Looking to see what exactly I need in order to prepare for CCNA

Greetings.

I have read the FAQs and stickies and I may have missed something here, but I am basically looking for what exactly I am going to need to basically pass the CCNA. I know "computers" pretty well in general usage but I don't really know the first thing about networking and stuff, I just decided I really want to get into it and I'm pretty smart. So, starting from scratch, what do I need to get? I got the impression that if I get like the TrainSignal CCNA package (The $400 one) and basically go thru the whole thing and really get it I should learn the subject pretty well, but is there something else I need to do or just jump right in and take the CCNA test? Also, what equipment or software do I need to buy along with the training package, and is there a better recommended training program or is that one the best?

I just want to get everything I need to learn the subject from scratch to a person who can pass the CCNA and get certified, and it's so hard to find out what exactly I need to do to learn everything I need to, I read about needing a simulator or cisco equipment but I don't know exactly what equipment or simulator because I don't really know the subject matter (other than basic things like fumbling around to set up a basic network with a router and a few computers etc...)

sorry if this is covered in stickies or FAQ, I seemed to get more confused the more I read. Any help would be greatly appreciated, especially from any recently certified CCNA.

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Comments

networker050184

No one can really tell you exactly what you need as everyone learns differently. The basics are the Odom books though so I'd start there and see how you feel with the material.

veritas_libertas

I'm just going to leave this here: http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/81293-how-study-ccent-ccna-tutorial.html

Rogue did a good job of covering everything I could say. Good luck on your CCNA journey

Skydivingcows

Hi JS,
I'm just starting as of this week as well. I've spent a decent amount of time looking into this as well so I'll share my experience so far.
First the hardware, if you are unable to purchase routers due to a financial strain then it appears GNS3 with 2-3 2950 switches is the affordable route. 2950C is good but most people eventually try to grab a third layer switch such as a 3550. I've read that packet tracer is good software as well. I think it emulates switching but it apparently requires a license? I'm sure others could fill in more on that for you.

If you can purchase a router than do so. 3 would be better of course. The 2600XM series seems to be a good start with a Wic-1t or wic-2T in it or purchased separately for ~$25. Some important parts at looking into routers is that you will want to have 12.4 IOS on them. 12.3 will get you by... but 12.4 is what you are shooting for. You will want to max out the router memory and flash to hold the 12.4 and I believe the memory is to run IPv6, maybe other stuff as well. I say look for 12.4 because apparently Cisco now charges for the version change now on routers. IOS is free for switches and AP's though. The ram and flash is cheap but having it maxed is worth a few bucks anyway when looking.

As far as material. Take a look at INE. It's currently free and from what I have seen in the forums is getting good feedback. You will want to know how to subnet out of your ear as well from what I'm gathering. There is a thread that is recently being posted about good subnetting practice sites on this forum too.

veritas_libertas

I should mention that I'm currently watching Chris Bryant's CCNA uDemy videos. I'm finding them to be top notch. He is also good about giving out little tidbits that have really helped. At $44 I consider them a great deal compared the more costly options out there. Oh, and you can download all the videos as .AVIs for your touchpads, etc.

http://www.thebryantadvantage.com/

jasonstevens90

Holy crap how did I miss that thread!

Thanks, I swear I looked at the stickies. Oh well, I'll engorge it.

jasonstevens90

Thanks for the tips, on the hardware I was a little concerned about switches, especially after reading the tutorial and seeing that I need multiple switches and routers, so I'll look into it.

Also thanks for the heads up on the videos, I'll look into it.

Any other tips appreciated, the tutorial was awesome but things may have changed or been updated since then, especially sources.

veritas_libertas

I tried watching the INE videos but quickly lost interest. He knows his stuff but he is hard to listen to. Very, very, dry...

jasonstevens90

Skydivingcows wrote: »

As far as material. Take a look at INE. It's currently free and from what I have seen in the forums is getting good feedback. You will want to know how to subnet out of your ear as well from what I'm gathering. There is a thread that is recently being posted about good subnetting practice sites on this forum too.

I looked at the INE website and it looks like everything costs something, where did I miss that any part of it was free?

Ivanjam

Click me!

Skydivingcows

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I'm just going to leave this here: http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/81293-how-study-ccent-ccna-tutorial.html

Rogue did a good job of covering everything I could say. Good luck on your CCNA journey

I didn't catch that one either. That is a great source. Thank you.

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I should mention that I'm currently watching the Chris Bryant's uDemy videos. I'm finding them to be top notch. He is also good about giving out little tidbits that have really helped. At $44 I consider them a great deal compared the more costly options out there. Oh, and you can download all the videos as .AVIs for your touchpads, etc.

CCNA CCNP Cisco Security Certification Exam, CCNA Boot Camp CBT

I joined up. The ability to easily save is a nice feature to take them on the go. I believe they were mp4's. I've only watched two videos so far, in the second section, but he does have a good way of keeping you engaged. Thanks for the link!

jasonstevens90

Ivanjam wrote: »

Click me!

Thanks a million, guess I'd better get started

Roguetadhg

Short and sweet:
1. Book
2. Video
3. Lab

Videos are not interchangable with books. The books will deliver the depth of material. Labs are definitely needed as you'll get handsy with the CLI for CCNA. Until you're flicking Subnetting in your head, and typing CLI into long hours... you haven't earned the CCNA :P

I'd really recommend not using INE until after you've gone through the material once. It's delivery is as dry as eating a mouthful of flour. However, it yields a lot of good advice that can be used outside of CCNA. Not to mention it's free... and when it's dry, it's hard to find motivation for something that's so dry. CBT is recommended for newcomers. It's a less-dry approach for the theories that remain true to heart, even if the depth may be lacking.

It's good enough to break the barrier of "Oh ****, New material". For me, a chapter is scary because it's new information. I just mastered X, and now I gotta do the uphill climb again!. Until you've learned to enjoy the material, I'd stay away from INE.

Good luck. We're here if you need us. Ask questions, doesn't matter how stupid you think it is. If you don't know, and you've actually looked for an answer (IT persons realize "Google" is their best friend), ask away!

jasonstevens90

Wow, thanks for breaking it down like that.

So should I read the books first, then watch the videos? Or should I do them concurrently? Are the books you recommend in your thread still up to date?

networker050184

I always like to do the videos first as an introduction then do the reading to get the nitty gritty details the videos leave out.

jasonstevens90

Also, what are the thoughts on INE vs TrainSignal vs CBT as far as videos go?

Roguetadhg

Dryness:
1. INE
1.5 TrainSignal
3. CBT

Production:
1. CBT - They're focused for video viewing.
2. Train Signal
3. INE - The videos remind me of a bootcamp with the video recording off to the side. Ie: the Audience can be referenced at times. It's definitely not the same and topics can be just chopped off.

Education:
1. INE - It's got a lot of information.
1.1. TrainSignal
1.2. CBT - Short and Sweet. Lacks depth, Lacks other information that is definitely important.

When it comes down to it They are all great in their own ways. What one person says may be completely not the way you think, while you may be able to understand a topic delivered from INE better. Don't get too dogged down with all the resources. This is a very easy thing to do. I've been swamped with all the resources! My Tip: Pick one of each group and go with it. Learn as much as you can with what you have... THEN go out and branch with different videos, youtube, google. I say this because there's a hell of a lot of topics and by the time you master Chapter 10 you will probably forget all the finer points in Chapter 2. If you're having problems learning something, go out and dig up some more resources. I can't say that every author explains subnetting your way. Because they don't!

Keep in mind that someone, somewhere has used one of those resources to accomplish their goal. I just gathered the different resources to make it easier to make your choices.

As far as the thread being recent, they're recent. I tried to make something that people can use without going too deep into the thread. There's updates to the thread but I am unable to do any editing to the first post.

jasonstevens90

One last question on this, A friend of mine is studying hard core for his ccna and made it seem like you need an associates or bachelors degree to either get certified, or get a job. I have neither, essentially just high school. Is this true or does college not really matter when getting a CCNA certification and a job afterwards?

Roguetadhg

It's a seperate track for Cisco Exams. You won't need to have a college-anything.

As far as a job... Having a certification and a degree will be better than a certification without a degree. As such having no certification and no degree means you'll have a tougher time looking for a job.

Some may be able to use experience to fill in the gap of educational, which is the more arguably important aspect - experience.

You can get a job without any three - No experience, No Certification, No Degree. I'm not saying it's impossible to get a high paying job, afterall - it's all about how well you can sell yourself for whatever you are trying to accomplish.

jasonstevens90

Roguetadhg wrote: »

It's a seperate track for Cisco Exams. You won't need to have a college-anything.

As far as a job... Having a certification and a degree will be better than a certification without a degree. As such having no certification and no degree means you'll have a tougher time looking for a job.

Some may be able to use experience to fill in the gap of educational, which is the more arguably important aspect - experience.

You can get a job without any three - No experience, No Certification, No Degree. I'm not saying it's impossible to get a high paying job, afterall - it's all about how well you can sell yourself for whatever you are trying to accomplish.

I see.

Well I feel like the most important thing is the CCNA certification over a college degree (if I had to choose one), would you agree with that?

I have some "experience" working as an "IT Guy" for pretty much everything computer related, including running a server with 2 switches and a router for a small business with about 9 computers on the network for about 6 years. So I feel like the best option for me is:

1) Study my ass off and get CCNA certified

2) Look for a job that will pay decently and continue up the Cisco certs by studying for and getting my CCDE and then my CCIE, at which point I feel like a college degree would be kind of moot, would you agree with that approach? You seem to have more "real world" experience with this so any advice is appreciated.

Roguetadhg

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/84494-6-figure-fundamentals-free-vid.html

I think you'll enjoy this thread. The video, too, is exceptional.

If I seem to have real world experience, it's because I've stayed on these forums and read the thoughts, and opinions of those with actual real world networking-experience. ...Learning from the mistakes of others in hopes to avoid the same mistakes.

rchase

Hey J, I passed my CCNA in Nov2011. I used Sybex book as my main resource, no videos. I read the book cover to cover at least 4 times before passing. IMO, Sybex book is much better than Cisco Press. I bought my lab off ebay, HW: 2x 2950 switches, 3x 2600 routers. 2 of the routers with 1WIC, 1 router with 2WICS. This allowed me to do Frame Relay, which is one of the exam topics. Lab cost was under $400. Book under $50.

jasonstevens90

rchase wrote: »

Hey J, I passed my CCNA in Nov2011. I used Sybex book as my main resource, no videos. I read the book cover to cover at least 4 times before passing. IMO, Sybex book is much better than Cisco Press. I bought my lab off ebay, HW: 2x 2950 switches, 3x 2600 routers. 2 of the routers with 1WIC, 1 router with 2WICS. This allowed me to do Frame Relay, which is one of the exam topics. Lab cost was under $400. Book under $50.

Wow, sounds like I need to get that Sybex book asap. Thanks for the heads up, I'll look up the hardware too.

edit: seeing a lot of Sybex with different versions and stuff, which exact book did you use?

jdancer

Another video resource is the vtc.com CCNA videos by[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]Greg Dickinson. For some reason, the author was the only one able to explain NAT to me when I was studying for my CCNA.

Iristheangel

jasonstevens90 wrote: »

Well I feel like the most important thing is the CCNA certification over a college degree (if I had to choose one), would you agree with that?
Look for a job that will pay decently and continue up the Cisco certs by studying for and getting my CCDE and then my CCIE, at which point I feel like a college degree would be kind of moot, would you agree with that approach? You seem to have more "real world" experience with this so any advice is appreciated.

Why not do both? There are plenty of options out there that will allow you to study for school and certifications concurrently. I would not say a degree or certifications are more "important" than the other. It really depends on who is looking at your resume. If your resume goes to someone in HR first, it may end up in the trash because a non-technical HR person understands degrees a lot more than the various alphabet soup of certifications out there. Maybe the IT manager who gets your resume is a college graduate who feels that anyone serious about their IT career should possess a college degree. Or you get lucky with an IT manager who doesn't care about your lack of degree AND understands certifications. The way I see it, it can't hurt you to have both but there is potential for you to have less opportunities for you to not have one or the other.

As far as what you'll need for the CCNA, It's pretty simple. Roguetad did a great job with his thread but the actually materials you'll need to get the basic understand required of a Cisco Certified Network Associate is pretty minimal. You can get away with passing with just a book (Wendell Odom's books or Todd Lammle's), a video series to review all the topics learned in the book, and a network simulator to practice with (Packet Tracers or Boson). The CCNA is considered an entry-level exam so technically you can get away with not purchasing equipment but if you plan on doing some more advanced certifications, I would advise you to find a networking job to compliment the certifications you are starting to work on and to purchase lab equipment at that point. If you don't get a networking job and you're attempting to go all the way to CCDE and CCIE-level, you might experience some knowledge fade when you're not applying what you're learning every day and it might be frowned upon by some employers to have an professional or expert-level certification, but you can't troubleshoot your way out of a cardboard box because you've never actually configured BGP or a PRI T1 in the real world.

Good luck with your CCNA studies!

It's a fun ride. You'll either love or hate Cisco at the end of it. I, personally, had zero interest in network before I was forced to take the class for my undergrad degree. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it and ended up changing IT careers from security to networking thanks to that class. It's fun material to learn

boredgamelad

Iristheangel wrote: »

I, personally, had zero interest in network before I was forced to take the class for my undergrad degree. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it and ended up changing IT careers from security to networking

I was set on becoming a DBA when I started college. Once I learned subnetting and saw how deep the networking rabbit hole was I got hooked. Now if I could just get out of working on Check Point and Juniper firewalls all day and get my hands on some real Cisco equipment!

Iristheangel

You live in Orange County? Shoot me a PM. I might be able to help you out with that.