Cisco Kits- 2501 or 1720

bearfan

Looking for suggestions-

I'm thinking about buying one of the routers on www.ciscokits.com.

Who has done this and would you advise getting the 2501 or spending another $10 and get the 1720?

Thanks

dtlokee

The nwe exams will be using the SDM and other features that neither of these routers will have, if you plan to have your certs done before the deadline then it should be ok, but if that's not the case these routers will not meet the requirements for the new exams in November.

bearfan

I hope to have both the 640-821 and 640-811 exams done by November, but who knows -

Also, I may eventually try the CCDA or one of the CCNP tests, so I'm not finished.

What would I need to have the new SDM? A Cisco 831? An 871? Any other suggestion?

I don't want to spend a huge amount.

Thanks.

dtlokee

If you feel linke messing around with Dynamips you can do all of the routing (Including SDM) and it's free. It just takes some time to get it up and running and understanding how it works.

As far as buying a 2501 kit or a 1720 kit, I think if you look around on Ebay you can find either of these routers very cheap, and can build from there, I would recommend you look into the 2600's because they have more features and will help you later on in your studies. I know they're a bit more expensive, but the 2620 with an updated bootrom and 32MB of flash would allow you to run a recent IOS and install SDM on the router. For the new requirements our CCNA lab was upgraded to 2811's and 2960's, that cost about 40k

If you're looking for cheap, dynamips is the way to go

mwgood

I would say no to the 1720. You'll notice it's not "just" $10 more as it appears. This is because in order to get a serial port - you will have to purchase a WIC for (their price is) $50. And if you want another (the 1720 supports adding 2 WICs) - then you'll need to buy another - for a total investement of an additional $110 over the 2501 - which comes with 2 serial ports.

For the CCNA - get the 2501. Don't think that it won't be useful to have for your CCNP or even beyond. There is always a useful role for a 2501.

More advanced features will come in handy for you at some point if you continue your Cisco career, but the CCNA is about learning the basics of Cisco technologies, which the 2501 is generally sufficient. Just make sure you get a transceiver - which you will need to make your ethernet AUI port to work with a regular RJ-45 ethernet cable.