Packet Tracer limits?

Hi everyone,

I'm already CCNA R&S Certified and I'm looking forward to get CCNA Security & CCNA Voice and maybe CCNA Wireless, but I wanted to know if Packet tracer is enough for any of them or I should get a real gear to practice on?

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tecnodog7

GNS3 Would be a good tool to practice on. It has all the commands plus you can get IOS for the ASA firewall (That's my plan after ICND2)
With that being said, I am starting to build my lab already.
Just picked up a 3550 switch yesterday

Jon_Cisco

Welcome to the forums.

Packet tracer is limited so I would not expect it to work for everything. It can be a starting point for you and when you run into problems you can start to come up with a new plan. There are lots of posts about what you need for each cert but everyone has their own opinions about the need to have equipment vs use simulators. Cost and convenience are usually big factors.

Mooseboost

If you look around youtube there are some pretty good CCNA:Security virtual lab setups. Here is one of the videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgoFXwb1QvI

I am sure there are other options out there though.

theodoxa

PT won't be of much use for Security (No CCP), Voice, or Wireless. It is also very limited for CCNP and above as it lacks Layer 3 Etherchannel, iBGP, Private VLANs, and probably many other features. PT's implementation of HSRP is also buggy - It didn't work when I tried it on PT, yet the same configuration worked on live equipment.

For any of the CCNA Specializations, you'll want physical hardware. PT and GNS3 are simply inadequate. GNS3 will only emulate Pre-ISR routers, which means NO CCP, which is from what I've heard is what the security track is based on. For Voice, GNS3 does not support VICs or VWICs. You might be able to run CUCME on an emulated router, but it will be a very old version (4.x). For comparison, the current version is 10.5 (requires an ISR G2). An ISR G1 (2800 Series) will run up to CUCME 8.6. GNS3 has no wireless support that I'm aware of.

CCNA Security -- No CCP (PT or GNS3)
CCNA Voice -- No VICs, No VWICs, CUCME (GNS3) is 6 major versions old (extremely out of date)
CCNA Wireless -- No WLCs, No LWAPs, No Autonomous APs (GNS3)

tecnodog7

Mooseboost wrote: »

If you look around youtube there are some pretty good CCNA:Security virtual lab setups. Here is one of the videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgoFXwb1QvI

I am sure there are other options out there though.

This is awesome!!!