Ascolta CCNP Training

jude56g

Hi Everyone,

My employer is sending me to the ROUTE & SWITCH trainings hosted by Ascolta, each is a 5 day class. Does anyone have any experience with this company that can speak to the quality of training & labs I can expect?

I'm taking the ICND2 next month, then I plan to roll right into the ROUTE material and expect to have the book read and the CBT Nuggets (Jeremy) finished by the time the class is held in June. I would expect to be prepared for the ROUTE exam shortly after completing the boot camp.

I would then follow suit with SWITCH after reading the materials and watching the CBT Nuggets (Jeremy), I will hit the training class (August), then sit for the test.

Does this plan of attack seem reasonable? I'm open to any suggestions or comments.

Thanks All!!

vinbuck

the guys over at PacketPushers.net seem to be pretty fond of Ascolta...it's one of their sponsors. I'm not terribly familiar with them. Depending on how much exposure you have to advanced routing and switching in your network, jumping from pre CCNA to passing CCNP ROUTE in four months is doable but will be very time intensive. As long as you are doing the in depth prep work before heading off to the boot camp, then you have a good chance at succeeding. You will need to be almost "test ready" when you show up at the boot camp so you can use the boot camp as your final review. The ROUTE exam covers so much material, that it requires dilligence and patience to master all the topics.

Good luck!

martell1000

i would say it depends on how much you already know about CCNA / CCNP level topics. if you are dealing already with stuff that is covered by the CCNP ROUTE exam this is totaly doable.

if you are on a pre CCNA level and never touched things like EIGRP, OSPF, IPV6 or even BGP then there is going to be a lot on your plate. it is still doable and 4 months are a realistic timeframe to get this done and i guess a bootcamp is a very good thing before taking the exam.

NOC-Ninja

All I have is great experience from Ascolta. The Ascolta here in Socal have a few CCIE's. Also, they have a CISCO lab. They taught well known corporations from ISP's (AT&T, Verizon and etc), Government Agency, Universities, and etc. Also, their instructor(s) are Certified Cisco Systems Instructor (CCSI). Some of which are co author of cisco books.

My work actually uses them for IPv6 5 days class. I think their books have great quality.

Furthermore, we use Ascolta office to do Socal Cisco User Group meets. You get to talk/meet/network with guys that are in Networking industry.

They have CCNP's but the CCNP's that I have met was higher than just a average CCNP. He has a website routergods.com. Not just a simple CCNP. Very knowledgeable in the CLI. I’m pretty sure he can walk around new and average CCNP's. This is guy carries a console cable in an interview. Talk about ready for a battle! I think that they pick their CCNP's very well. Humprey btw is studying for CCIE. You can just imagine the quality of their instructors.

jude56g

All,

Thanks for the insight and words of encouragement. I'm looking forward to making some major progress in 2012! I work with OSPF, BGP, and plenty of other CCNP topics daily at work so I think I can handle it. I'll post back once I get some first hand experience with Ascolta.

Thanks again!