Need help with pricing equipment for a CCNA lab.

subsooner711

This is what is being offered for $180:

Cisco 2610 (1 available)
Cisco 2610XM (1 available)
Cisco 2501 (3 available)
3640 Chassis w NM2E Module (3 available, will sell all three bundled for $50)
WIC 1DSU 56K (2 available)
WIC 1DSU T1 (1 available)
VWIC2 2MFT T1/E1 (2 available)

I am just starting my CCNA studies, and I am not real familiar with equipment and prices. So any help or advice given is much appreciated.

TehToG

I'm not to up on US prices but I can comment on some of the gear.


The 2610 is okay but can't run the 12.4 ios and only has a single 10mb ethernet interface. Can't do 'Router on a stick'.

The 2610XM should run 12.4 if the ram/flash are up to date. (12.4 is required for some of the ccna stuff) but it only has one fast ethernet

The 2501s are a bit old. and might be a tad useless for you. Some of those modules are a bit outdated for use in a CCNA lab.



The typical recommendation for CCNA is three switches (2950s which are layer 2 or 3550s which are layer 3) and three routers. 2600XMs are the go-to models at the minute for price.

inscom.brigade

3640 will not upgrade to 12.4 ios, . take your time, their is lots of gear out their, buy the correct stuff. those wic 56k not so good, the t1 are only $4~7each.
the 2610 can run 12.4 but it would need a flash mem stick upgrade. try to offer low for the 2610xm and throw in the 2600 free.

zdec

Unless you need it all at once, you might be better off buying piece by piece, might be able to catch good auctions and save money that way. Thats actually how I've bought all my equipment, although part of that was not being able to afford it all at once.

The latest IOS for the 3640 doesn't support EIGRP for IPv6. Not really a CCNA topic, but if you want equipment that will follow you in your career.... a 3725 might be a better fit.

2621s would be better than 2610s by a long shot, mainly for having more than one 10/100 interface. The XM version supports voice, if you want to go that route.

You probably don't need the multiflex T1s, and the dsu wics are cheaper.

An NM-8A/S is cheap and would go well with the 3640/3725 for frame relay exercises.

I'd get at least 1 L3 switch just to play around with. Definitely need some if you plan to pursue CCNP.

astrogeek

My advice: Don't buy any routers, use GNS3 for that. Instead save your money for switches, which you can't use GNS3 for.

For CCNA you would be fine with three or four 2950/2960 switches. If you want to spend a little more you could get some layer 3 3550 switches, but you really don't need those until you get up to CCNP studying. Make sure to avoid any XL switches, they are easy to find on e-bay for practically nothing and worth just about that much

If you must buy a real router at least get one that supports the latest features you need, so I'd go with a 2600XM series router. Doesn't really matter which model, I forget the differences between 2620XM and 2610XM routers but I think it's just performance (which doesn't matter with lab equipment). 2610XM/2620XM's have one FastEthernet port, 2611XM/21XM's have two. Non XM routers don't support the latest IOS, and with the combination of being able to emulate them in GNS3 anyway, I'd say are a complete a waste of money. 2500 series routers are so old they are typically used as a console server, but not as an actual router.