Route or Switch first?? Time is of essence!

Hey all, quick question. First my background, I have CCNA but barely use the skills so I could use a refresher and view some vids on youtube and a little labbing. It expires end of September and I was thinking of passing a CCNP cert, either Route or Switch. Is it doable in 5 months time? Or should I just do CCNA due to deadline for recertification and my noobness on the Cisco stuff atm?

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fredrikjj

Switch covers less material in my opinion and therefore could be faster to study for.

vsecgod

Sweet, didn't know that tidbit. That is definitely something I was looking for in determining which exam to go for. But switch, it looks like I need physical switches, unlike the route, I heard everything can be done in gns3?

fredrikjj

You can do many things in layer 2 IOU and then you can rent some rack time for features that real hardware.

fredrikjj

3550s are also pretty cheap on Ebay if you want to go that route. Cheapest possible lab that would be something like two 3550s and then two layer 2 switches like 2950s. I'm not that informed on the various models and such, but I don't think it will set you back more than $150-200. If you just want to pass the exam, rack time can be cheaper though.

vsecgod

cool, where do you recommend a lab rental time? I'm looking for cheap and I'm trying to reduce my electric usage already so lab rental is more desirable.