Looking to buy a Cisco kit

Calder

Hey all, im currently revising for my CCENT exam and want to get a home lab for practice and for fun

Would you recommend this kit and is it a good price?
http://www.ciscokits.com/cisco-dual-2501-1900-switch-ccna-kit/

Thank you for your time

kevin31

How is the studying going? How many hours you putting in?

GT-Rob

Well 1900s are useless and 2501s are about $20 on ebay.


so....probably not.

nicklauscombs

GT-Rob wrote:

Well 1900s are useless and 2501s are about $20 on ebay.


so....probably not.

agreed, this is even more useless if you aspire to go above the ccna level
i'll suggest you look for 2950 switches and 3640 or 2611 routers

LBC90805

For the CCENT you really do not need anything beyond Packet Tracer from Cisco. That is what I used along with the Odom Cisco Press books and CBTNuggets Videos and passed with an 896. I don't have any equipment yet and I'm still studying for the ICND2; should be taking it in about a month.

The only real piece of equipment I have is a Cisco AS2509-RJ Access Server, which someone at the place I worked at lets me use just to practice with. It has an old 11.x IOS Image on it and doesn't do much.

If you plan to go beyond the CCNA with CCNP then I would go ahead and start assembling a lab. But if you are currently focusing on the CCENT, all you really need is Packet Tracer.

Calder

Hey all, ok so i wont buy that set then :P
Ill go ahead and look for some routers you suggested, im sure having my own kit will help me, and yes i do plan on going with more than the ccna, also i like the thought of having my own lab to play around with (sad i know )

And to cover your answer kevin i do atleast 2 hours a day on revising, is that enough?

thanks all

nicklauscombs

Wendell Odom's blog on networkworld has excellent information on building a CCNA or CCNP lab on different budgets

http://www.networkworld.com/community/odom

theres the link

Daniel333

Having your own lab is a must, and certainly not sad. A Sim just doesn’t cut it.

DeVry and Heald Churn out thousands of CCNAs a year and many of them have never touched a router, done all online with Sims and bulk memorization. When you interview against these guys your actually hands on time will show through.

Ciscokits sells equipment that isn't on the exam. This was unfortunate for when I was starting out on my CCNA. I was pretty mad.

They do give a pretty good honest answer here though to that question,
http://www.ciscokits.com/cisco-lab-suggestions/

I know just starting out reading that page above is intimidating. But the recommendations everyone is giving you are accurate.

Basically, you can get by with 2501 routers and 2950 switches. If you want more switches just to play around with, 2924s are very cheap and use the current commands.

Throw aside any 1900 series switches you get, they will just confuse you when you are learning.

nicklauscombs

Daniel333 wrote:

A Sim just doesn’t cut it.

I can't stress this enough either, with all the trouble I went through on setting up my home lab and troubleshooting the actual switches/routers I learned so much more than sitting around on a simulator.

LBC90805

A sim is perfectly fine for the ICND1. I'm living proof of that. Like I said before Packet Tracer is perfect for the job.

marlon23

Agee with Sims, I would wait for buying a real gear when heading towards CCNP. Also have a look on software GNS3.

LBC90805

Oh yeah, if you are gearing up for CCNP and beyond don't even think about Sims. But like stated originally by the thread author for CCENT real gear is not a necessity.

Calder

Hey again all

Id like to thankyou all for your help and sharing your thoughts :P

I understand a home lab isnt needed for the ICDN 1 or 2 but still it will help somewhat, plus i just want to have fun playing around with it, it can do no harm right?

I will check all these links out and see what i can do with my budget
Have a good day all

networker050184

Calder wrote:

I understand a home lab isnt needed for the ICDN 1 or 2 but still it will help somewhat, plus i just want to have fun playing around with it, it can do no harm right?

No, it will not hurt at all. How could you plan to be Cisco certified with out extensive hands on with their equipment anyway?

miller811

LBC90805 wrote:

Oh yeah, if you are gearing up for CCNP and beyond don't even think about Sims.

I would have to disagree somewhat.

I went through the CCNA with real gear, ( a couple of 2950's and a couple of 1720 routers, 1 1605 and 2620) .and I am currently going through the CCNP and I have been highly impressed with dynamips, (for routing, labs, I would much rather us dynamips that my real gear.)

I can easily create an scenario the lab book has to offer.

BTW, my real gear consists of
4 1720 routers
2 1750 routers
1 1751 router
1 2620 router
1 2610 router
1 837 router
1 2524 router
1 3640 router
1 1605 router
2 2950 switches
2 3512 switches
1 2924 switch
multiple T1 wics and Serail WIC cards to duplicate anything

I also hooked up a 16 port terminal server to my PC and I can remotely console into 16 devices at the same time.

dynamik

I don't think dynamips falls under the classification of "simulator" since it runs actual IOS images. Simulators are often buggy and do not provide the full amount of functionality as actual gear. Dynamips actually emulates the hardware, and it seems to be a valuable tool for studies of any level.

mgeorge

Well 1900's are useless, and personally (in my book) i think 2500's are useless but others
will disagree, they will work fine if you are willing to switch ios images alot

If possible stick to routers that support 12.4, such as 1700 series, 2600XM's, 3640's, 3700 series
etc...

2950 switches work fine for ccna, but 3550's are much more helpful. 3560's will cover 99% of
all switching material but are quite expensive.

GT-Rob

^ its obviously been a while since you did CCNA

LBC90805

miller811 wrote:

LBC90805 wrote:

Oh yeah, if you are gearing up for CCNP and beyond don't even think about Sims.

I would have to disagree somewhat.

I went through the CCNA with real gear, ( a couple of 2950's and a couple of 1720 routers, 1 1605 and 2620) .and I am currently going through the CCNP and I have been highly impressed with dynamips, (for routing, labs, I would much rather us dynamips that my real gear.)

I can easily create an scenario the lab book has to offer.

BTW, my real gear consists of
4 1720 routers
2 1750 routers
1 1751 router
1 2620 router
1 2610 router
1 837 router
1 2524 router
1 3640 router
1 1605 router
2 2950 switches
2 3512 switches
1 2924 switch
multiple T1 wics and Serail WIC cards to duplicate anything

I also hooked up a 16 port terminal server to my PC and I can remotely console into 16 devices at the same time.

Don't know why you are disagreeing about! You used real gear to pass your CCNA, that is great.

I just stated that you do not need a real lab with real equipment to pass the CCENT. It is not necessary at all. I passed with Packet Tracer for practicing configuration.

If you want to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on used equipment that is fine and dandy. But not everyone needs a cisco lab to pass the ICND1.