Need some guidance...

sambuca69

I've been looking at http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/6434-ccna-faq-please-read-before-posting.html and trying to figure out what equipment I should get for a home lab. The problem is most of these stickies are a bit old.. are the suggestions still valid?

Right now, I've got CBT Nuggets and a few books, but I really need some "hands on" right now.

Am I safe just getting a CCNA kit (this ok? Dual 2501 & 2520 8/8 Router & 2924 Switch CCNA Kit) from ciscokits.com? I plan to go the 2 exam route, if that at all matters....

luke_bibby

I didn't look at hte price of the kit you mentioned but I would go for a few 2600XM routers with a couple of 2950 switches for the CCNA, especially if your thinking about going further with your studies.

Should be able to pick up a couple of 2611XM routers + the switches pretty cheap on eBay.

The 2520 in the kit wouldnt be bad for a small dedicated frame relay switch either, but you would be able to pick one up on eBay for pretty cheap

Netwurk

Low budget lab:

2501 (make sure it comes with a transceiver)
2611
2950
2924

A 2501 can be had for around $5-10, a 2611 ($20-40) gives you a two ethernet port model, a 2950 ($50-75) gives you a switch with that has something close to the modern command set, and a 2924 ($10-25) is good to get some spanning-tree going with your 2950 (a lot of the commands on the 2924 are deprecated, but the functionallity is close to what a 2950 gives you).

Use the FAQ's to get the right 2924 as there were many different models.

Or spend the extra and get 2 2950's.