CCNA/CCNP Lab

Hi everyone,

I know this question has been asked 50 million times but I need some guidance. I am studying for my CCNA and then after that CCNP. I want to buy some cisco hardware instead of soley relying on the simulators. My budget is $500. Can anyone recommend a lab kit I should buy instead of buying the routers and switches piece by piece? If I cant get a complete kit then please tell me what routers and switches I should buy that can help me with my studies. Thank you in advance.

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Comments

Project2501

Hi princesst,

Recomendations lean towards 2500 series routers and Switches nothing less than a 2950.

The kits I've seen contain a decent router but a 2924 switch so I couldn't suggest any good router kits. I personaly have taken the road of buying each piece bit by bit.

Regards,

hodgey87

hi,

i recently purchased some new equipment i found that ebay was very cheap for what i needed. There are many kits available on ebay however you do need to be careful as the 2924 switches as said above are really the best to have for your studies so a 2950 would be fantastic.

As for routers i tend to go for the 2500 as they are very cheap now days and provide all that i need for the ccna however if you want to go to ccnp then i would say 2610 or something like that.

IOS i would say 12.4 i think this is the best to have. I find that buying equipment piece by piece is alot cheaper than buying it all in one kit.

kevin31

Hi

Yeah Id recommend 3x 2610 and 2 x 2950's! Stick some wic cards in the 2610's and get them all runnning the same flash.

I have just got my last 2950 there seems to be alot on ebay at the moment for a reasonable price!

Kev

princesst

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. So I will get 3 2600 routers and a couple of the 2950's. I will just buy it piece by piece since thats recommend. You guys are the best.

mikej412

Check out the CCNA FAQ

You'll also need a router that lets you practice SDM -- there's a link in the FAQ that takes you directly to a table of supported routers.

If you add an NM-4A/S to one of the 2600s, you'll have a Frame Relay switch -- but you'd want at least 1 hub router and 2 spoke routers to attach to it. The 2600s should let you do router-on-a-stick.

The nice thing about the 2500 series router is that if you shop, you can get one for the price of what you may be paying for a WIC-1T to add to a 2600. The downside is that you need a transceiver, unless you get one of the models with the built in hub -- but they still usually turn out much cheaper than the 2600s.

A 3rd switch is always nice so that you can see how VTP Server, Transparent, and Client mode work together. A 2924-XL-EN makes a good cheap 3rd switch.

A terminal server like a 2509 or 2511 would be nice to have so that you wouldn't be constantly swapping your console cable. You can still use it as one of your lab routers.

mgeorge

While 2500's cannot perform every objective on the CCNA/CCNP curriculum,, it can do
a majority of the material.

You can run 12.2(15)T17 to do IPv6, OSPFv3, RIPv6
You can switch images to run IS-IS.

princesst

mikej412 wrote:

Check out the CCNA FAQ

You'll also need a router that lets you practice SDM -- there's a link in the FAQ that takes you directly to a table of supported routers.

If you add an NM-4A/S to one of the 2600s, you'll have a Frame Relay switch -- but you'd want at least 1 hub router and 2 spoke routers to attach to it. The 2600s should let you do router-on-a-stick.

The nice thing about the 2500 series router is that if you shop, you can get one for the price of what you may be paying for a WIC-1T to add to a 2600. The downside is that you need a transceiver, unless you get one of the models with the built in hub -- but they still usually turn out much cheaper than the 2600s.

A 3rd switch is always nice so that you can see how VTP Server, Transparent, and Client mode work together. A 2924-XL-EN makes a good cheap 3rd switch.

A terminal server like a 2509 or 2511 would be nice to have so that you wouldn't be constantly swapping your console cable. You can still use it as one of your lab routers.

Thanks Mike! I am getting ahead of myself. Let me just start with the CCNA first and worry about the other certs down the line. Its like I want to buy everything now and get it over with but let me just get myself up and running first. I am going to buy some equipment today. Can I buy 1 2610 and 1 2610xm and 1 2950 for now? Is that good enough for the CCNA?

tiersten

mgeorge27 wrote:

You can run 12.2(15)T17 to do IPv6, OSPFv3, RIPv6

12.2(15)T17 has been retired annoyingly. The latest 12.2T still on the site is 12.2(15)T15 which has a deferral notice on it to use T16 instead which isn't there...

mikej412

princesst wrote:

Can I buy 1 2610 and 1 2610xm and 1 2950 for now? Is that good enough for the CCNA?

It's a start.... but the bare minimum is probably 4 routers and 2 switches.... since you can't do much switching with just one one switch. But the 3 switches are preferred.

The 2610XM is a nice router if you're getting it for a great price -- but you may be able to get a 1721 and a couple of 2500 routers instead, and maybe still have enough left over for a couple 2924-XL-EN switches (if you shop on eBay for some deals).