A+ cert or Microsoft Networking Technician Certification

geeksquad09

Starting college this Fall and was wondering what would be better to obtain, my A+ plus cert or should i go towards the Microsoft networking service technician certification?
My dream is to be a network specialist or a network administrator

Somnipotent

geeksquad09 wrote: »

Starting college this Fall and was wondering what would be better to obtain, my A+ plus cert or should i go towards the Microsoft networking service technician certification?
My dream is to be a network specialist or a network administrator

comptia's certifications are non-vendor specific... the a+ pretty much says you know basic computer troubleshooting and repair processes and theory. obviously the other one is microsoft oriented. nothing wrong with that. the a+ isn't a hard cert to obtain but it is 300 bucks after all is said and done, and that's not including the study material.

geeksquad09

Somnipotent wrote: »

comptia's certifications are non-vendor specific... the a+ pretty much says you know basic computer troubleshooting and repair processes and theory. obviously the other one is microsoft oriented. nothing wrong with that. the a+ isn't a hard cert to obtain but it is 300 bucks after all is said and done, and that's not including the study material.

well i have the Comptia A+ For DUMMIES:0

erpadmin

geeksquad09 wrote: »

well i have the Comptia A+ For DUMMIES:0

If you can spring for it, I definitely recommend Mike Meyers' All-in-One for A+. The man does a great job at organizing the objectives in an easy to read level. I had already known what he was talking about, but I wanted to make sure I didn't underestimate the exam like I did with Network+ several years ago. (I did pass Network+, in large part thanks to the newer objectives droping Novell and arcane stuff like vampire taps....lmao. I had gotten in the game a bit after Novell stopped being a relevant NOS).

You can even get vouchers from him so you're not totally paying full price for the exams.

geeksquad09

erpadmin wrote: »

If you can spring for it, I definitely recommend Mike Meyers' All-in-One for A+. The man does a great job at organizing the objectives in an easy to read level. I had already known what he was talking about, but I wanted to make sure I didn't underestimate the exam like I did with Network+ several years ago. (I did pass Network+, in large part thanks to the newer objectives droping Novell and arcane stuff like vampire taps....lmao. I had gotten in the game a bit after Novell stopped being a relevant NOS).

You can even get vouchers from him so you're not totally paying full price for the exams.

i appreciate the information

chmorin

What do you want to administer? If you are just jumping into networking or IT in general, it would not hurt to go get your A+ and Network+ as an introduction to the foundations. This way the rest of your journey will have a much more solid foundation.

After those two, you could pick any range from vendor certifications. In the network administration world, you may want to look into cisco.

geeksquad09

chmorin wrote: »

What do you want to administer? If you are just jumping into networking or IT in general, it would not hurt to go get your A+ and Network+ as an introduction to the foundations. This way the rest of your journey will have a much more solid foundation.

After those two, you could pick any range from vendor certifications. In the network administration world, you may want to look into cisco.

ook. i had this career path set up

A+: basic computer tech
Network+: basic networking
MCSA/MSCE: more professional microsoft cert. system administrator/engineer
CCNA: more professional cisco cert. network associate

xenodamus

That's not a bad plan at all. Although, if you replace the N+ with CCENT, the test will be half the price and you'll be halfway to a CCNA. The CCENT will be a little harder to grasp with no previous networking knowledge, though.

If you're just getting in the game, you may want to look into the MCITP instead of the MCSx since those exams are on their way to retirement.

earweed

+1 on the MCITP but with no prior experience with or network knowledge IMHO he should still do the Net+ first to get his feet wet. Cisco anything can be hard for a beginner. He should probably get his Sec+ too as I've found in my MCITP studies, so far, I'm seeing some of the Sec+ stuff I studied again but just deeper.

rwwest7

earweed wrote: »

+1 on the MCITP but with no prior experience with or network knowledge IMHO he should still do the Net+ first to get his feet wet. Cisco anything can be hard for a beginner. He should probably get his Sec+ too as I've found in my MCITP studies, so far, I'm seeing some of the Sec+ stuff I studied again but just deeper.

The CCENT trumps the Net+ for anyone who knows anything about certs.

earweed

I agree but I also said it may help him to get the Net+ first to get his feet wet.

dadaji

Since you are starting college and if you want to save money on books, I am pretty sure the college library will have books you are looking for. If not, you can always request it and most of the time they get it.

Devilsbane

I think A+ is a good starting place. It is on the expensive side, but does give a balanced view of computers since it isn't vendor specific. Plus having 2 cert providers (aka CompTIA and Microsoft) I think makes you look more balanced. Both CompTIA and Microsoft believe that you know your stuff and have certified you.