Considering CCENT/CCNA Bootcamp

Hell everyone,

I am a first time poster. I'm actually completely new to the IT industry all together. I haven't done any networking besides hooking my Xbox360 up to a wireless router. I want to become an expert in designing wireless networks. Through family connections, I have an excellent opportunity to provide apartment complexes and condos with wireless networks. The only thing I lack is the knowledge to do so. I looked around and the Cisco Advanced Wireless LAN Design Specialist certification seemed to be right on track with what I was looking for. Site surverys, wireless networking, all that kind of stuff. The prerequisite for that is the CCDA and the prereq for that is the CCNA ( or atleast CCNA level knowledge). I was considering taking a CCDA/CCNA bootcamp to get the certifications (for the wireless thing and job prospects), but I was told that the CCNA may be over my head with no experience and to consider taking the CCENT/CCNA bootcamp instead. I'm really just looking for advise on the best way to achieve my goal of being able to design wireless networking systems for large communites, but it would be nice to be able to get a non-sales job in the mean time. I don't know if I am crazy to think I can spend 12 days in classes and expect to be job ready. Any and all information/ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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Comments

suffah

I think you are in for quite a shock if you think a bootcamp will prep you for the exam.

While it's not the hardest test in the world, there are a ton of concepts and ideas that you'll need to familiarize yourself with. I'm not sure how these bootcamps work but the fact that you have no IT experience will certainly make it difficult.

Hooking up a Xbox360 to a wireless AP with easy to install user-friendly setups is a far cry from the CCNA world. Have you ever used Dos or Unix? You'll have to learn the CLI which is quite a shock for people used to GUI interfaces. Look over the exam blueprint and check out how much you'll need to cover...

ats314

i won't be shocked to hear anything. I have no idea what to expect from a bootcamp, thats why I am asking here. I'm not too worried about programming in Unix or Dos. I was using PC's before Windows existed and i have a little less than a year experience with C, but that was in highschool. The point is I am a techy type of guy who just hasn't worked in the tech industry and I am looking for the best way to get my foot in the door. A bootcamp may or may not be the right choice for me, I'm trying to figure that out.

suffah

I think a bootcamp can't hurt then. I thought you wanted to use it solely for the exam.

remyforbes777

Before I embarked on the bootcamp route I would probably try to assess the needs of the apartment complex. You could do what you want to do without a CCNA. You could use free programs to get a good site surveyor program and do a google search for best wireless practices. It would be a lot more simple I would think.

ats314

yeah, i thought about the doing it on my own/google search method. I was just afraid I would be lost without hands on experience. I just also found out about the Wireless #/CWNA/CWNE route. http://www.cwnp.com/cwna/. Considering this is geared to purely wireless with all sources and not just Cisco, maybe this would be better for me. How dominating is Cisco in the network market? Is the CCNA more valuable than a CWNA even for pure wireless? I know Cisco also just announced the CCNA wireless cert, but I just don't know if i'll be working with Cisco gear.

dynamik

+1 for CWNA

If I were you, I'd go Network+, CCENT, CCNA, CWNA, CCNA: Wireless (book is out in October I believe). That should cover all your bases. You might just be able to get by with Network+ and CWNA.

Bootcamps are cram/review sessions. You're going over material people have spent months trying to learn. You're not going to learn it or be prepared within a few days. If you have the money, they may be a nice supplement after a lot of other studies. However, they're completely inadequate on their own.

Edit: Even though it's not the best place to start for learning, you should get the official CWNA book and start at chapter 6 or 7 (that way you skip the super technical RF stuff for the time being) and read about management, site surveys, etc. and go from there. There are many other Vendors besides Cisco out there, and they may be better or worse, depending on your needs.

remyforbes777

I honestly doubt that these apartment complexes are going to fork over money for Cisco wireless gear. Unless there is some other underlying reason for you to get the cert I would just research and use free available tools. There are a few things that come to mind that you have to worry about with wireless. Security and availability being the two biggest ones.

ats314

dynamik wrote:

+1 for CWNA

If I were you, I'd go Network+, CCENT, CCNA, CWNA, CCNA: Wireless (book is out in October I believe). That should cover all your bases. You might just be able to get by with Network+ and CWNA.

Bootcamps are cram/review sessions. You're going over material people have spent months trying to learn. You're not going to learn it or be prepared within a few days. If you have the money, they may be a nice supplement after a lot of other studies. However, they're completely inadequate on their own.

Edit: Even though it's not the best place to start for learning, you should get the official CWNA book and start at chapter 6 or 7 (that way you skip the super technical RF stuff for the time being) and read about management, site surveys, etc. and go from there. There are many other Vendors besides Cisco out there, and they may be better or worse, depending on your needs.

I like the idea of Network +, CCENT, CCNA, then CWNA. I think that would give me a good balance of skills plus some good Cisco certs for job prospects. Does anyone know if Wireless # is a required prereq for CWNA? What would you recommend as a starting point for Network+?

ats314

remyforbes777 wrote:

I honestly doubt that these apartment complexes are going to fork over money for Cisco wireless gear. Unless there is some other underlying reason for you to get the cert I would just research and use free available tools. There are a few things that come to mind that you have to worry about with wireless. Security and availability being the two biggest ones.

yes, you're probably right on with that. I think the CWNA, CWNP route might give me a broader understanding for a larger market. I'm trying to figure out if Network+ or Wireless# would be the best starting point.

shednik

ats314 wrote:

remyforbes777 wrote:

I honestly doubt that these apartment complexes are going to fork over money for Cisco wireless gear. Unless there is some other underlying reason for you to get the cert I would just research and use free available tools. There are a few things that come to mind that you have to worry about with wireless. Security and availability being the two biggest ones.

yes, you're probably right on with that. I think the CWNA, CWNP route might give me a broader understanding for a larger market. I'm trying to figure out if Network+ or Wireless# would be the best starting point.

I have to agree with remy to a point on this, cisco gear is expensive and I doubt an apartment complex would fork over the money for that. I do recommend the path dynamik recommended to go down Network+, CCENT, CCNA/CWNA, and CCNA: W once you have completed all of those you will have a solid foundation in networking and wireless networking. In the end it will pay off I'd also try and get a certification in some type of OS whether it be Linux or MS. Best of luck to you on whatever path you choose.

remyforbes777

Don't get me wrong I am not trying to discourage you from getting certs. I am referring to this particular situation. Certs are definite valuable and worth the time if you have plans for it benefiting you long term.

dynamik

I guess it depends on the apartment complex. I think Cisco will be in line any other quality gear though. He's not going to be able to get by with a Linksys unless there's something like only four tenants per complex. The management and reporting tools will easily justify a larger purchase. Some of the products do things like detect rogue access points, which seems like it would very useful in that situation. A few people setting up their own could interfere with your signal to everyone else.

You do not have to do Wireless# in order to do CWNA. You may want to do it if you're really new to wireless though. It also covers other things like Bluetooth and RFID. It seems like it's a general overview of wireless technologies. I will worn you though, the CWNA material is difficult, much more so than I anticipated. It covers RF technology very thoroughly. It's a lot of really technical material, so just take it in small bits and don't get discouraged. I highly recommend that anyone interested in this pick up the Transcender practice exam for it. I think you should start with Network+. Like I said, you may be able to get by without the Cisco knowledge. You could either use other products or use the GUI on the Cisco devices you get. You may be able to get by with that. The knowledge will never hurt you though, and if you're going to be doing large installations, do it for sure.

darkerosxx

Apartment complexes are pretty easy to set up wirelessly.

Comcast puts linksys wireless routers in every apartment building and sets up the channels/placement so they don't interfere with each other.

If you really want to get started with it, read the manuals for the routers, which are available free on the linksys site, and look up information about wireless channels.

ats314

dynamik wrote:

I guess it depends on the apartment complex. I think Cisco will be in line any other quality gear though. He's not going to be able to get by with a Linksys unless there's something like only four tenants per complex. The management and reporting tools will easily justify a larger purchase. Some of the products do things like detect rogue access points, which seems like it would very useful in that situation. A few people setting up their own could interfere with your signal to everyone else.

You do not have to do Wireless# in order to do CWNA. You may want to do it if you're really new to wireless though. It also covers other things like Bluetooth and RFID. It seems like it's a general overview of wireless technologies. I will worn you though, the CWNA material is difficult, much more so than I anticipated. It covers RF technology very thoroughly. It's a lot of really technical material, so just take it in small bits and don't get discouraged. I highly recommend that anyone interested in this pick up the Transcender practice exam for it. I think you should start with Network+. Like I said, you may be able to get by without the Cisco knowledge. You could either use other products or use the GUI on the Cisco devices you get. You may be able to get by with that. The knowledge will never hurt you though, and if you're going to be doing large installations, do it for sure.

Thank you. This is all wonderful advise. I think I am familiar enough with wireless that I can get the book for Wireless # and be ok with self study. I'm going to try and enroll in a CWNA a course somewhere. I'm considering going for certs in this order. Network +, CWNA, CCENT, CCNA. Is the CCENT going to be redundant after the CWNA or is it ok for focusing on Cisco? I'm not really interested too much in purely Cisco products, but I think it would be good to have the knowledge for jobs in case my ideas don't take off. Do you think I could go straight from the CWNA to CCNA or do I need the CCENT? Bear in mind I have zero familiarity with Cisco products. Thanks again to everyone for all the help, this information has helped more than hours of google searches.

hypnotoad

Is the CCENT going to be redundant after the CWNA or is it ok for focusing on Cisco? I'm not really interested too much in purely Cisco products, but I think it would be good to have the knowledge for jobs in case my ideas don't take off. Do you think I could go straight from the CWNA to CCNA or do I need the CCENT? Bear in mind I have zero familiarity with Cisco products. Thanks again to everyone for all the help, this information has helped more than hours of google searches.

ICND1 (Also known as CCENT) is a good place to start. I recommend Wendell Odom's Cisco Press official book (3rd edition) -- chapter 1 basically starts out "what is a computer network" with some hokey examples involving the flintstones characters. Give it a shot, see what you think.

CWNA and CCNA/CCENT are pretty seperate from each other, IMO. Go to cisco's site and you can see the major exam objectives. None of the CWNA, CCNA, or CCENT will teach you anything about Windows or Unix. To be well rounded, you'll want to hit some server/OS stuff, not just routing and switching.

Also, keep in mind that the CWNA is only valid for 2 years so by the time you finish CCNA (which varies greatly and is highly dependent on the person, from what I've experienced), you might need to renew CWNA! Cisco has a new CCNA:Wireless specialization you might look in to, but since it is so new, nobody really knows yet how much it will help you in the real world either with other vendors or with jobs

Also remember, if you buy books/routers/switches/whatever and decide to change your plans, you can ebay (or amazon) the items and nearly break even as long as they aren't too obsolete.

ats314

There is a bootcamp in Dallas offered at the Cisco headquarters. It is 12 days and covers CCENT/CCNA/CCDA. It cost $5,500 and they let you retake the classes until you pass the exams. I am considering doing this. Anyone have any thoughts, pro/cons, etc? Just to be clear, I am not looking to spend 12 days and class and get a job making $70,000 a year. I am trying to fast track my education as much as possible.

dynamik

nl wrote:

ICND1 (Also known as CCENT) is a good place to start. I recommend Wendell Odom's Cisco Press official book (3rd edition) -- chapter 1 basically starts out "what is a computer network" with some hokey examples involving the flintstones characters. Give it a shot, see what you think.

Hey now, I thought the Flintstones analogy was good. It does seem a bit out of place at that level though. What he covered seemed like common knowledge for anyone who decided to pursue Cisco studies.

I thought this was clear, but maybe it wasn't. The CCNA can be taken as one exam or as ICND1 and ICND2. If you go the two exam route, the first one earns you CCENT.

nl wrote:

CWNA and CCNA/CCENT are pretty seperate from each other, IMO. Go to cisco's site and you can see the major exam objectives. None of the CWNA, CCNA, or CCENT will teach you anything about Windows or Unix. To be well rounded, you'll want to hit some server/OS stuff, not just routing and switching.

The CWNA does work with layers 1 and 2 a lot, which is why I suggested getting some basic network knowledge first. That would be a lot to take in, in addition to everything else if someone isn't familiar with it already. There is a ton of content that is different though.

nl wrote:

Also, keep in mind that the CWNA is only valid for 2 years so by the time you finish CCNA (which varies greatly and is highly dependent on the person, from what I've experienced), you might need to renew CWNA! Cisco has a new CCNA:Wireless specialization you might look in to, but since it is so new, nobody really knows yet how much it will help you in the real world either with other vendors or with jobs

Actually, it's valid for three. And the CWSP will renew that as well. You should strongly consider going for that later on, so you understand all the security considerations involved with wireless networking. I left that one off the list because I didn't want to overwhelm him. He's certainly got his work cut out for him.

It's not unmanageable though. Just take it one step and a time, and you'll be done before you know it. Good luck!

ats314 wrote:

There is a bootcamp in Dallas offered at the Cisco headquarters. It is 12 days and covers CCENT/CCNA/CCDA. It cost $5,500 and they let you retake the classes until you pass the exams. I am considering doing this. Anyone have any thoughts, pro/cons, etc? Just to be clear, I am not looking to spend 12 days and class and get a job making $70,000 a year. I am trying to fast track my education as much as possible.

Here's a good boot camp thread for anyone else who is interested: http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29390

I stick by what I said though, they can be good for review, but not learning. Even if you can cram for the exam in that amount of time, you won't retain much of it long term, so what's the point of that?

ats314

Thanks for the link to the bootcamp post. Useful information, although as I expected, very many different opinions on the subject. The main argument I hear against them is that they teach the test. That they aren't for people with no experience. My only question on that is, isn't the CCENT designed for people with no experience anyway? Its an entry level cert and I am an entry level person. Is it crazy to think I could learn the info in a week with 12 hours a day to study? Most of these people are talking about the CCNA bootcamp. I know I would not be ready for that, but the one I am looking at starts with a CCENT. Does that make any difference here? Keep in mind I also have 2 months of study time before the course begins. Thanks again everyone. I know its sounds like I am trying to convince myself this is a good idea, but I am very much listening to your advise.

hypnotoad

If you have 2 months of study time, the thing to do would be to hit the books for a bit...the most popular curriculum includes some combination of these:

- ICND1 and ICND2 official study guides by Wendell Odom, Cisco Press
- CCNA Study Guide by Tom Lammle, Sybex Press
- CCENT/CCNA video courses by Jeremy Ciora, CBT Nuggets
- The Bryant Advantage material (video, practice tests, etc) by Chris Bryant (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com/CCNA%20Store.htm)

Also, this web site (click cisco on the left) has practice questions and notes.

The other recommended thing to do is to pick up some switches and/or routers and design a home lab. There are many threads on this forum (and others) about the most effective way to build a lab.

Many community colleges (and universities) offer CCNA (and CEH, MCSE, etc) as part of their coursework. It would be wise to check your options. However, this might not be the kind of fast-paced learning you're looking for. Even if you don't want to spend a few years on a degree, you may benefit from their instruction.

dynamik

You could buy a lab and every useful training resource you'd need for $1000-1500, easily. You could take the exam a dozen times on top of that and only spend about half of what that boot camp costs.

Do you dislike self-study?

Why are you interested in this boot camp?

Are you paying for it or is someone going to send you there?

ats314

dynamik wrote:

You could buy a lab and every useful training resource you'd need for $1000-1500, easily. You could take the exam a dozen times on top of that and only spend about half of what that boot camp costs.

Do you dislike self-study?

Why are you interested in this boot camp?

Are you paying for it or is someone going to send you there?

It wasn't so much that I disliked self study, I just wanted hands on experience. I was worried if i spent a few months watching videos and reading books, I'd be lost in a real world scenario. I wasn't really familiar with the lab kits at the time, though. Those seem like they would help. But in my opinion, nothing beats being able to turn around and ask someone a question. I've done online classes for college and while they have great things about them, I've always preferred a face to face environment.

First and foremost, what interested me about the boot camp is speed. I came to the idea of joining the IT sector because I have a long term goal of integrating wireless technology into the family biz and a short term goal of leaving the finance industry and starting a new career in IT. I'd love to take 2 years and go to school but I am 26 with a mortgage and need to stay working. I thought that if I went through this boot camp I would be prepared for an entry level position. I know a lot of people that get a CCNA have been doing this for years, but I figured if I could get the license that would at least say, OK, I know the basics, let me get my foot in the door and get some real experience. So, I guess I am looking to prepare myself for an entry level position asap, with the overall goal of CWNP or CCNA:Wireless to help expand my family business.

I would be paying completely out of pocket.

Mishra

It depends on your style of learning. Most IT guys are going to learn best through hands on lab work. If you learn a lot by doing the actvitiy then I would buy lab equipment. Setup your lab equipment just like what the apartment complex is doing. Make it work by using google as a resource if you get stuck. Then start reading the chapters and strengthen the technical details on what you just did. After reading the book and doing their labs, then touch up on what you need and take the certs.

Since you said your more of a techie guy then your learning style will probably fit the above. However you should also be really focusing on the learning style that fits you best.

In my opinion you can't just read a book and do the labs in the book and all of a sudden you are good at setting up wireless technologies. Because no matter how you get there the end point will be mostly working with the equipment. So thats what I suggest you get started with first.

In terms of asking people questions, that can be done on the numerous forums that are on the internet. You can really save yourself some money.

dynamik

It's not face to face, but I guarantee you that people here can answer all your technical questions. A good CBT (Train Signal or CBT Nuggetes), a good book or two, a lab, a place to ask questions, practice exams, and you should be set.

I'm not trying to be a jerk and discourage you from doing something you want to do. For me, that is just way too expensive for what I'd get out of it. I might consider something like the for a CCIE, RHCE, CISSP, etc, but while the CCNA material isn't exactly easy, it's not heart surgery either. It's very manageable outside of a classroom environment (someone please remind me that I said this in a few weeks if I don't pass my exam in a few weeks

). That's just a lot of money for 12 days. $1k of that would get you a nice lab you could use for years and work with for years, even into your NP studies if you decide to go that route (I love using that expression when referring to Cisco career/certification choices. Get it? It's a pun!). You could also resell your lab if you decide to stop after the NA and get a majority of your money back. Unlike other equipment, these routers and switches hold their value pretty well.

It's really up to you. If you want to do it, go for it! I won't think any less of you

darkerosxx

If you haven't watched the CBTNuggets videos, I'll tell you that he takes you through real-world scenarios and does all the configurations using a great topology for learning.

I agree with Dynamik. The CCENT/CCNA level is not the level where you need a boot camp. These are fundamentals. If you don't spend the time learning them instead of smashing it into your brain in several weeks, you will pay for it later.

ats314

i asked this in the CWNP Thread and was suggested to transfer here.

ok, so here's what I understand at this point. The only wireless certs Cisco offers at this point is the Advanced Wireless Specialty Certs (Design, Field, Sales) and the new CCNA:Wireless, which is an entry level wireless cert. The CWNA is also relatively entry level but uses any vendor and not just Cisco. The CWNP is a professional wireless cert, again not vendor specific.

My overall goal is wireless design, so a CWNP or Advanced Wireless Design Cert seems like a good goal. However, with the addition of the CCNA:Wireless, does that mean we are soon going to see a CCNP:Wirelss and CCIE:Wireless? Possibly even CCDP:Wireless and CCSP:Wireless. Is a CCIE:Wireless going to make a CWNP obsolete?

For my uses, I feel like a CWNP would be better, because I don't want to be vendor specific, but it also seems like the job prospects are much better for Cisco stuff.

If I did decide to do the CWNP instead of the Cisco certs, what would be a good supplemental education to help my job prosepcts? I was considering a security+ or linux cert.

Daniel333

Just starting out in networking, the CCENT/CCNA is a great certification. But I don't recommend a boot camp for it. Best thing you can do, is snag yourself some training videos from ww.ctbnuggets.com or if you are on a budget www.vtc.om and buy a stack of routers and switches and a few test machines and have at it!

Somewhere between 40-50 hours of playing with them you'll really start it get it. Finish the training videos, finish the text book (Sybex = good) then you could consider a boot camp.

Bootcamps are probably the wrong option unless you just want to pass the exam.

dynamik

ats314 wrote:

i asked this in the CWNP Thread and was suggested to transfer here.

I almost responded in that thread, so I guess I'll do so here

ats314 wrote:

ok, so here's what I understand at this point. The only wireless certs Cisco offers at this point is the Advanced Wireless Specialty Certs (Design, Field, Sales) and the new CCNA:Wireless, which is an entry level wireless cert. The CWNA is also relatively entry level but uses any vendor and not just Cisco. The CWNP is a professional wireless cert, again not vendor specific.

Just to clear things up a bit, CWNP is the name of the institution, it's not an actual certification. They offer Wireless# (intro), CWNA (associate), CWSP (security professional), CWNE (expert).

ats314 wrote:

My overall goal is wireless design, so a CWNP or Advanced Wireless Design Cert seems like a good goal. However, with the addition of the CCNA:Wireless, does that mean we are soon going to see a CCNP:Wirelss and CCIE:Wireless? Possibly even CCDP:Wireless and CCSP:Wireless. Is a CCIE:Wireless going to make a CWNP obsolete?

Weren't there already rumors of an IE wireless? I also saw people speculating that they might just skip the pro level, like with storage. Personally, I think they could do something like ARCH for design and just build off of BSCI and BCMSN (because those are going to be the backbone of wireless services anyway).

I wouldn't worry about it. This is all so new that hardly anyone knows what the new Cisco wireless cert is anyway (and the pro/expert haven't even been announced). Go to job sites and search for CWNA and CCNA: Wireless and see what you get.

I don't think Cisco's certs are going to make CWNP's obsolete. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the wireless market is much more even than the wired side of things. I don't think Cisco holds a ridiculous amount (80-90%) of that market.

ats314 wrote:

For my uses, I feel like a CWNP would be better, because I don't want to be vendor specific, but it also seems like the job prospects are much better for Cisco stuff.

Are you opposed to doing both? All the CWNP exams are based on standards and vendor-neutral information. If you go after the Cisco exams after that, a huge amount of that is going to be review. It's all based on the same standards. You don't have to use different ethernet cables for Cisco and D-Link switches, do you? Wireless is the same way. You'll just be learning about the features specific to Cisco's equipment on top of the standards.

ats314 wrote:

If I did decide to do the CWNP instead of the Cisco certs, what would be a good supplemental education to help my job prosepcts? I was considering a security+ or linux cert.

Security+ and Linux+ will round you out pretty well. Do you want to be more involved with the networking side of things? If so, I wouldn't spend too much time and energy going after Linux/Windows certs. Higher-level networking certs would probably be more beneficial to you.

ats314

dynamik wrote:

Just to clear things up a bit, CWNP is the name of the institution, it's not an actual certification. They offer Wireless# (intro), CWNA (associate), CWSP (security professional), CWNE (expert).

Woops. Exchange every instance of CWNP i said with CWNE.

dynamik wrote:

Are you opposed to doing both? All the CWNP exams are based on standards and vendor-neutral information. If you go after the Cisco exams after that, a huge amount of that is going to be review. It's all based on the same standards. You don't have to use different ethernet cables for Cisco and D-Link switches, do you? Wireless is the same way. You'll just be learning about the features specific to Cisco's equipment on top of the standards.

No, I can do both. It sounds like you are suggesting I start with the CWNP exams first. Should I start with wireless# or get a more basic networking cert like networking+?

dynamik wrote:

Security+ and Linux+ will round you out pretty well. Do you want to be more involved with the networking side of things? If so, I wouldn't spend too much time and energy going after Linux/Windows certs. Higher-level networking certs would probably be more beneficial to you.

My only interest in Linux is really personal. I just like the idea of open source. I think you're right that the security+ and eventually something like CWSP would probably be most beneficial. I'll probably just learn linux in my spare time.

nicklauscombs

I like the enthusiasm and dedication to making a career change

There's a lot of good info on this thread for you to think over, we want to make it clear this will be no easy feat and even entry level certs have a wealth of information in them especially for someone with no IT experience, from what you wrote about having a mortgage/family there is no real way to "fast track" your learning as I doubt it's possible for you to quit work and only study.Trying to take shortcuts with bootcamps will only blow up in your face later because you may pass the cert exam from the bootcamp but with no hands on experience and the cram style learning the bootcamp offers you won't be able to move onto higher certification goals because the information won't be retained. The most important thing for you to do is lay down a solid foundation of computer troubleshooting / networking, I would highly suggest you buy A+ and/or Network+ books and really see where you stand. If the material in those books is easy for you study up for a little bit then take the exams and move on. If you are overwhelmed with the material they present you have some learning to do. I would even suggest looking for a entry level IT job and start to gain experience that way. Good luck and keep us updated/ask questions when they come up for you.

dynamik

I think the Network+ would be a good starting place for you. I'd encourage you to do that and possible CCENT (at a minimum) before doing the CWNA. They do talk about the OSI model, what happens on each layer (mostly focusing on 1 and 2), etc., so a good foundation in networking would be very beneficial. It's a lot to take in, so the more preparation you do in advance, the better.

I don't think you need to start with Wireless#. You should be able to fill in any gaps in knowledge with a little googling if you find yourself in over your head with the CWNA. Wikipedia is a great supplement.

When you get to focusing on the wireless, I'd do the vendor neutral stuff before going to the Cisco stuff. Cisco will build off the same standards and concepts, so knowing that material in advance will make things much more manageable for you.

I'd highly encourage you to set the CCSP as your end goal before you actually start implementing wireless systems. They're much more complex and vulnerable than wired systems. If I didn't say this already, I wouldn't worry too much about the expert levels. Those are going to be some insanely complex installations. If you want to set that as a really long term goal, go for it. You're not going to need that level of expertise for the vast majority of what you're going to be doing.