I’ve collected that set!!!
The hardest of them all was left to last, after previously attempting the CWAP-402 exam a few years ago and falling one question short, I reset and started from scratch with my studies.
Off the bat, I will say that the exam itself isn’t harder than any of the others in the P series. What is harder is the topics covered. Know the topics and then the exam is okay. BUT just because I passed the exam, I still feel like there is so much more to learn, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as learning should be constant, and no one knows everything.
For context as well, this experience is based on the CWAP-404 exam, which is soon to be retired for the 405 exam, but I wouldn’t expect that too much would be changing as generally, it’s about a 105 difference from one to the next as old standards are removed and new ones added.
I won’t go into what the CWAP exam is, as if you are here, then you probably already know…
What I will say is that the first place you should start on your journey is the blueprint. Ignore the blueprint, and you probably won’t get far in passing.
For me, the hardest sections were the Physical and MAC layers, which account for about 35% of the exam. So I had to put extra focus on these areas as part of my study.
Taking captures of working and non-working scenarios, understanding what is normal and what is not played a big part in my learning. Probably one important aspect here is that it’s not just about learning for the exam and only learning to that depth, it is about learning to become a better engineer. What’s in the exam is still what gets you started, but there is still even more again than what an exam can cover and nothing else beats hands-on experience and breaking things to understand how it all works.
My aim is to cover some of the topics that I found harder in future blog posts, as one of the best ways to learn and have it stick is to explain it back to someone else. I’ve got about 10 draft posts lined up, now I just need the time to complete them!
Outside of the official study guide and your own lab, the other essential reference is Rasika’s Blog site which if you’ve ever googled anything to do with wireless, you have probably come across. When it comes to CWAP study, though, his blogs are an excellent resource for this particular exam, as the volume of information that he has on there is worth its weight in gold.
Likewise, Rasika has an excellent training program over at Wifi Training that covers in-depth Rockstar Wifi Analysis. If learning via video is more your style, then it’s definitely worth signing up for this on-demand course that you can watch at your own pace in whichever order you want. TBH I actually found this the main way to study and then just supplemented little bits with the official study guide.
Whilst there isn’t a specific order that you should do the Professional level exams in, I certainly found that doing CWAP after CWSP was a bit easier for some sections of study. Ultimately though, it’s really up to what you do day in and day out as to your strengths and weaknesses, as say a TAC engineer would probably find CWAP easier than someone who is doing deployments and finds CWDP a breeze. Regardless though, the CWAP study is really worthwhile, and even with the exam passed, I’d still take an in-person course if I was offered one, like at one of the various Wifi conferences, as there is still so much to learn and hearing other people’s experiences is invaluable to continuing to learn and expand.