online cisco academy??

jsolari

Does anyone have any information on the cisco network academy? Is there an option for online study only that anyone knows about?

I would prefer just an online version of the courses

rage_hog

You might as well, the course books are word for word of whats online.

jsolari

can you just buy the course books?

alan2308

jsolari wrote: »

can you just buy the course books?

Yes, you can get them all off of Amazon, which is where I bought everything since its cheaper than my college's bookstore. For example, here is the lab manual for the first semester. Each semester has a text book and a lab manual. But after semester two, I found that the text books weren't really doing it for me, so I just bought the lab manuals and stuck with Wendell Odom's book (which I already had and was reading more than the course textbooks). So if you already have a CCNA book that you like, you don't need anything beyond that. One other thing I have that was listed as highly recommended by my instructor (though not required) is the CCNA Portable Command Guide.

ajmatson

I went through the Cisco Academy in college and honestly I spent more time doing the labs and working at home then I did in class. The only nice part was having hands on to the schools lab environment however; the times it was available was nothing like having my own lab.

jsolari

So do the lab manuals have recommended equipment I would need to buy to do the labs, or could I use what I have?

alan2308

jsolari wrote: »

So do the lab manuals have recommended equipment I would need to buy to do the labs, or could I use what I have?

I can't say for sure without knowing what you actually have, but its likely that you can.

Selfmade

you can do the Packet Tracers if you are not at home working on your own lab or if you don't feel like hooking up all the equipment. Personally I did the Packet Tracers well ahead of time, so I could then focus on the theory. It is very easy to do the Packet Tracers without reading any of the actual theory if you're able to figure things out from reading the directions. There are a few moments here and there when you have to consult the cirriculum, but it's not too bad.

I managed to do all the WAN labs up to chapter 5 completed before we even started CCNA 4 in January. It didn't take long either. But the problem with doing that is if you finish them and don't touch them again you won't be doing yourself any favors if you don't do them again for the chapter you are on to help you review and remember concepts and commands and outputs.

alan2308

Selfmade wrote: »

you can do the Packet Tracers if you are not at home working on your own lab or if you don't feel like hooking up all the equipment. Personally I did the Packet Tracers well ahead of time, so I could then focus on the theory. It is very easy to do the Packet Tracers without reading any of the actual theory if you're able to figure things out from reading the directions. There are a few moments here and there when you have to consult the cirriculum, but it's not too bad.

I managed to do all the WAN labs up to chapter 5 completed before we even started CCNA 4 in January. It didn't take long either. But the problem with doing that is if you finish them and don't touch them again you won't be doing yourself any favors if you don't do them again for the chapter you are on to help you review and remember concepts and commands and outputs.

You can only get Packet Tracer if you're enrolled in the CNA.