Cisco 2500's and 2514 - any good?

drew2000

Guys,
I got some free routers from work (the trash pile).

Are 2500's and 2514's any good for the CCENT/CCNA exams?

At this point I don't plan on going for CCNP / etc.

Thanks,
Andrew

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Comments

remyforbes777

They can definitely be used for the CCNA. You can use them to set up and learn routing protocols.

drew2000

Thanks--

I've heard a lot of guys on here prefer the 2600. Are the 2600's MUCH better than 2500's for CCNA purposes?

One of the guys at work said I could probably flash the IOS on the 2500's to a newer version to get the right commands, etc.

THANKS!

Andrew

shednik

Before they updated the exams I used a 2501, 2501, and a 2514 for my routers running 12.3 and they worked fine for me. You won't be able to get 12.4 on there but they will definitely help teach you what you need to learn for the exam.

drew2000

Thanks - also the two 2500's are 2501's.

I guess I need to scrounge up a console cable and some transcievers.

Drew

mikej412

drew2000 wrote:

I got some free routers from work

Definitely a good Bang for the Buck ratio here!! Grab them and run!

2 2501s can be configured back-to-back to give you a 4 port frame relay cloud later on....

If you check the CCNA FAQ, you'll see the notes under the lab section about SDM and Trunking (for router on a stick). The 261x routers can trunk on their 10Mb ports with the proper IOS and the price has dropped since Dynamips & Dynagen became available -- so that's why they are popular now for the CCNA.

I think a 1721 gives you a 100Mb port to do trunking AND supports SDM -- so see if you can find any of those at work that are being tossed out.