CCNA - self study or classroom??

samdeluxjones

just changed it, cheers man. links against the rules or something?

some other threads seem to be full of em..

Col_Loki

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.

Totally agree with you there. I have recently gotten my CCENT aswell and to be honest before i started the study i thought it would be a breeze with the experience i had.....not the case at all. I put in a pretty big amount of study for this exam, bought equipment to have a practical understanding of how cisco routers/switches look/connect etc, also would have been working a little with them too.

I went into the exam and to be honest thought i might fail for the first couple of questions until i settled down.

Found the course great and really enjoyed it but give it the time it deserves. I dont see how someone can cover it all in a week never mind the CCNA. Reckon i will have to give the second half a good bit more time, might well enjoy it.

Just my opinion though.

msg11

samdeluxjones wrote: »

just changed it, cheers man. links against the rules or something?

some other threads seem to be full of em..

Torrents or Warez are against site rules, you don't want too be getting yourself in trouble.

It's only "available" threw netacad.

CorkFenian

Have a fair bit of exposure to networks, planning on doing CCENT before year is out...Its not the cakewalk its meant out to be IMO anyway...I find the cisco mentor stuff brilliant...

MrMiyagi

samdeluxjones wrote: »

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..

Hello,

Is the Cisco FAS course any good?

NullZer0

I think its important to keep in mind here that the CCNA alone will not get you a job.

Infact, the CCNA doesn't cover many of the day to day tasks that are required by an engineer.

Its a great starting point but not the be all and end all... this is why for me, it doesn't make much sense to spend a year or two doing it.

You just need to get a lab, read the books and lab lab lab. Then do the exam... thats really all there is to it.

You'll get more specific at CCNP/IP/VP level which IMO are essential.

d'NObodyspecial

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.

He must've been referring to a prior version of Packet Tracer - I think the latest is 5.3, but how are you supposed to learn about CCNP stuff on Packet Tracer anyway? Is there a CCNP version or do you have to fork out a truck load of money that you just don't have?

d'NObodyspecial

no offense to anyone here... I think the whole certification system is a complete con-job...MS, Cisco, Juniper, Citrix...they all come out with their own software/equipment & then try & corner the market on selling the 'technology of information'. Because sharing information comes at a price-tag or so it appears in the corp. sector. I'm only slightly cheesed off because I really did love to work with pc's when I was younger - piecing them together... as frustrated as I was at times it seemed like leaps of great accomplishments to get the damn thing to work properly. Anyway, as time flew by I thought I'd try n' up the skillset by taking an MCSE course that ran about 3 months (actually 2 months minus all the days in between). That cost me around $3000 back in 1999. What I found out is that taking a crash course is no good unless you have the software already & some labs to work on at home or you have worked on the technology already. There will always be questions that you might have for the instructor on things that you don't understand & they might give a great explanation, but remembering these things for the tests is key - and this is only achieved by practice. I still can't afford to buy MS software to study for the MCSE/ MCSA... unless it's free, but somehow I doubt it. That's why I think that you should consider very wisely before spending money on a crash course... Note: some places will actually say that they can get you a job or experience after certification, but 9 of 10 times it's a hoax to get you to pay first. As for the Cisco stuff I'm CCNA certified since last year Feb. - I went to the library nearly every chance I could - wrote down everything on a notepad to help me recap each chapter - scheduled the test (@ €200) and I got a 96% on the 802. However, since that time I've been having a hard time in finding experience in the industry/ a foothold in the door. After all this frustration I'm still interested in pursuing the CCNP...God knows why, but I think that being CCNA certified is not much of a benefit to me without a degree specifically in IT. If anyone has any suggestions on where to go that might offer experience I'm all ears & runnin outta ideas. I do volunteer from time to time assisting in the refurbishment of servers, but I need to get some wheels rolling in some networking direction. Thank you in advance. Ps- any questions regarding study materials, etc. just ask

mickman

d'NObodyspecial wrote: »

no offense to anyone here... I think the whole certification system is a complete con-job...MS, Cisco, Juniper, Citrix...they all come out with their own software/equipment & then try & corner the market on selling the 'technology of information'. Because sharing information comes at a price-tag or so it appears in the corp. sector. I'm only slightly cheesed off because I really did love to work with pc's when I was younger - piecing them together... as frustrated as I was at times it seemed like leaps of great accomplishments to get the damn thing to work properly. Anyway, as time flew by I thought I'd try n' up the skillset by taking an MCSE course that ran about 3 months (actually 2 months minus all the days in between). That cost me around $3000 back in 1999. What I found out is that taking a crash course is no good unless you have the software already & some labs to work on at home or you have worked on the technology already. There will always be questions that you might have for the instructor on things that you don't understand & they might give a great explanation, but remembering these things for the tests is key - and this is only achieved by practice. I still can't afford to buy MS software to study for the MCSE/ MCSA... unless it's free, but somehow I doubt it. That's why I think that you should consider very wisely before spending money on a crash course... Note: some places will actually say that they can get you a job or experience after certification, but 9 of 10 times it's a hoax to get you to pay first. As for the Cisco stuff I'm CCNA certified since last year Feb. - I went to the library nearly every chance I could - wrote down everything on a notepad to help me recap each chapter - scheduled the test (@ €200) and I got a 96% on the 802. However, since that time I've been having a hard time in finding experience in the industry/ a foothold in the door. After all this frustration I'm still interested in pursuing the CCNP...God knows why, but I think that being CCNA certified is not much of a benefit to me without a degree specifically in IT. If anyone has any suggestions on where to go that might offer experience I'm all ears & runnin outta ideas. I do volunteer from time to time assisting in the refurbishment of servers, but I need to get some wheels rolling in some networking direction. Thank you in advance. Ps- any questions regarding study materials, etc. just ask

from someone with 10 yrs experience in the IT industry and countless certs. certification is a great way to go, a degree in IT is one thing but you need more . you need a degree , experience and the certs for a career in IT

Gonzovision

Hopefully someone here would be kind enough to give me a hand with this question.

Basically it consists of 4 switches a router, server and WAN connection. 3 switches, 1st floor, ground floor, 2nd floor connected to main switch. The 3 switches have 3 pcs connected to each, i.e HR, accounting, publishing etc. The network is /24.

The question is basically to set up trunking between the switches, VTP, one server switch and 3 clients and separate vlans for each department. I believe I have all this done correctly but the problem I'm having is I can't ping anything once the PCs are subnetted, as is required.

.pka

The packet file is in its unmodified state.

Thanks

axer

Have you the router setup to route between the subnets?

Gonzovision

I haven't made any changes on the router, would implementing rip achieve this?

axer

If I remember correctly you have to make the link between the router and the switch it is connected to a trunk link. Then create sub interfaces on the router - one interface for each vlan (giving the sub interfaces the relevant ip address and encapsulation).

I found this page that will explain how to set it up:
http://www.anythingoverip.co.za/tutorials/course-content/ccna/inter-vlan-routing-router-on-a-stick/

Let me know if you need any more info.

Gonzovision

Thanks a mill Axer, everything is working perfectly. Very much appreciated!

starlit

Is there a practical element to the CCNA exam or is it all a written/online multiple choice questions?

mack81

when i did it 2 years ago it was all online multiple choice and a couple of sims. No practical dor ccna. Think its just ccie that you would need to do practical exam but stand to be corrected on that.

starlit

mack81 wrote: »

when i did it 2 years ago it was all online multiple choice and a couple of sims. No practical dor ccna. Think its just ccie that you would need to do practical exam but stand to be corrected on that.

Does that apply to all the cert exams similar to those ones and A+ ones etc?

Shamo

Actually for the new CCNA coming in a few weeks you have to do a 4 hour practical lab at a Cisco building where they ask you questions during it.

Ah no only joking! No real world practical side to anything up until CCIE. Network+ and A+ are multiple choice as well.

starlit

Shamo wrote: »

Actually for the new CCNA coming in a few weeks you have to do a 4 hour practical lab at a Cisco building where they ask you questions during it.

Ah no only joking! No real world practical side to anything up until CCIE. Network+ and A+ are multiple choice as well.

So basically most of those exams are only multiple choice questions? Great. Thanks. Self-learning and online tutorials might be handier though, you learn more on your own than from an instructor in a classroom.

coolpix23

check this out.

http://www.howtonetwork.net/public/department95.cfm

I haven't tryed it, pressumable they will try to flog you courses/kits.

I'd always try to have some kit and go through a self-study before I started a €2000 plus course. I have a lab on adverts, it's pricey but that's because it's top gear.

Just starting out try just one switch plus GNS3 on a PC. If it's your first piece of Cisco gear make sure to get a console cable. It has a serial connector on one end for the PC and RJ45 on the other for the Cisco console socket. I have a 2950-24 for €80.

check http://www.subnet192.com/?page_id=282 for some labs.

Patrick

usedcars

most probably so many person join classroom for CCNA . it i very tough course of cisco. ans passing marks also more.

zxr500man

i think so too!

Howler6

hi all,
I'm considering doing the 5 day CCNA course and taking the exam(s) afterwards. I'm planning on paying for this out of a redundancy payment I've received. However, I don't work in Networking and have no prior experience of networking. Also, I don't have access to labs or kit on which to practice. My experience is more on the software development side of IT, but I'm interested in getting into the networking side of IT as I think it would compliment my software skills.


So my question is, if I do the course, how much study time is required afterwards to prepare for the exam ? Do I need cisco kit or access to a lab to practice ? Have any of you or your friends passed the exam with no prior networking experience or practice facilities ?
I've read the threads and know that many people recommend self-study over the 5 days course ... but in my case, self-study is not an option.

Would appreciate any comments or thoughts you have
thanks.

NullZer0

Howler6 wrote: »

hi all,
I'm considering doing the 5 day CCNA course and taking the exam(s) afterwards. I'm planning on paying for this out of a redundancy payment I've received. However, I don't work in Networking and have no prior experience of networking. Also, I don't have access to labs or kit on which to practice. My experience is more on the software development side of IT, but I'm interested in getting into the networking side of IT as I think it would compliment my software skills.


So my question is, if I do the course, how much study time is required afterwards to prepare for the exam ? Do I need cisco kit or access to a lab to practice ? Have any of you or your friends passed the exam with no prior networking experience or practice facilities ?
I've read the threads and know that many people recommend self-study over the 5 days course ... but in my case, self-study is not an option.

Would appreciate any comments or thoughts you have
thanks.

Hi,

My advice - dont do this. Others may think different.

Spend the money on lab equipment (just about 200 euro).
Get the books and spend a month reading and doing practical examples.

If you do this EVERYDAY for one month you will pass (or at least be very close!).

axer

iRock wrote: »

Hi,

My advice - dont do this. Others may think different.

Spend the money on lab equipment (just about 200 euro).
Get the books and spend a month reading and doing practical examples.

If you do this EVERYDAY for one month you will pass (or at least be very close!).

And at least you will understand what you are doing also which is very important if you want to break into the networking side of IT.

trebor28

hi all,

sorry if this is hijacking someone elses thread, didnt think it required a new one.

i am in the middle of doing my ccna with a small local college.
we have just finished our course work for the second semester, end of semester exam is on thursday night.
i havent a whole lot of study done, but i did the practice final exam and got 70% for it. happy enough as i know i have more study to do.
is the real exam alot harder?

also how does the ccent exam compare to the end of semester exams on the netacad site?
i know ye cant give a definitive answer, but would like to get an idea as to how much more one would have to do even if they got 80-90% on end of semester exam.
is getting that score of any real use to you going into the ccent exam?