CCNA & CCNP Study Guides — The Insider's Field Manual by a 2× CCIE
FROM A CCIE WHO REMEMBERS THE STRUGGLE BLUEPRINT v1.1 ALIGNED · 204 OF 204 SUBTOPICS EVERY CLI BLOCK LAB-TESTED NO 1,200-PAGE TEXTBOOKS BUILT TO GET YOU ACROSS THE LINE FROM A CCIE WHO REMEMBERS THE STRUGGLE BLUEPRINT v1.1 ALIGNED · 204 OF 204 SUBTOPICS EVERY CLI BLOCK LAB-TESTED NO 1,200-PAGE TEXTBOOKS BUILT TO GET YOU ACROSS THE LINE
FROM A CCIE · TO ENGINEERS WHO ARE STUCK

Drowning in
1,200 pages
of Cisco
textbook?

Your exam date is approaching. You're studying after work, and the harder you study, the more behind you feel. You can't tell what Cisco actually tests vs. what's filler. You can't afford to fail a $300 exam. And the textbook on your desk isn't getting any thinner.

I'm a 2× CCIE. I've been exactly where you are. The Insider's Field Manuals are what I wish someone had handed me when I was studying for my first cert.

Show me the guides → Why textbooks fail you
204/204
Blueprint subtopics covered
3
Free 8-page samples
2× CCIE
Enterprise & Security author
The problem

You're studying
after work and
running on fumes.

It's 10pm. The Odom book is on your lap. You're three chapters in and you've already forgotten what was in chapter one. You're tired. You haven't seen your family. And you keep wondering if this is even the right way to study.

Cisco's exam blueprint has 96 numbered subtopics. The textbook has 1,200 pages. Nobody is going to tell you which pages map to which subtopics. Nobody is going to tell you which CLI snippets are tested vs. which are filler. You're supposed to figure it out yourself, with a finite number of evenings and a hard exam date.

So you read more. You highlight more. You buy another practice test pack. You stay up later. And the textbook still isn't getting any thinner.

The textbook on your desk
1,200
pages
$60+ on Amazon. 6+ weeks to read. Pads every concept with marketing fluff. Half the chapters won't appear on your exam.
Your study calendar
42
days left
Six weeks to your exam date. Three jobs. A family. And no clear sense of which 5% of the textbook actually matters when you sit for the exam.
If you keep studying this way

Here's what's
actually at stake.

Failing your CCNA isn't just one bad day. It compounds — into wasted months, drained savings, and the slow erosion of believing you can do this.

$300+
Per failed attempt

Each Cisco exam retake is $300 out of pocket. Most candidates fail their first attempt. Many fail twice. That's $900 you'll never get back.

3 months
Of your life, gone

Three months of evenings and weekends, away from your family, reading content that wasn't even on the exam. Time you can't bill back.

$15K+
In delayed salary

The certified network engineer earns $15-30K more per year than the uncertified one. Every month you delay passing is rent, your mortgage, your kid's tuition.

∞
Confidence damage

Every failed attempt makes the next one harder. The longer you study without passing, the more you start believing the exam is the problem. It isn't. It never is.

"I've watched smart engineers — better engineers than I was at their age — give up on networking after failing the CCNA twice. Not because they couldn't do it. Because they ran out of time, money, and faith in their study materials."

— Donald C. Heslop Jr. · 2× CCIE Enterprise & Security
The solution

Stop reading filler.
Start passing.

The Insider's Field Manuals are the dense, lab-tested reference that gets you across the line. Pick the cert you're studying for now — or grab all three and lock in the entire CCNA → CCNP path with 20% off.

TIER 1 · ENTRY CCNA 200-301 Insider's Field Manual cover — 64 pages, 96 of 96 v1.1 blueprint subtopics covered

CCNA

200-301 · v1.1 BLUEPRINT · WHERE EVERYONE STARTS

Your first Cisco cert and the hardest one to start. This guide gives you the path I wish I'd had — every domain mapped, every CLI tested, every exam trap flagged.

20
Topic Areas
96/96
Blueprint
64
Pages
  • Subnetting drills + every IPv4/IPv6 trap
  • OSPFv2, NAT, ACLs, HSRP — full CLI
  • Wireless, automation, security domains
  • Pass strategy + final-week review plan
$19.97 one-time
Buy CCNA guide →
TIER 2 · CCNP CCNP ENCOR 350-401 Insider's Field Manual cover — 45 pages, all 60 v1.1 blueprint subtopics covering SD-WAN, SD-Access, BGP, and wireless

CCNP ENCOR

350-401 · v1.1 BLUEPRINT · LEVEL UP

The CCNP core exam — and the gateway to senior engineer roles. SD-WAN, SD-Access, BGP, deep wireless. The depth that pays for itself the first time you walk into a senior interview.

12
Topic Areas
60/60
Blueprint
45
Pages
  • SD-WAN (vManage / vSmart / vBond / cEdge)
  • SD-Access fabric — control plane, border, edge
  • OSPF/EIGRP/BGP at CCNP depth
  • CoPP, NETCONF, EEM, Catalyst Center
$19.97 one-time
Buy ENCOR guide →
TIER 3 · ADVANCED CCNP ENARSI 300-410 Insider's Field Manual cover — 46 pages, all 48 v1.1 blueprint subtopics covering MPLS L3VPN, DMVPN, BGP route reflectors, and troubleshooting

CCNP ENARSI

300-410 · v1.1 BLUEPRINT · TROUBLESHOOTING WALL

The exam most CCNP candidates avoid. MPLS L3VPN, DMVPN, BGP route reflectors. Pass this and you're 70% of the way to CCIE Enterprise written. Built for engineers who pick the harder path.

10
Topic Areas
48/48
Blueprint
46
Pages
  • EIGRP feasibility · OSPF v2/v3 troubleshooting
  • BGP best-path · route reflectors · policy
  • MPLS L3VPN · DMVPN Phase 1/2/3
  • CoPP · IPv6 First-Hop · IP SLA failover
$19.97 one-time
Buy ENARSI guide →
★ BEST VALUE · SAVE 20%

Skip the gear
shift. Get the
whole path.

Most CCNAs eventually go for CCNP. Most CCNP candidates eventually try ENARSI. If you already know where you're heading, lock in the full path now — three guides, 155 pages of dense reference, the entire CCNA → CCNP roadmap.

  • Complete CCNA 200-301 guide (64 pages)
  • Complete CCNP ENCOR 350-401 guide (45 pages)
  • Complete CCNP ENARSI 300-410 guide (46 pages)
  • Lifetime access · instant download after purchase
  • Free updates when Cisco refreshes the blueprints
$59.91 individually
$47.97
complete bundle
✓ You save $11.94 today
Get the bundle →
Why this works when textbooks don't

Built the way I would
have studied for it
if I knew then what I know now.

Every concept in every guide solves a specific way you've been losing time, points, or confidence to the textbook approach.

// NO MORE WONDERING WHAT'S TESTED

Every Cisco subtopic, accounted for

The thing nobody tells you about the CCNA: the official blueprint has 96 numbered subtopics, and Cisco can ask you about any one of them. Miss a topic, lose points you can't afford. Each Field Manual maps every subtopic to its section, so you spot-check and move on. No more "did I miss something?" anxiety at 2am.

// NO COPY-PASTED CONFIGS THAT DON'T WORK

Every CLI block lab-tested by hand

You've already burned an hour on a YouTube tutorial whose config didn't work because the prompt was wrong or the syntax was outdated. Every command in every Field Manual has been typed into a real router by me. Not pseudo-code. Not auto-docs. The exact CLI you'd use in a real network. 

! EIGRP named mode — actually tested
R1(config)# router eigrp CAMPUS
R1(config-router)#  address-family ipv4 unicast autonomous-system 100
R1(config-router-af)#   network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255
R1# show ip eigrp topology
   FS  · RD < FD · loop-free
// NO MORE INFORMATION OVERLOAD

Built for how exhausted brains learn

You don't have time for theory. You need to know it, remember it, and recall it under exam pressure. Every topic follows the same four-part rhythm: Core concept in plain language, Memory hooks that stick, Real-world CLI you can lab tonight, and Exam tips for what Cisco actually tests. That's the rhythm your brain will thank you for at hour 47 of studying.

// THE TRAPS THAT FAIL CANDIDATES

Where most CCNA candidates lose

A passing CCNA score is approximately 825/1000 (Cisco doesn't publish the exact number). Most candidates who fail miss it by under 50 points — and almost always because of predictable traps Cisco loves: wildcard masks vs subnet masks, OSPF stuck in ExStart, EIGRP K-value mismatch. Every Field Manual topic ends with a red callout box showing exactly where these points walk away. So they don't.

// WRITTEN BY

Donald C.
Heslop Jr.

2× CCIE — Enterprise & Security · 20+ years in the field
2×
CCIE Enterprise & Security
20+ yrs
Production network experience
From a CCIE to you

I remember what it's like to be where you are.

I sat for my CCNA long before I had two CCIEs next to my name. I remember the pressure. The $300 exam fee I couldn't afford to waste. The 1,200-page textbook I tried to highlight my way through. The feeling of opening a chapter on OSPF and wondering if I was even smart enough for this career.

You are smart enough. The textbook is the problem, not you.

I wrote these guides because I run a managed-services provider, I'm on call for production networks, and every couple of months a new engineer joins our team needing the CCNA or CCNP. I write these guides the way I'd brief them — every CLI lab-tested, every concept distilled to what they need on exam day, every trap flagged in red. The cards I wish someone had handed me.

If a CLI snippet is in this guide, it's because I've typed it myself. If a memory hook is in this guide, it's because I've used it to explain a concept to a junior engineer who needed to get it fast. This is the playbook I'd hand my own team. It's the playbook I wish someone had handed me.

Common questions

FAQ

$Are these aligned to the latest Cisco blueprints? +

Yes — every guide is aligned to the current v1.1 blueprints Cisco publishes. CCNA covers all 96 subtopics, ENCOR all 60, ENARSI all 48. Each guide includes a coverage matrix that maps every numbered subtopic to its section, so you can see exactly where each blueprint item is covered.

If Cisco refreshes a blueprint (it happens every few years), I update the guide and existing customers get the update free.

$What format are the guides delivered in? +

Each guide is delivered as a professionally typeset PDF — graphic cover, formatted callouts (yellow tip boxes, red trap boxes), terminal-style code blocks, and a clickable table of contents. Read it on your laptop, tablet, or phone in any standard PDF reader. Tied to your purchase for personal study use.

$I'm new to networking. Can I really pass the CCNA? +

Yes. Tens of thousands of people pass the CCNA every year. None of them were born knowing this. They put in the time, with the right material.

The CCNA assumes zero prior knowledge. You'll learn switching, routing, IPv4/IPv6, OSPF, ACLs, NAT, wireless, and security from the ground up. The Field Manual walks you through every domain at exam depth — start with the free 8-page sample to see if the format works for you, then decide.

If you're already a working tech, you might be able to move faster. The free sample will tell you where you're at.

$Can I really pass with just a 61-page guide? +

Honest answer: not just by reading. The Field Manual is a study companion, not a magic pill. To pass the CCNA you also need: (1) a lab in CML, EVE-NG, GNS3, or Packet Tracer, (2) a few hours per week running the CLI from the guide yourself, and (3) two or three timed practice exams in the final week.

What the guide does is concentrate the textbook into the parts that actually appear on the exam, in the format your tired brain needs. It tells you exactly what to study, in what order, and which traps will burn you. That's the role it plays in your study system.

Most people who use the guide alongside lab time pass on the first attempt. Those are the same people who used to take 6 months on a textbook.

$Why is the bundle 20% off? +

Most candidates start at CCNA and progress through to full CCNP. If you know the path you're on, the bundle saves you $11.94 and locks in the entire roadmap upfront. The discount is permanent — bundle pricing isn't a flash sale.

$What if the guide isn't what I expected? +

Read the free 8-page sample first. It's one complete topic at the exact same density as the rest of the guide. If the sample lands for you and matches how you study, the full guide will too. If it doesn't, you've saved yourself $20 and an evening.

The sample is the reason I don't offer a money-back guarantee. Passing the CCNA depends on lab time, sleep, exam-day nerves, and whether you actually do the work — none of which I can promise from a study guide. What I can promise is that you'll know exactly what you're buying before you buy it. That's why the sample is free.

$Are there video walkthroughs to go with the guides? +

Yes — the YouTube channel has free deep-dive videos that pair with each guide: full lab builds, walkthroughs of the topics CCNA candidates fail on most, and real production troubleshooting from MSP work. The guides give you the dense reference; the videos show you what the CLI looks like running. Use both.

Or you can go back
to the 1,200-page
textbook.

Three more months of evenings. Another $300 retake fee if you fail. Another year of waiting on that promotion. Or you can stop reading what won't be on your exam, and start studying what gets you across the line.

Get the bundle · $47.97 → Browse individual guides