CiscoLand vs. CiscoKits

I am looking to buy a lab to start studying for my CCNP. I have only run across a couple of sites, Cisco Land and Cisco Kits, that seem to have what I am looking for but I am having a hard time deciding which site to buy from. I have a $2000 budget for all of the equipment + rack mounting + shipping.

One of the questions I have is which site I should purchase the lab from and which lab I should purchase? I am having trouble deciphering why the CiscoKits labs are so much more expensive than the CiscoLand kits for comparable equipment. New vs. Used?

Second question is which site/company is more reputable or reliable? I want to make sure that I am receiving quality Cisco products and have a company I can deal with in the future when purchasing additional equipment to pursue different certifications.

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Comments

mikej412

RockhoundFA18 wrote: »

I am having trouble deciphering why the CiscoKits labs are so much more expensive than the CiscoLand kits for comparable equipment.

Is that before or after the exchange rate between Canadian/US currency and Customs charges?

ColbyG

None of the above. Use Ebay and piece the lab together yourself, this will be better and cheaper.

keenon

i would be looking at the virtual route as much as possible. Switches can't be virtual but the routers can. I managed to build my lab around 1500-1700 give or take.

peanutnoggin

ColbyG wrote: »

None of the above. Use Ebay and piece the lab together yourself, this will be better and cheaper.

I definitely agree with this! Buying off of eBay will save you money and get you better equipment.

RockhoundFA18

I went ahead and priced out a lab on eBay. Wow! The extra bit of work tracking down the right equipment paid off. Thanks for the advice. Here is the lab setup I am going to purchase tomorrow.

Switches
3 X 2950
1 X 3550 PoE

Routers
4 X 2611XM
1 X 2511

All of the required cables and ethernet. All under $2000 with shipping and a 20U rack.

sides14

Ebay will definitely save you money. Hopefully your purchases were under $1600.

ColbyG

That's a pretty good starter lab. Definitely consider using Dynamips instead of physical equipment.

keenon

ColbyG wrote: »

That's a pretty good starter lab. Definitely consider using Dynamips instead of physical equipment.

Agreed. You can purchase better switches with the lowered cost of the PC versus the many routers needed.

I looked on craigslist earlier in my area and found a few quad core pc for about 300-500. You can add quad nics off of ebay from 5 to 40 each(you will need 3 of them). 3550s can be grabbed from ebay for around 200 each

CiskHo

peanutnoggin wrote: »

Buying off of eBay will save you money and get you better equipment.

You will also gain a bit of knowledge just by having to look up the part numbers, upgrade the IOS, etc, etc.

OP: I think your 3550-PoE was a wise investment. It will help for CCNA, CCNP, Voice, etc.

eBay for the win!

Matteo916

Buyer Beware! I feel the Trade-up program is a hoax!

I purchased a CCNA kit and when I was done with it and moving on to CCNA Voice, I was told by Erik at CertificationKits that they did not have a buy-back program. Erik told me my best option was to sell my equipment on eBay then purchase my CCNA Voice items that he e-mail me a quote for. I sold and purchased my new equipment and e-mailed CK to let them know why I was not purchasing from them. They e-mail me back to let me know they have "one of the most generous" trade-up programs. Of course, a day late and a dollar short. I emailed them back to let them know they also have "one of the least helpful" customer service departments since I was not told about the Trade-up program despite directly asking if they had one. Happy ending: I was able to get what I needed for my CCNA Voice lab on ebay for $188.23 when they quoted me $423.99. Less than half!

theodoxa

keenon wrote: »

i would be looking at the virtual route as much as possible. Switches can't be virtual but the routers can. I managed to build my lab around 1500-1700 give or take.

1841s are pretty reasonable now and 3560s are coming down. You could build a CCNP lab using actual routers for under $1,000.

(EDIT) Oops...didn't realize someone had resurrected a 5 year old thread. 1500-1700 was a great price in 2010.

smguthrie

I'm looking to set up a home lab as well, but have zero networking experience and really don't know what equipment I should be looking at.

Are the 2950C switches still ok to use for this purpose? I managed to find those very cheap and would most likely buy two of them along with a newer switch that costs more. I'm looking to stay around $500-$600 for switches, routers, cables, etc.