CCNA - self study or classroom??

red_diesel

I want to get the CCNA qualification. Can this be realistically achieved using the self study kit or is it best to do the course. The course is pretty expensive (€2250 in WIT) and my employers just do not have a training budget at the moment so I will have to foot the bill myself.

mack81

Hey RD,

I got my CCNA last year by self study. I bought the book on amazon http://www.amazon.com/CCNA-Certified-Network-Associate-640-801/dp/0782143911/ref=pd_sim_b_2 and also the bryant advantage http://www.thebryantadvantage.com/ which i found really usefull especially for the subnetting questions.

It took me about 6 months doing 15ish hours a week, its tough but very do-able once you get into it. I personally wouldnt pay the money for classroom course, id save the money for when/if you start the CCNP.

Hope thats some help to you.

Mack

Adventure Pout

It depends if you already have some knowledge of networks as well.
I did it as self study but you need some good kits to have the practical site, which is very helpful. For CCNA, you really need to understand how subnetting works. It can be a headach for some people but easy for others (I honestly found it easier than the security parts!!)
honestly to pay a vendor over 2K for teaching you cisco in 5days or so, is a waste of money!
If you want to do in a class, I recommend you to do with the Open University http://ict.open.ac.uk/courses/t228.pdf - However, you will need to go to England for the classroom and the guys teaching it are really really really good. You get all the practicals to do from scratch. Also, you will be enrolled with the cisco academy for life and can find lots of greats tools etc...

red_diesel

Thanks guys. The course in WIT is actually over 36 weeks, one evening per week and one Saturday per month. Also, you never know what the standard of lecturing is with these course's until you start.

noel123ie

Hi there

I wonder how much the self study kit - books , router, simulation software costs versus the cost of doing in a college

I have self studied MCSA and am motivated but would be good to have assistance when needed

However 2250 cost is excessive but very good teachers in CIT

Hoping to do this myself this Autumn

Thanks
Noel

le_dazzler

I did the Year long course in CIT a few years ago, and i can't recommend it highly enough. Getting hands on access to the kit is pretty important (and valuable once you go job hunting) imo. That being said, 2k is a lot to have to shell out yourself, so I could completely understand going for the self study option.

If you do, you should check out http://www.gns3.net/. It's an excellent cisco simulation tool ... it'll be really helpful for doing labs etc.

There's a pretty good introduction video here: http://www.blindhog.net/cisco-gns3-graphical-router-emulation-software/

Best of luck with it!

mark renton

link below for those with no experience and no job - Cisco with Fetac

http://www.crumlincollege.ie/pages/full/it/cisco.html

Kye1

By self-study, do you structure your learning by yourself and then book the exam?

I applied for the CCNA via FAS, but have not recieved anything from them in two weeks. I plan on getting a refund and finding an alternative route for ahieving this qualification.

I paid 120 euro for the fas course. If I am only paying for the course material, then I think I would rather buy 120 euros worth of networking software and books.

Kye.

mack81

Kye1 wrote: »

By self-study, do you structure your learning by yourself and then book the exam?

I applied for the CCNA via FAS, but have not recieved anything from them in two weeks. I plan on getting a refund and finding an alternative route for ahieving this qualification.

I paid 120 euro for the fas course. If I am only paying for the course material, then I think I would rather buy 120 euros worth of networking software and books.

Kye.

I booked the exam for 6 months down the line once I had the books. I did this cos I know I probably wouldnt have studied if I didnt have a date to work towards. I didnt really structure it rather just read the book and took it as they came.

I read the book then did the bryant advantage ebooks and simulators mentioned earlier and all the sample questions that came with the books.

I also had access to an old router and switch at work to mess about with which helped a lot to get a feel for them but the sims would have been sufficient.

All in all i reckon 6 months of relatively good study (i did about 15 Hours per week on average) should be enough to get you the ccna.

Hope that helps.

axer

I would strongly advise anyone self-studying the CCNA curriculum to get their hands on the packet tracer cisco simulation software. It is great for practicing on.

Kye1

Thanks for the advice so far! Would someone be able to give me a link to that site which you need to book the exams? vue or something like that.

Once I have the material, I will book the exams for 6 months. Did you take the two part course or the CCNA exam? I heard the two part one is easier, since the first has nothing about subnetting so you can focus on that on the second exam.

Lastly, I was wondering how benefitial it is to have a CCNA for employment. I have no IT qualifications but it is a strong interest of mine. I was going to try and take a computer science course but I feel I much more suited for hardware then software. I plan on taking the MCSA afterwards since they are a good set of qualifications to have, but I would like to be employed as a network admin before I decide to pursue the CCNP.

Kye.

noel123ie

Hi there

You could also consider

http://www.commsupport.co.uk

Saw this on a uk based site. They run courses in London and are alot cheaper for 5 day course and are suppose to be very good

Hope this helps
Noel

axer

Kye1 wrote: »

Lastly, I was wondering how benefitial it is to have a CCNA for employment. I have no IT qualifications but it is a strong interest of mine. I was going to try and take a computer science course but I feel I much more suited for hardware then software. I plan on taking the MCSA afterwards since they are a good set of qualifications to have, but I would like to be employed as a network admin before I decide to pursue the CCNP.

I think the CCNA is very beneficial for employment. I just recently started as a Junior Network admin (will be dropping the Junior part in about 3 months ) and have found that the things I learned during the CCNA are actually beneficial to me understanding how networks operate.

Granted I don't use Cisco equipment day in day out (although I have been able to successfully set up things on our cisco router) but many manufacturers out there follow cisco's approaches and protocols so you will understand the underlying principals of things which can be built on vendor specific.

I also added a few MS certs to compliment my CCNA (you really do need some server stuff to go with the CCNA for a network admin job).

I would agree with getting a job as a network admin before further pursuing qualifications otherwise you will end up qualified in everything with no experience then people might not hire you thinking you are over qualified and going to leave after a short while.

I took the CCNA in two parts so that everything had time to settle in thus I would understand things better otherwise you are rushing preparing for exams rather than giving your brain time to fully understand things.

Book your exam here:
http://www.vue.com/

sconn69

For those who have done or know of anyone who has done the part-time option...how many hours part-time is sufficient? I've read through other threads with people saying 5 days full-time is way too short, 20 weeks is too long, etc...

IACT offer CCNA part-time 1 evening per week over 12 weeks (48 hours)
Full time course in general is 8hours 9-5 over 5 days so seems these options are basically the same just spread out over 12 weeks.

Dorset college offer it twice a week for 20 weeks (100 hours). Is this excessive or worthy amount of time to learn? Interestingly they both cost €1995...?

Coyote

having not done the CCNA myself I can't say just how many hours is needed.
but I think that when people say that a one week course is too short
and a 20 week is too long, they mean that on a 1 week course your not going
to have much mental room in your head to do self study after each day.
where if your doing a 10/20 week course you should be doing self study as well as
the hours you spend in class.
I'm sure somone who has done it might be able to give more info about the hours
they did for it.

Coyote

Thoushaltnot

Can anyone recommend the CCNA Networking Academy Programme (CISCO) in CFE Dundrum?
I'm long term unemployed so my get up and go has got up and left but I have my Network+ and a bit of industry experience. The course runs from now to May.

mark renton

Thoushaltnot wrote: »

Can anyone recommend the CCNA Networking Academy Programme (CISCO) in CFE Dundrum?
I'm long term unemployed so my get up and go has got up and left but I have my Network+ and a bit of industry experience. The course runs from now to May.

Just out of interest - what is the cost?

Thoushaltnot

john47832 wrote: »

Just out of interest - what is the cost?

I'd be doing it as Back to Education scheme, so €320 for me. The receptionist wasn't sure whether that included exams.

You'd have to ring them yourself (unless someone else here replies). It's a 5 day a week thing (but the days are short). I've only just started making enquiries myself 'cos I don't think Crumlin is as suitable for me (tho it would be handy).

mark renton

Thats a good price - if you are working and want to attend part time you are then looking at 2 - 3 grand for the year.

sconn69

Coyote wrote: »

having not done the CCNA myself I can't say just how many hours is needed.
but I think that when people say that a one week course is too short
and a 20 week is too long, they mean that on a 1 week course your not going
to have much mental room in your head to do self study after each day.
where if your doing a 10/20 week course you should be doing self study as well as
the hours you spend in class.


Coyote

Thanks, makes sense. For anyone who has done the course, how many hours is sufficient? IACT do 48hrs and Dorset do 100hrs for the same price...

mark renton

sconn69 wrote: »

Thanks, makes sense. For anyone who has done the course, how many hours is sufficient? IACT do 48hrs and Dorset do 100hrs for the same price...

That really depens where your at with networking - can you configure interfaces, do subnetting, grasp protocols, understand OSI model?


1 week course IMO is really for people who work in the area or have some experience and require the certificate - even then I would imagine the pass rate is low

Coyote

john47832 wrote: »

That really depens where your at with networking - can you configure interfaces, do subnetting, grasp protocols, understand OSI model?


1 week course IMO is really for people who work in the area or have some experience and require the certificate - even then I would imagine the pass rate is low

good point john47832

Yea I should have said that, It really depends on what your level of experience is. ie:if you work
all day with Cisco routers and understand 80-90% of stuff that you might need to do the exam,
but need to brush up on somethings you don't do everyday or what is the exam way of doing
something a one week might get you set for the exam.

one week course are not for people trying to start learning something new. you might pass at the end of a week, (i doubt it)
but a weeks about how long you will last in a job, as chance are everything you learn in that week you will have
forgotten a few weeks later. much better to spend the time learning it right.

how much time are you willing to spend outside of the class studying ?
a 10 week course prob would be loads if your going to spend 10 hours a week outside of class studying.
you need to get around 85% on the CCNA exam to pass

disclaimer
(again time needed changes depending on what your studying ie: one week learning to use ms word would be loads and if you could not pass the exam after that turn off the pc and never touch a pc again )
I have not done the CCNA, so hopefully someone who has done one of the course will give you a reply on how long they needed to pass.

Coyote

rom

Packet tracer is all that is needed for CCNA. Frame relay is the only thing that it can's do. Stay away from GNS as you need to know your way around packet tracer first. Any year long course you can claim tax back for so its not as expensive as that

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it31a.html for more info but it could be scrapped any time knowing those in the Dail

axer

rom wrote: »

Packet tracer is all that is needed for CCNA. Frame relay is the only thing that it can's do.

If I remember correctly it can do Frame Relay. You put in a cloud. Create a virtual circuit and then connect to the cloud with a modem and serial connection (iirc). Obviously you need to setup the routers aswell.

eamonpendergast

john47832 wrote: »

That really depens where your at with networking - can you configure interfaces, do subnetting, grasp protocols, understand OSI model?


1 week course IMO is really for people who work in the area or have some experience and require the certificate - even then I would imagine the pass rate is low

I'd be shocked if anyone could get a CCNA qualification with a 1 week long course. I've recently got CCENT certified, I had a pretty good understanting to begin with (understood everything above), we did a 1 week course and I'd say the pass rate was 50%. I'd shudder to think what the pass rate would have been if we had to do the entire CCNA course instead of 1/2.

Going back in Dec to finish it off and get CCNA!

msg11

Doing mine over 2 years in Killester at a cost of 450euro per year!

Take the program in 4 section each section 10 chapters long test at the end of each and a final at the end of a section.

Too be honest, there is alot too cover, and how anybody new could cover the stuff in one week is madness, unless your brain dumping.

Which would work out totally useless in the real world, also you get hands on in the course. With cables and routers and switches.

rom

axer wrote: »

If I remember correctly it can do Frame Relay. You put in a cloud. Create a virtual circuit and then connect to the cloud with a modem and serial connection (iirc). Obviously you need to setup the routers aswell.

I didn't know that. I have been using GNS too long

event

where can you get a copy of packet tracer?

axer

event wrote: »

where can you get a copy of packet tracer?

I think it is only officially available through CCNA Academy training centers as part of the course but...

samdeluxjones

packet tracer is up for free in plenty of places, if ya can't get it message me and i'll send ya on a link or 2.

Sybex network plus study guide 4th edition also a good tutorial book with lots of test questions.

think i got it off ipmart e-book section

i start the cisco fas course in 2 weeks if they let me in, not heard a thing from them yet.. messin with networks for about a year..

msg11

samdeluxjones best of luck with the course it is though.

Also I strongly recommend taking down them links mate..