Putting together Home lab for BCMSN

Hey guys

I'm trying to piece together a lab for the BCMSN. I was thinking a 3550, and two 2950s...but I have a 2924 that I used for my CCNA. Would I have an issue using this piece of hardware or should I just stick with the two 2950s?

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astorrs

A 3550 and 2 x 2950's should be good enough (although 2 x 3550's would be better - just a little too expensive for most budgets).

I wouldn't bother with the 2900XL series switches as the syntax can differ quite a bit for certain configurations.

Paul Boz

3550+two 2950's would be adequate.

malcybood

what about wireless access points? It's in the curriculum for BCMSN but not sure how much WLAN config is required to pass the exam?

Describe and configure wireless client access.
Describe the components and operations of WLAN topologies (i.e., AP and Bridge).
Describe the features of Client Devices, Network Unification, and Mobility Platforms (i.e., CCX, LWAPP).
Configure a wireless client (i.e., ADU)

Malc

astorrs

malcybood wrote:

what about wireless access points? It's in the curriculum for BCMSN but not sure how much WLAN config is required to pass the exam?

Describe and configure wireless client access.
Describe the components and operations of WLAN topologies (i.e., AP and Bridge).
Describe the features of Client Devices, Network Unification, and Mobility Platforms (i.e., CCX, LWAPP).
Configure a wireless client (i.e., ADU)

Have a look at these posts:

http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35028
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33053

And of course the sticky for links to lots of wireless resources: http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=31894

scheistermeister

malcybood wrote:

what about wireless access points? It's in the curriculum for BCMSN but not sure how much WLAN config is required to pass the exam?

Describe and configure wireless client access.
Describe the components and operations of WLAN topologies (i.e., AP and Bridge).
Describe the features of Client Devices, Network Unification, and Mobility Platforms (i.e., CCX, LWAPP).
Configure a wireless client (i.e., ADU)

Malc

ADU is the Aeronet Desktop Utility. The Atheros card in my eeePC uses the exact same thing except it is rebranded.

malcybood

ok just wondered as there's a few chapters on the CBT nuggets but not a great deal on config, more about frequencies, LWAPP, LWAPP redundancy etc.

I can also see now why the BCMSN is the pre-req for the CCDA, there is definitely alot of overlap in topics after watching the BCMSN CBT's once.

Thanks for the replies

ilcram19-2

i would recommedn to buy a switchsimulator like the one that networksims offer, i just took the test MODERATED
now for the bsic use dynaips and or gns3 ull be saving alot of money, i regret spending 300dlls on my ccna lab which i only used once

networker050184

ilcram19-2 you should have spent a little more time reading the NDA

ilcram19-2

that was just part of it but ill keep my mouth shut next time lol, but seriusly he should study more than what he needs to practice

dynamik

I'm pretty sure that was his way of nicely asking you to edit your post.

Also, he should study for what he's going to be doing out in the real world. The cert's not going to be worth anything if he can't actually do the job. Saying you can do a basic task on a simulator probably isn't going to impress potential employers.

scheistermeister

Sounds like you got lucky on your BCMSN if that is all you got. Can't say mine was the same.

mikej412

ilcram19-2 wrote:

i would recommedn to buy a switchsimulator like the one that networksims offer, i just took the test MODERATED
now for the bsic use dynaips and or gns3 ull be saving alot of money, i regret spending 300dlls on my ccna lab which i only used once

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dynamik wrote:

I'm pretty sure that was his way of nicely asking you to edit your post.

To Slow! Moderator On Duty!

ITdude

dynamik wrote:

Saying you can do a basic task on a simulator probably isn't going to impress potential employers.

Not unless of course it is a simulated job!

networker050184

I can always count on you for a laugh ITdude!

ITdude

mikej412 wrote:

To Slow! Moderator On Duty!

Fastest gun in the west, or should I say mid-west?

ITdude

networker050184 wrote:

I can always count on you for a laugh ITdude!

I aim to please!

Grigsby

So yeah...2 2950's and a 3550? sweet...lol

Paul Boz

Yes, don't bother buying the wireless stuff unless you intend to pursue other wireless certifications. I don't deal with wireless cisco products whatsoever and don't really have any ambition to so I felt it was a acceptable risk to be "book smart" on that subject without the extensive lab prep that I give to most other subjects. There isn't very much configuration for wireless in the CCNP - it is mostly theory and technology. You can glean that information from the blueprints or any of the published exam cert guides. As a result I lost a few points on wireless but did well over-all because my other subjects were great.

ilcram19-2

Sounds like you got lucky on your BCMSN if that is all you got. Can't say mine was the same.

there is not such a thing as luck, luck is the excuse of a loser,
i study alot and i make sure i know all i need to know for the test, i mean i just dont wanna go take the test and be suprise with the questions, plus ive think i have some experiance taking tests
5=comptia
7=microsoft
7=cisco
oh and i made a 943 not bad for being lucky lol

Saying you can do a basic task on a simulator probably isn't going to impress potential employers

so you are saying he is going to get real life experiance with a lab, lol.
i was just trying to save him some money, everyone shoul know that a cert wont give you the experiance of a real life production envirioment which u cant even mess around in a production enviroment and use it as a lab lol

dynamik

Show me a simulator that is error/bug free and completely mimics actual equipment, and I'll agree with you.

Dynamips is free, and I think it's great (doesn't do switches though). I'm not against people saving money. I just see a buggy simulator as more of a waste than actual equipment, which you can probably resell for close to what you originally paid for it.

ilcram19-2

lol you show me a cisco IOS that is not full of bugs, right now im working with cisco developers to resolved a "bug" in a isr router that allows the user to use webvpn to connect to citrix,
i've user the latest ios versions to resolve this issue which were provided by cisco an none of them worked now they had sent me and ios version that was expecially made to fix the bug i have not tried it yet because the router is in production but in the pass 6 month a ran into about 4 or 5 bugs in the cisco ios's tha goes from policy maps, dmvpn tunnels, qos issues to even virtual tunnel interfaces on the router so and for all of those i had to get new ios version and it went to the point that every time i upgrade i get new bug so even the ios still has bugs, probably the simulator would be closer to real life beacuse he will be running in to bugs as often as real ios lol!!!!

CCIEWANNABE

i agree with you there ilcram19-2 about the ios bugs. i gotta say i've seen quite a few ios bugs here on these gov't routers, can anyone say TAC

ilcram19-2

yea man is just crazy you have to spend alot of time figuring out the problem the u find out is not you then u have to add the time u talk to cisco TAC until they say "oh you are hitting bug # so and so let me contact the developer team" that could be call false advertisement, they selling a product that is suppose to do "something" but is really not doing doing that "something", oh well but i guess cisco can get away with it

dtlokee

Anything is going to have bugs, they can't test every possible implementation to ensure they are bug free in all cases. My biggest gripe is when an old bug that was fixed comes back in a later code revision, that's just nuts.

Paul Boz

dtlokee wrote:

Anything is going to have bugs, they can't test every possible implementation to ensure they are bug free in all cases. My biggest gripe is when an old bug that was fixed comes back in a later code revision, that's just nuts.

Or when an update to the IOS actually makes a bug worse after you've had an open and fully documented TAC case for six months...

ilcram19-2

and thats cisco for you

Paul Boz

ilcram19-2 wrote:

and thats cisco for you

Well in Cisco's defense they're huge so it's hard to make completely perfect products. Redback is small by comparison and at my previous employer we literally pulled all of their junk out of our network and threw it away because it was so buggy. We replaced them with Cisco 10k's for customer PVC aggregation and had zero problems.

Grigsby

Hey, do I have to be able to do inter-vlan routing? And if so is my 3550 going to be able to do this or do I need a router to do that? I have a 3620...does it do inter-vlan routing?

scheistermeister

Grigsby wrote:

Hey, do I have to be able to do inter-vlan routing? And if so is my 3550 going to be able to do this or do I need a router to do that? I have a 3620...does it do inter-vlan routing?

Yes, you can check out the blue-print for the test on Cisco's site. And Yeah, a 3550 will work.

Paul Boz

Grigsby wrote:

Hey, do I have to be able to do inter-vlan routing? And if so is my 3550 going to be able to do this or do I need a router to do that? I have a 3620...does it do inter-vlan routing?

Yes. Your 3550 is the perfect router for the BCMSN. Inter-vlan routing is a critical topic for the exam so you are prepared. It never hurts to interface it with a router to practice routing your vlans also.

You can carry the 3550 all the way through the CCIE RS. It is quite a nice product.