primarily read the CCNP ROUTE OCG
• GNS3 for labs
• Read other people’s notes
• Went over my notes
• Used Boson exam that came with the OCG book

It tests your memorization of the protocols and configuration. What it doesn’t prepare you for are the sims. Would I purchase the ExSim from Boson? Probably not. I would just stick to the questions provided by the books and use a lab to solidify your knowledge. I felt that the questions provided in the practice exam were a lot easier than the actual exam. WAY EASIER. But then again, it came free with the book.

Good luck on your exams and wish me luck!