I am not going to talk about books or lab workbooks too much, because the vendors don't really matter that much. I have used Internetworkexpert (my preferred), NMC and Ip-Expert. I could have passed with any one of these had i known then what I know now.
I put in crap loads of hours. I had no job, so that helped. I put in approximately 300 hours a month for the last couple months. I probably invested about 2000 hours over the last couple years. The last few months of preparation, I really learned to study. Its not about quantity, but its about quality and keeping a routine. In hindsight, I could have passed this exam much faster had I managed my time more appropriately, and not slacked off the routine.
Learn the technologies.
I don't know how many times I had heard and ignored this. I started this journey with the attitude that just doing the practice labs were key to learning. It is so far from the truth. I kept getting hung up on the same topics in the workbooks. I finally stepped back and regressed to the Internetwork Expert technology labs. My final month of preparation, I did not do any full labs (I failed the lab on my first attempt the month earlier). I spent lots of time working through the technology labs over and over, and using the Doc CD. By far learning to use the Doc CD is what really pushed me over the top on my 2nd attempt. The answer to almost any question is right there for the taking. On top of that, I constantly built new dynamips labs and did concept testing on everything I had trouble with. Debug everything so you can see how it really works, and don't take anyones word for it. Go see for yourself!
I have read a lot of books over the years, but honestly, the only topics I went outside of internetworkexpert (WBs and CODs) and the doc cd were QOS and multicast, just because I needed a better understanding. If you do the tech labs, and the WB labs, topics like OSPF, BGP, EGIRP, etc... will be pretty easy to you, if you are studying well. BGP is a monster of a topic, but trust your IE workbook. They test you on what you need to pass the exam.
For QOS I read a few books and watched the Knowledgenet vids.
For multicast, I watched the knowledgenet vids as well. Their multicast vid is actually quite good and in depth. It gave me a different perspective and filled in a lot of the gaps from the IE COD.
Ultimately, focused study was the key to me passing. Rather than wasting 4 hours going through a lab and building core, just so you can study the topics you suck most, don't do it. Do the tech labs or build your own topic by topic, until you feel you have a really good understanding of each topic, then do full labs. Even after that, i would go through the IEWB vol 2 workbook and read over only the stuff from the topic I was working on that week, and solve them in my head.
Routine.
Don't fall off the wagon. I studied in 4 hour blocks, with almost no exceptions. Your dog needs a walking? Too bad. He has to wait. Baby drop a bomb in the diaper? Your gonna have to smell that shit until your study block is up
Having at least an average intelligence and good old fashioned routine are what you need for the knowledge to sink in. Also, no matter how smart you are, you might not pass on your first run. Shit happens. You make a typo and configure Lacp instead of pagp, you just lost 3 points. Those things happen to the best of us, this is where the routine helps. Practice at your best, do not slack in any one thing. Test as you go. Go back and retest in the end. I found a crap load of errors after I completed everything and went back through it. Just stupid stuff, where I might have changed a parameter to test a feature, and forgot to change it back to what the lab asked for. Practice at home and simulate your lab day. Certainly putting in 8 hours a day might be impossible for most people, but 4 hour slots are not that bad. Sticking to the schedule is key.I did not use a bootcamp, and did not have any funded training. I would have loved to go to a bootcamp, but just did not have the money or support through work when I was working.
Besides the message boards, CCIE study is a lonely endeavor. Unlike going to college, where you have structure forced upon you, CCIE lab study is all on you, and your ability to force the routine. I know I sound like a broken record, but this is just a test and you have a good study routine to pass it. You don't only have to want it bad, you have to make rules for yourself and stick to them.
Cisco4lyf3 "
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