suggestions to practice w/out actual hardware

TechDiva

I am fairly new to this forum but I appreciate all the feed back given to one another for assistance. That's why I am asking for your suggestions on what I can do to get more practice before I take my CCENT exam. I currently have no equipment at home but I do have a simulator (Boson). I also planned to use rack space with TheBryantAdvantage via online. But that's it! I've been away from the IT field for almost 2 years and I'm trying to make a come back with my CCNA certification. I would appreciate any suggestions you might have. Thanks in advance for your help.

networker050184

I would say try to save up for real equipment. There really is no replacement for having your own. Dynamips is good for routers, but you still would need some switches. A lab can be pricey, but it is worth it in the long run.

mikej412

Having real hardware -- home lab, school, or work -- is the preferred way to learn, but Boson will "be enough to get by." Don't spend a lot of time with Boson trying things that aren't part of their suggested labs, or you'll waste a bunch of time finding their same old software bugs.

Somethings you'd want to try from the Odom Cisco Press Certification Library or Todd's Sybex book will be simple enough so that they should work in Boson, so you might give them a try. But when you don't get the result you expect, assume its a Boson bug and try it againg during your rack rental time.

Your final preparation should include going through the exam blueprint and practicing all the hands-on tasks with the real hardware using the rental rack. Anything that has "configure," "implement," "verify," "troubleshoot," etc should be practiced.

Good Luck!

Daniel333

Boston is good. That will get you going. But you can find 2500 routers series and 2524 switches real cheap.

There is a certain degree of experience from the real thing that the sims cannot replicate.

shednik

Daniel333 wrote:

Boston is good. That will get you going. But you can find 2500 routers series and 2524 switches real cheap.

There is a certain degree of experience from the real thing that the sims cannot replicate.

A lab is definatley the way to go and the 2500's worked for me when i took the exam, I absolutly hated boson nothing worked. With the new exam it's based off of IOS version 12.4 is what I think i was told and that 2500's would not be able to run that so you will run into issues.

wxboss

eBay has 2501s real cheap. I got a pair of 2501 with a 1924 and all the necessary cabling for a low price.

Spend a little time looking around and you might find that it won't cost you much to get your hands on some good working harware.

shednik

wxboss wrote:

eBay has 2501s real cheap. I got a pair of 2501 with a 1924 and all the necessary cabling for a low price.

You can get by with 2500's and they are much cheaper, but the 1900 switches are pretty much useless for the CCNA exam. My lab consisted of a 2501, 2502, and 2514 router with 2 2924 switches and it worked pretty well.