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Hi All,
I am beginning to prepare for CWNA and CWSP Exam. I am based out of Bangalore, India.

Actually, I was preparing for CompTIA Mobility+ Exam and reading up about it, I got to know that lot of material is similar to CWNA exam. I am also from Information Security background and currently hold below certifications:

RHCE | HP-UX CSA | VCP4-DCV | CISSP | GISP | CCSK | CloudU | CompTIA CE | ITIL-F | ITSM-F

Being from an information security background, I thought, it would be worthwhile to do CWSP as well. Also, currently, I do not hold any network specific certification, so I thought, CWNA and CWSP combined with Mobility+ would be a good mix.

I have started reading the official guide for CWNA and CWSP. Also, I procured the CWNA/CWSP guide from Tom carpenter from McGraw Hill publications.

Inputs:

1) Your thoughts?
2) Are the book good enough to cover the depth and width of what is required on the exam?
3) Are there any other prep steps/resources to be taken to achieve a successful attempt?

Thanks and regards,
Pravin Goyal

Hi Pravin and welcome to the CWNP forums!

You will see this comment over and over again, but learn it well.  When you are studying for any CWNP exam, Study to the test objectives!  Be sure to pull down the pdf of the test objectives from the CWNP site of each test you are studying for.  Know these objectives well (the beginning of the study guide books list, in the beginning of each chapter, which test objectives are covered in that chapter).  Personally, I made a Word doc out of the pdf and add my own study notes and compose my own in depth study guide.  Whatever study method you use, remember the key to successful passing of any CWNP exam:  Study to the test objectives!

The written study guides are good starts.   I would additionally suggest purchasing the online question pool tests on the CWNP web site (your purchase of the study guide by Mcgraw Hill may include these question pools, not sure.  But these test questions model what the actual exams look like (with different questions, of course).

Other resources:  1) CWNP white papers are excellent--download all of these and know them  2) Search the CWNP forums for specific questions you will have in your studies (e.g. EAP types, RF modulations, etc).  3) Vendor site white papers:  Cisco, Aruba, Aerohive, Ruckus, AirTight, etc have excellent resources.  Yes, they can be vendor specific, but many resources have vendor-neutral Wi-Fi study material which will help.  4) Wi-Fi blogrolls:  There are a lot of outstanding blogs by WLAN professionals that cover basic Wi-Fi study topics (many bloggers are CWNEs).   I have a blogroll listing on my web site you might want to check out at gcatewifi.wordpress.com.  5)  General online internet searches will provide additional insights.

As for a successful attempt at taking exams, understand that the CWNP exams are some of the most challenging (difficult..) in the IT industry.  I did not pass my first attempt at the CWNA, even though I felt pretty confident prior to the exam.  Since then, I have passed CWSP and CWAP (which is probably the most difficult, IMO).  My thoughts are this:  if you can read each test objective (no notes..) and explain the objective in detail, then you are probably ready for the exam. 

And always, post your questions here in the CWAP forums.  WLAN professionals can provide assistance to questions you have.

Good luck as your pursue CWNA/CWSP and welcome again to the CWNP forums!

With your current certifications, you are starting from a great foundation of knowledge. As was stated by the previous response, study to those objectives. The study guides are written to the objectives, but not to the exam. In other words, the authors of the study guides have access to the objectives but not to all the exam questions (they only see the questions on their exam). Therefore, ensuring you have comfort with all objectives is the essential element in passing the exam. People who do this have great success on our exams.

Thanks,
Tom

Hi Gentleman,

Thanks for the detailed information and support. I feel much better now.

@Glenn Cate - Do you think, you can share the document that you created out of the exam objectives for CWNA and CWSP exams? I can assure you that I would add/mod/del to it to make it a lively and further useful for this community and share it across.

Hi Pravin,

I could share my documents, but do not think that will meet your needs.  The purpose of creating them is so that you put down your own study notes and the things you need to emphasize in your CWNP studies.   So, put down your study notes and the things you need to emphasize and modify your own document as you continue to find new information during your studies.  We all have our own study habits and techniques, and this has worked well for me, but might not work for everyone.  So, give it a try to see if your own document helps you. 

Thanks again Glenn, I understand. I will keep updating my post here as I go along.