Best CCENT book for a 16 yr old

tek2advanced

ccnaomkar wrote: »

wendell odom book with packet tracer or gns3 or lab

packetlife.net is a free lab

u have to register and schedule ur time

This is probably your most cost effective solution since it is FREE. However, you miss out on the research that you do when you buy/put together your own LAB.

tek2advanced

EastDallas wrote: »

I just bought a WS-C2950C 2 weeks ago for $32 including shipping on ebay.

That's a great deal, was it a 24 or 48 port? Which Image did it come with?

tek2advanced

Anoop99 wrote: »

1. What is the most economical way i can setup a Practice Lab for myself?

2. How much am i looking to spend to set it all up?

3. If possible could someone give me some advice on what products to buy?


sorry for all the questions, I have never done any of this before...

And thanks again really appreciate the help from everyone

To answer your 3 questions, I'd recommend starting off with the following:

2 x 1721's ($50/each)
2 x WIC-2T ($30-$40/each)
1 x DCE/DTE Smart Serial Cable ($8.00)
1 x 2950 ($30-$50)
===========
Expect to pay the following:
Low End = $198
Upper End = $238

Then build up your LAB as you go from there.. It would also be nice to have at least 2 Computers to use for pinging and IP assignments.

And if you don't have a DB9 Serial Port built-into any of your Computers (This port is unavailable on most or all new consumer computer products), expect to spend $20 or more on a USB to Serial Converter.

alxx

keep an eye on ebay , be very patient and don't be in a hurry
I managed to pick up a 1721 for 1.99 + 9 p&h 2 weeks ago (about 13 US)
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260796017374&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

a 1720 for $20 with p&h (about US$22)
Cisco 1720 Router with WIC-1T (eBay item 200616337293 end time 10-Jun-11 17:51:28 AEST) : Computers

and a 1751 for 20+p&h
Cisco 1751 Modular Access Router WIC-1ENET (eBay item 380346614767 end time 21-Jun-11 21:48:18 AEST) : Computers

also consider 1760's as they aren't much more expensive than 1750's
Can get them for as low as $35 (40 US) and this sort of equipment is usally a lot more expensive here in Australia than in the US.

got this one for $35 + p&h
Cisco 1760 Router 32MB DRAM 16MB Flash (eBay item 360377610883 end time 06-Jul-11 16:35:49 AEST) : Computers

The ftdichip based usb2serial converters work well with windows , linux and mac
have more than a few here of the easysync ones
USB to RS232

EastDallas

tek2advanced wrote: »

That's a great deal, was it a 24 or 48 port? Which Image did it come with?

24 port with two fiber uplink ports (so, technically 26). It came with 12.1(22)EA13. I believe that is the max IOS they support.

EastDallas

As a preface, I bought most of my equipment as a pre-assembled lab from one of the many Cisco lab websites. In hindsight, I believe this was a mistake. I thought I was paying extra because I was getting tested equipment that had the latest IOS installed and a warranty. I did get equipment with the latest IOS and a warranty, but I had to exchange two components because they were throwing errors that would have been obvious if this equipment was tested. That being said, the equipment certainly could have been damaged in shipment because all of the pieces were wrapped in thin bubble wrap with packing peanuts in the box and not nearly enough. The packing peanuts were not anti-static and there was no foam or anything rigid to fill the negative space in the box.

I have since bought several items from ebay, and have just a few thoughts on buying Cisco equipment (or anything else) on ebay.

Some of this may seem like ebay 101, but some people just don't know.

First, and most important, people tend to ask for WAY too much on the Buy it Now price. If you do an advanced search on ebay, you'll see that the items that actually sell by auction go for much less than the buy it now price.

For instance the switch I mentioned in an earlier post - WS-C2950C - they frequently have Buy it Now prices of $70 to $100+. The ones that sell by auction are almost always below $40 and usually below $30. I actually paid $20 for the switch plus $12 for shipping. The shipping was a little steep, but I didn't mind since the switch was so cheap.

Second, and also important For god's sake, never ever ever bid on an item until there's less than 1 minute left in an auction! Be logged in and ready to go, but don't actually submit your bid until there's less than a minute left. This way, you are (A) not artificially driving up the price by bidding all week before hand and (B) not giving competing bidders a chance to respond.

I usually just put in the max price I'm willing to pay, in comparison to what the high bid is now, and let the chips fall as they may. (i.e. I'm not putting in $50 if the high bid on a switch is currently $20, I'll put $25 or $30 if I think it's worth it.) Even if the seller has someone helping him pad the bids, they don't have enough time to really drive it up, because if they put in a high price they risk outbidding the real bidders. Some people will say wait until there 20 seconds left, or even less, but I like to give myself a little time to bid again. If it comes back right away and says I'm outbid, I'll bump my bid by a dollar or two just to make sure I didn't lose by a couple of bucks.

Check this ebay search for WS-C2950C switches.

(The units that actually sold are in green. If they sold by auction it will show a number of bids, otherwise it will say 'Best Offer' or 'Buy it Now'.)

The Buy it Now price is a fantasy price that the seller wishes he could get. Never use the Buy it Now option unless you need it NOW, it's a rare item, or the seller actually has a verifiable low price on an item.

A lot of people look at the Buy It Now prices on 2600XM series routers and go right to the 1700 series, but if you look at what the 2610XM and 2620XM routers actually go for, it's not that much more than the better 1700s.

2610XM Routers

2620XM Routers

You'll pay a bit of a premium for 2611XM or 2621XM routers, because of the extra fastEthernet port, and as everyone knows Cisco fastEthernet ports for routers contain a special mineral that can only be harvested from Unicorns.


*******************
As an aside, I actually got into a little back and forth with Wendell Odom on networkworld.com recently about this, because his price guide for lab equipment is based primarily on the Buy it Now price and is way high.
Here's a link to my back and forth with Wendell Odom. Scroll down to the comment entitled 'Prices?!?!'

This is the pricing chart I'm referring to in my comments.

Since getting my CCNA and actually doing some research on equipment for CCNP Security, I discovered that getting the better equipment helped for CCNA Security, but doesn't come close to doing anything for me related to CCNP Security. I'm going to be out some serious scrilla for the two ASA 5510s and 3560 switches I'll be buying.

I'm a gear whore, so I'll still keep the equipment I have, and maybe someday I'll have a Scott Morris type lab!
As it turns out that I'm going for CCNP R&S first anyway, since the study materials aren't available for CCNP Security yet. (Although, I just got the SECURE book Wednesday.)
********************

I'm not used to writing for competent people, so if any of it comes across like I'm talking to somebody who wants to give me the subject line of an email so I can tell them if it has a virus attached, that's because those are the kind of people I usually write for.

I don't know if this will be anything new for most of the people here, but I hope it helps someone out.

Matt