Possible to study CCNA on own w/o doing course in institute?

Hi !
I am new to CCNA. I would like to find out if it is possible to study for a CCNA exam without enrolling for a CCNA course at an institute? I am a MCP, I passed network essentials 8 years ago and have a basic understanding of network, protocals and IP addresses. What resources are available if I choose to study on my own or what will I need just to pass CCNA exam???
If you think I should do the course just tell me?
Any suggestions appreciated.

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Comments

mikej412

A lot of people here go the self study route.

Some think the Cisco CCNA Network Academy classes (offered at local Community Colleges here in the US) are helpful if you havn't studied anything for a while, need the scheduled classes to motivate you to study, or want to gain access to a real hardware lab. Having an instructor and fellow students to go to for help is also a selling point.

Check out the CCNA FAQ to get a feel for what you could be getting yourself into.

You need to acquire some hands on skills -- and a lot of us prefer and recommend using real hardware. You can build a cheap home lab or you can "get by" with a simulator (Boson or that "new one" that's coming out real soon now on the Cisco Press website).

Talic

I've been doing both NetAcad and the self study route. So far I've seen the advantages of both but I think the self study route with access to hardware from a college is the best route.

Pros of NetAcademy: the instructor goes over everything with you, classes are set up to motivate you to study, any questions you have are answered, the labs are pretty fun to do with other people, and the quizzes you do are pretty good challenge. You also get half off your test(s) when your done.

Cons of NetAcademy: cost, it can be up to $1400 dollars to take all the courses since they are worth a lot of credits. That may vary with the place your looking at but you have to remember it's 4 semesters worth of material to go over; they can do accelerated course that are 8 weeks each rather then the standard 16 weeks per course but that's a lot of class time. Probably the biggest disappointment about the courses, at least in the first course I've taken, is the book(s) suck. It's really technical and it seems like whoever wrote it went out of their way to over complicate things, at least compared to my Todd Lammle CCNA book.

After taking the first course I'm planning on self studying while using the lab at my college along with GNS3/Dynamips simulator.

mamono

Many people have completed the CCNA via self study including myself. It all comes down to determination. Just keep checking back with us on questions that you may have and the TE community will try to help out as best as possible.

the_Grinch

I believe you could get through with self-study and it will be a lot cheaper. Especially since you can buy equipment (I used Packet Tracer 5, but would have liked to have equipment), video training tools, and books. I legitimately feel that if you were to buy CBT Nuggets, Trainsignal, Todd Lammle and Odoms books, and the equipment you would still save money and be ready for the test. In my case I took 4 or 5 networking courses (some at a college and some at a training center) and I will say it helped because they force you to do the lab time. You can be really lazy and just watch videos/read books and pass the exams. The idea is at least there you will be forced to wire everything and make it work. Ultimately, though, if you just buy the above self you'll have everything you need to be successful on the exam and to begin entry level work into networking. Good luck!

TonyDuffy

The cisco guy in my work passed with self study and let me tell you ... his £45,000 a year is well deserved