The Certified Wireless Network Engineer track consists of four exams, of which the first one, the Certified Wireless Network Administrator (PW0-100) is available to the public. A second exam is coming later this year or early next year with the last two following along after that. Having just recently taken the CWNA exam, I can ensure you that it is no joke and the people at Planet3 have put together a tough exam that will test you thoroughly on all of the exam objectives. Let's take a look at what's going on inside the CWNA exam...

Standards

For those amongst us who are used to taking vendor sponsored exams, such as those from Microsoft or Cisco for example, taking a vendor neutral exam can be a change. While many of you have probably taken one or more CompTIA exams, they still won’t prepare you for the experience of taking this exam. Truth be told, there are quite a few standards and organizations you need to be aware of.

Who do you have to deal with when installing an outdoor antenna tower? What about if that tower is more than 200 feet off of the ground? Who is in charge of certifying 802.11b wireless components to the WiFi standard? What IEEE standard specifies Bluetooth systems? These and many more questions just like this are all fair game in this exam. Not that any of these types of questions are overly difficult, but they can quickly become overwhelming if you are not aware of these organizations and standards before time. Do yourself a favor and keep a good set of notes. Ensure that every time you see an organizational body (such as the IEEE or the FCC) or a standard (such as 802.11b or 802.1x) that you write it down and make some notes about it. These items are important for this exam, and also important to safe and effective operation of a wireless network.

Little Things

Working in IT is all about knowing the little things. Most of the time, however, you can just know where to find the little things and not worry about committing them to memory. Doing that in the case of the CWNA exam will stop you dead in your tracks quicker than anything else in your quest to pass. This exam will punish you, badly, for not paying enough attention to the little things during preparation.

For example, at what power levels are Bluetooth devices allowed to operate at? What is the maximum power level you can legally use with a point to multi point antenna? What is the width of a DSSS channel? Again, all of these questions and many more just like them are fair game. There are no trick questions, just very specific questions that come right out of the exam objectives.

RF Bands

Did you know that there are multiple RF bands that are specified for wireless networking? The are three dominant bands in use, although the first (900 MHz) has fallen out of use for the most part. Knowing everything, and I do mean everything, about the other two bands is an absolute must. You really cannot hope to pass this exam nor successfully administer a wireless network without knowing the 2.4 GHz ISM and 5 GHz UNII bands. The 5 GHz UNII band is actually split up into three smaller bands for wireless networking.

As you might suspect, there are many other devices already in place that may cause you some inference issues. What effect does a baby monitor, cell phone or microwave oven have on your network, current or future? How can you find out what sources of interference might be operating in the RF band you are looking at? These are typical concerns that this exam addresses, and as you might suspect, things that you as the wireless administrator should...

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