Buying a Home Lab. Need advise on what I am looking at

mgmguy1

I am buying my own home lab because I am getting frustrated with the limitations of Packet Tracer and not being able to do all the commands.
Plus as I keep reading and also being told by friends that if I am going to progress in my cisco studies i need to get some real equipment.

My concern is what vendor to choose to buy the equipment I have a Budget of $700.00 dollars and I want to make sure I get the best bang for my buck.
Here are two links to equipment from two different vendors that I am considering buying.

The CCNA Enhanced - Cisco 200-120 Certification Complete Study Lab Kit with CCENT - Includes Training & Support

cisco ccnp home lab

Please tell me what you think about the equipment links. I am building a Lab for the future here.

I am studying for my CCENT and once I pass that I am going for my CCNA. CCNP or CCNA Security after that.

Please advise.

mgmguy1

Jon_Cisco

I bought my first equipment from the second link. Everything came as described. I am now starting to look at eBay for more and better equipment. I did a small order to get started but i knew i planned to expand my lab as i progress.

if you have time i would start with gns3 and buy individual items on eBay. If you are in a hurry then i say go for a kit. Understand that with a kit you pay for convenience not quality. It will cost you more. Do not shop kits in search of bargains just use them if you really want a lab to work with next week.

i dont work with the equipment enough yet to give an opinion on the best purchase.

rowelld

I would suggest getting the following:

2x - 3560
2x - 2950 or 2960

That should get you by the CCNP. Routing can be done on GNS3.

I used ebay to buy my equipment. Just look out for how much memory is on the devices and what version of IOS they are running. Make sure they're running 12.4.

weakness33

rowelld wrote: »

I used ebay to buy my equipment. Just look out for how much memory is on the devices and what version of IOS they are running. Make sure they're running 12.4.

Looking at the future I got three 2821s (64 flash, 64 or 128 mem) and a 3350 switch all for about $300 on eBay. Seems that lots of places are buying up large quantities of old corporate hardware and selling it pretty cheap and making a good buck too.

Why run 12.4 on devices versus one of the new v15.x? What type/class then - ipbase? advip?

TechGuru80

$700 will get you a pretty good lab setup. Check out this site below. I have never personally ordered from them but they have quite a few options for kits.

CCNA Certification Kits

alxx

don't buy kits unless you like getting ripped off.

gsn3 especially with the new versions coming -see the crowd funder for next gen version

Just start with one switch and one router and go from there
Don't spend to much until you have completed your ccna and are sure you are going to keep going with it.

For $100 you should be able to get 2-3 switches and 2-3 routers

1721,1751 or 1760 are usually fairly cheap
2600xm a little more
1841's can be a good bit more expensive but are very nice(and quiet compared to some other older equipment)

for switches 2950 or 3550 or better
Can get 2950's for as little as $10 -look at pickup only in ebay

Make sure to get a usb2serial cable or two to make it easy to connect the console cables to computers without serial ports

For the routers you will need two or more serial interface cards wic1t or wic2t or one of the others
and the serial cables to go with them.

Take you time and don't be in a rush to buy and you can pickup some good equipment for not to much money

eg http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/15235-post-your-lab-pics-30.html#post598155

Also you may need to upgrade the amounts of ram and flash to handle the ios versions you need.

Part of the learning experience is working out what equipment is suitable and not to old and the cables etc to go with it.

But make sure to go through the gsn3 videos first Video tutorials - GNS3

Corndork2

Please, please, please DO NOT buy a lab.

Building a lab for the first time is one of the best ways to begin learning the technology. Do not sell yourself short of that opportunity!

Looking at other people's labs, and coordinating the feature navigator with exam objectives is the best way to go.

You'll also end up saving money, and getting better equipment when you piece your lab together yourself. Remember there is profit margin built into the cost of buying premade labs. They are trying to make money off of you. Piece together your own lab, and use that margin on gear or cost savings.

Making your own lab is also much more real world. You wont see "kits" in a true enterprise environment.

I recommend two routers running at least 12.4, maybe three if you really want to dig into Frame Relay. Also, two to three switches, 2950 or better is preferred. I did my CCNA with 2x 2801 Router, 2x 2960, and 1x 3560. These were all bought individually from ebay for less cost than a prebuilt lab.