Cisco Lab Question

robp12

Hi all,

I'm currently studying for my CCNA, with the CCENT scheduled on August 13th. I'm using Todd Lammle's book, CBT Nuggets and the CCNA in 60 days guide to pace my studies. However, I would like to construct a home lab to work on to improve my skills. Jeremy from CBT Nuggets recommends the Cisco 871w router and I was wondering if that would be sufficient for purposes of a CCNA lab? Also, according to Cisco's website, the 871w is no out of date and they recommend using the 881w. Would the 871w or 881w be enough to get the job done?

Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Rob

theodoxa

No. While, you can do some things with a single router, you need at least 3 and preferably 4 to be able to lab everything covered by CCNA. The 800 Series are kinda limited to me. The 800 series have less expansion options, and more limited IOS choices (only 1-3 flavors for most of the 800 series - the 850 only offers Advanced Security which is why it did not support IPv6, while both the 830 and 870 series did) than routers like the 1700, 2600, and 2800. The main advantage of an 870 would be that it is an ISR Router and cheaper than lets say an 1841 or 2811/2821, which means it would support IOS 15, though only a handful of packages/versions, unlike the 1800/2800 series.

Personally, if you can afford it, I would suggest 3 or 4 rack-mountable routers like the 1760, 2600(XM), 1800, and/or 2800 series. The 1760 is the cheapest. It include 2 WIC Slots for adding modules like a WIC-1DSU-T1 or WIC-1T or WIC-2T. The 2600 series cost a little more (not much more) and don't run 12.4T except in the XM variety, but there is no reason you can't have one in the mix. They include an NM Slot, which makes them an ideal Frame Relay DCE. The 2600XM cost about $75 each, but will run 12.4T. For that, I would just spend the extra $25-50 and get a 2811 or 2821, which can run IOS 15.

[EDIT] If you can't afford real equipment, you can use Packet Tracer or GNS3, though the former is technically only available to Netacad Students. Both are very good programs which will simulate or in the case of GNS3 emulate real equipment. They have their limitations, such as limited module support, but they are sufficient for many labs.