Lab gear required in New Zealand

wbosher

Anyone here live in NZ? I was looking on ebay a little while back to get an idea on price for some routers, and the price is sooo cheap! The problem is the shipping costs to NZ. I saw three 2514's for less than $100 but the shipping was around $300, when converted to $NZ it was around $600-$700!!!

I'm hoping that someone here lives in NZ and can offer something a little (or a lot) cheaper. I've been using a simulator which has been ok, but want to get some real gear to play with.

Cheers.

wbosher

May not need to worry about this. One of the network techs at work just told me that I may be able to "borrow" some old 2600 series routers which the company no longer needs, and maybe some switches as well. Fingers crossed.

jbrad95706

wbosher wrote: »

May not need to worry about this. One of the network techs at work just told me that I may be able to "borrow" some old 2600 series routers which the company no longer needs, and maybe some switches as well. Fingers crossed.

Nice.

kiwi dean

Hi all, I'm new here and getting started studying for CCENT and CCNA. I hope in the future to continue forward to CCNP.

Just wondering if there's any other Kiwis here that can point me to some reasonably priced routers and switches that would suit a home lab. Not really sure what the best equipment will be, but I'm happy to spend a little more on a router or 2 that may be useful for future Cisco courses as well.

Can anyone point me to any good deals on TradeMe? I thought perhaps this may be a good deal, and a good starting router for CCNA:
Cisco 3640 router for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand

Then there's the full list of Cisco hardware for sale here:

TradeMe.co.nz - Cisco for sale, New Zealand

Thanks in advance for any advice.

phoeneous

kiwi dean wrote: »

Just wondering if there's any other Kiwis here

What is a Kiwi?

P.S. You totally jacked wbosher's thread...

kiwi dean

phoeneous wrote: »

What is a Kiwi?

P.S. You totally jacked wbosher's thread...

A Kiwi is a nickname for New Zealanders... Kiwi (people) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I thought it might be more helpful to post on wbosher's thread rather than start a new one in case there's other New Zealanders searching the forum for the same topic

Netwurk

For New Zealanders, you might want to try the Australian ebay gear (although I'll admit I have no idea what the customs folks and the shippers will charge you).

wbosher

For any Kiwi's, probably the best place is Trademe, if you keep a close eye on it there are some really good deals from time to time. The shipping costs from the U.S or even Aussie make it pretty expensive to buy over ebay. I was lucky enough to get some 2600 series routers from work which were great, for the switching labs I used packet tracer.

Lately I've been taking a look at CBT Nuggets ROUTE series for CCNP, using gns3. It's a little buggy, but as long as you save your work regularly, it's really good. Not much good for switching though.

Simulators and emulators will do the trick for CCNA, but you still can't beat getting your hands on real gear to get a real feel for it. A couple of 2600 series routers (three is better), and a couple of 2950 switches will be enough.

kiwi dean

Cheers for the advice guys

wbosher - many thanks for your reply. I'll have to check out Packet Tracer and gns3. I'm looking at a few options on trademe at the moment for routers:

cisco router 2620 9 X serials, 1 X FE for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand
cisco router 2620 4 X serials, 1 X FE for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand
Cisco 3640 router for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand

Would the above routers be good options, and also do they sound to be reasonable value?

I have also just purchased a used 2950 24 port switch for NZ$100, they seem to run for around that amount at the moment.

impz

kiwi dean wrote: »

Cheers for the advice guys

wbosher - many thanks for your reply. I'll have to check out Packet Tracer and gns3. I'm looking at a few options on trademe at the moment for routers:

cisco router 2620 9 X serials, 1 X FE for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand
cisco router 2620 4 X serials, 1 X FE for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand
Cisco 3640 router for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand

Would the above routers be good options, and also do they sound to be reasonable value?

I have also just purchased a used 2950 24 port switch for NZ$100, they seem to run for around that amount at the moment.

That 2620 with the 9x serial looks like a good deal. It looks like it is installed with N/M 8AS module which retails in ebay for about 50-75US used. That could be a good frame relay switch and I heard that the N/M 8AS will come in handy for CCNP studies if you plan to go further than the CCNA.


The 3640 is like one of the cheaper routers that support MPLS (CCNP level stuff) and it has some great expandability because of the numerous amount of slots.

Check this one out : (2621xm)

Cisco 2621XM ADSL router *No Reserve* for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand

Edit: This might help you out

mikej412 wrote: »

Certificationkits is fine -- but you pay for the convenience of someone else doing the shopping (and storage, and any upgrades) and you lose out on the learning experience.

I thought 2501 routers were only worth $25 back when I built my lab -- and now I think they are worth only $10 and should come with MAX memory and flash (and preferably the $5 transceiver without paying for it). Of course other people were always bidding them up over $50 so I didn't get one for a long time -- but I survived with $9 maxed out 2513s and paid $1 for an 8 port IBM Token Ring switch and $5 for a transceiver (since a 2513 is just a 2501 with an ADDED Token Ring port).

The 2500 series still has some life, but is losing steam for lab use with the rise of IPv6. But even today they can still be used as backbone routers in a CCIE Lab.

Oh -- if you can't find a cheap $10 2501 switch, you can hunt for a $15-$20 steal on an old PRE-XM 2600 series router. They support more DRAM than the 2501s but still have only 16Meg flash. There may have been a BIO update that let you upgrade a 2620 series to 32Meg..... but it's been a while so I could be wrong.

A 2610 or 2611 could do "Router on a Stick" (ROAS) with it's 10Mb Ethernet Interface if you had the the 12.2( 8 ) IP Plus IOS image. But with the last CCNA exam upgrade you also need at least one router to support SDM.

The cheap routers above DO NOT support SDM. The routers below do support SDM. In the old days you needed at least one router that supported ROAS. Today you need one router that supports ROAS and SDM.

The 1721 is a good little $50 desk mount router -- but some people sell the older version that only comes with 16Meg flash. You want the version with 32 Meg Flash -- since the flash CAN'T be upgraded. And you want the POWER BRICK. No Power Brick -- no Sale. And you want either the big and bad 12.4 Enterprise IOS (and the DRAM to run it) or the 12.4T Advanced IP Services (still good for CCNA) for the Zone Based Firewall support for the CCNA:Security Certification.

The funny thing is the rack mount 1760 routers are great little (slow booting) routers that can be upgraded for voice. I've actually seen them sell for less than the 1721 -- but you may need to upgrade the memory. Look for the models with the "32F in white letters within the black square" above the Fast Ethernet port. That means 32Meg Flash that's fixed on the motherboard -- but these do have slot for a Flash upgrade, its just that the 32Meg onboard and the max upgrade give you all the room you need to load Cisco Call Manager Express software if you do some Cisco Voice studies later. You want 32Megs of flash, so the older model with 16Megs of onboard flash is still fine as long as it has been upgraded and has the biggest and baddest and latest and greatest IOS image.

The 2600XM series prices vary depending on the supply and who is cleaning out their warehouse (and which company has recently upgraded all their routers and flooded the market with tons of used 2600XMs).

I got my 2650XM and 2651XM routers (0 is single lan port, 1 is dual lan ports) for less than the slower 2610XM and 2611XM routers were selling for at the time. A lot of people trying to save money chose the cheaper and slower 261xXM routers over the faster 262xXM routers -- and don't even look for the "more expensive and faster" 265xXM routers.

The 265xXM series has models that shipped with 256Meg DRAM and 48Meg Flash -- so look for those (but the 128 DRAM 32Meg FLASH models are fine).

If you can find a 2610XM for $40 -- it's a good deal. But most of the time they'll start around $60 each. Someone may value a 2611XM router more than a a 2620XM routers because of the dual LAN ports versus the single LAN port on the 2620XM.

I paid between $125-$140 for my 2651XM routers and got some of the 2650XM routers for between $60-80 -- but for a while it seems prices shot back up (because the company dumping pallets of them on the market finally ran out). I think I actually saw the 2651XM selling under $100 for a bit. But again -- prices change with time (up and down) so if you do your own research and bid patiently (and only buy from sellers who list the output of a show version command and have a good return policy and fair shipping -- and are recommended by members here with more than 1 or 2 posts ) then you'll score some good deals.

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The 4 routers are basically a router you can use as a frame relay switch, 1 hub router and 2 spoke routers.

A 2600XM series with an NM-4A/S is a good frame relay switch option. The NM-8A/S gives you a bigger frame relay switch if you plan to build a bigger (CCIE) lab later. A 2610 router with an NM-4A/S is a CHEAP option. There are 252x models with 4 or 10 serial ports that are nice frame relay switches.

I've used my first 252x series router as a frame relay switch and still used it as a "another router" in my lab via the AUI Ethernet -- but I never tried hooking up one serial port to another serial port and using it as both the frame relay switch and one of the hub or spoke routers at the same time.... but I don't see a reason you can't do it. You can try having one router pull double duty and save the cost of the 4th router -- but since I've always had a dedicated router to use as a frame switch you'd want someone else to confirm they've done this.

Chose your frame relay switch solution, make sure you have a router that does SDM and ROAS, and make sure you have 1 hub router and 3 spoke routers for frame relay.

Toss in 2 $25-50 2950 switches, and a 3rd if you can't find a cheaper $10 2924XL-EN switch.

Then don't forget to figure in the shipping. I've had 5 routers show up in one box for $20 shipping -- so now I'll usually avoid any auction where the shipping cost is greater than $20 (unless it's a really big router) or factor in if I think I can "steal the auction." But I tend not to trust eBay seller who overcharge on shipping. I've bought a $185 3745 router with FREE Shipping.

While you're watching the bidding and vendors on eBay, make sure you check out the Buy-It-Now deals -- and look for free shipping. It's funny when people bid up auction prices beyond what's available Buy-It-Now.

Everyone here has there favorite vendors on eBay -- and some of us will agree on the ones you can trust for reasonable deals (and sometimes great deals) -- so at some point you might want to ask about favorite eBay vendors.

That covers the CCNA.

To start the CCENT -- if you're trying for cheap -- pick up a 1721 router and 2950 switch to get you started on the CCENT. Then page ahead in the books and try to figure out when you'll need more routers (or GNS3) and the rest of the switches.

When I did the CCNA, the INTRO exam portion of the CCNA topics didn't even touch a switch. If trunking (and ROAS) is in ICND2, then you may only need the one switch for the CCENT. You do create a small network in ICND1, so you may need at least 2 routers and some WAN interfaces (or GNS3).

Remember the cheap 2501s have the 2 serial WAN interfaces built in (DB60 connectors). The 1721 router would need a WIC-1T (DB60 connector) or WIC-2T or WIC-2A/S. I think both of those may be Smart Serial Connectors. For each WAN connection, for lab use, it's just easiest a back-to-back cable. There are various combinations of DB60-DB60 and DB60-SmartSerial cables. The DTE/DCE ends don't matter for the DB60-DB60 cable since the connectors are the same -- and probably don't for the DB60-SmartSerial cables in a CCNA lab. But you will have to pick which connector you want to be the DCE end -- and that's the router you set the clock rate on in your lab because you're using a back-to-back cable.

kiwi dean

Thanks impz. I'll keep an eye on a few of the TradeMe auctions now. All going well, I'm hoping to perhaps obtain the 2620 with the 9 serials, the 3640 (maybe I'll just bid $150 on that and see what happens) and might also go up to $150 on the 2621XM. I'll see how things pan out, but progressing to CCNP is quite possibly on the cards too.

wbosher

2620s are excellent for CCNA, that's what I used, well one of them anyway. I had a 2612, 2620 and a 2620xm. I highly recommend getting the 2621xm, you can max out the memory and get the latest IOS.

kiwi dean

Sounds great, I'll look into that 2621xm. Many thanks for everyone's suggestions

jovan88

I would love to sell you my stuff but im in Australia, no idea how much shipping would be