Yesterday I managed to pass the CWNP's Certified Wireless Design Professional
exam on my first attempt. Which was fantastic. The exam I felt was really good and it allowed me understand fully why we follow the best practices for designing Wi-Fi and all the considerations you should take into account when designing good Wi-Fi.
I found the exam easier then the CWNA exam as I believe with my professional experiences of design Wi-Fi network I all ready knew about 70-80% of the material already,
It is a really good exam and covers a great deal of detail of how to design Great Wi-Fi. There were plenty of moments where i thought "bugger i did that wrong" thinking back through all my old designs and deployments.
The material builds on what you learn in the CWNA and cements that knowledge. One of the biggest take ways from the exam was getting the design brief from the customer. Having worked as consultant i have experience first hand how vague these requirements can be and guilty of making assumptions because of this. But the becoming a CWDP means i have learnt to be more vigorous with my questions and have a better appreciation for the questions i am asking.
How did i study for it.
I read the official CWDP-303 Official study guide 1st edition written by Tom Carpenter the CTO of CWNP. I also took the Online e-learning provided by CWNP. For me reading the book is great and it enables me to get my understanding of a topic. But to then build on that with hearing someone else explain the same topic means it sticks better and sometimes changes my understanding. It was a trick i learnt at uni. If i read the lecture notes before the lecture. Then in the lecture i wasn't learning the topic a fresh but building on it. allowing me to access more questions as i was further in my understanding then had i just turned up.
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