CCENT lab equipment

So I am starting the CCENT track know and been watching the CBT videos it all seems very interesting but in the CBT videos the instructor recommends buying a router his specific recommendation is getting a Cisco 851w which doesn't seem to be sold any more does any have some good recommendations for a good practice router to use to study for the CCENT?

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Comments

cyberguypr

No need for that. Do a quick search on ccna lab and you will see most of us recommend 2600xm and 1721 routers. Very cheap and easily available.

odysseyelite

I would say the same thing as cyberguypr. I use 2600xm's and 2950 switches. Really for CCENT you can get away with not using physical equipment. The CCNA will require physical equipment.

SdotLow

I've been looking at equipment on ebay the past couple days and going over suggested rack lists.

Is there a difference for CCNA lab purposes between an enhanced image and a standard image?

Also, would 1760's be as viable as 2600xm's for this purpose? I was thinking of picking up 2 1760's with 12.4 ios and a 2610xm. I'm confident this would be good, my only real concern is the image on the switches I'm pricing. SI seems to be much cheaper than EI.

alan2308

SdotLow wrote: »

I've been looking at equipment on ebay the past couple days and going over suggested rack lists.

Is there a difference for CCNA lab purposes between an enhanced image and a standard image?

Also, would 1760's be as viable as 2600xm's for this purpose? I was thinking of picking up 2 1760's with 12.4 ios and a 2610xm. I'm confident this would be good, my only real concern is the image on the switches I'm pricing. SI seems to be much cheaper than EI.

I answered this and more in the other thread. Also, I posted a link to a switch comparison chart from Cisco which will show you exactly what the differences between the 2900XL, the 2950SI and the 2950EI So I'll just point you in that direction.

alxx

With 1760's keep an eye on the amount of ram in them.
Go for 64MB ram/32MB flash or higher(so can put on more recent ios versions) if you can afford it.

Depends on the manufacture date on how much ram they can take.
Think its after nov 2003 they can take 160MBram, otherwise its 90MB.
Also 1760-v.

Both 2600xm's and 1760/1760v can be used for voice with additional hardware.

When looking at switches see if you can find the 12 port versions as they can be cheaper than the 24's and 48's.

For the 1700's its the same ram and flash as the 2600xm's ??