Wanting so setup a good, cheap home lab

Hi folks,

New to the site and have been reading through this particular forum as I'm slated to take a CCNA class starting tomorrow (yikes!) I must admit I'm not really knowledgeable in networking to the extent that most of the posts in this CCNA forum have looked totally foreign to me. But, the class was being offered up because the guy who was supposed to attend was sent to Japan for something else so I figured why the hell not? Anyway, enough prattle. Does anyone have any suggestions as to an effective home setup (components and cables, etc.) for a total n00bie like me to this wild world of cisco routing? I've seen so many opinions saying 2 is enough, 5 is enough, 7 is enough, even using online racks is enough. I was just wondering if anyone could suggest a setup I could put together that wouldn't be too difficult enough to set up and get going but complicated enough to reinforce whatever I end up learning in that class. Appreciate any help that you all can offer. Aloha!

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Comments

telthenipper

If you don't want to spead lots of money on Cisco hardware, Boson makes a really good Cisco switches/routers emulator.

Tel

shadown7

Welcome to our forums SrAtechie!!

I hope I can shed some light on your troubles here.

I'm half way done with my CCNA and asked the same questions that you did when I first started the CCNA track.

Here is what the majority of people here would suggest if you are going to buy real equipment.

Two routers and a switch.

Ok, the CCNA cert is based on the 2600 series routers and the 2950 series switches. These can be very expensive but would be the best if you had the money.

But, having said that, you can buy two 2500 series routers and a 1900 series switch. These models are fairly cheap and will do you well with your CCNA studies.

I have the following in my CCNA lab.

1 2501 router
1 2507 router
1 1924 switch

I got my routers for 79.00 a piece and my switch for 89.00. I bought them from www.virtualrack.net on sale. They have been a great help to me in my studies.

Now, once you decide on which model of routers you want you need to look at the software on the routers and switches. Some people will sell you a router with an old IOS on it and it won't help you at all because it will limit what you can do with your router.

For the routers look for an IOS version 12 or higher.

For the switch look for a switch with an enterprise IOS on it.

If the real equipment is not what your looking for then I'd suggest www.boson.com. They make a good network sim and that would help you with your studies. But, with the software you lack the real world experience of plugging in cables.

Well, best of luck with your studies.

SrAtechie

Thanks for the help shadown7. I just finished the first day of class and the instructor suggested pretty much the same thing you did. Then proceeded to kill us with subnetting

I did enjoy it though and will have to look into getting a setup of my own. Thanks again for the help!

sunny_evander

telthenipper wrote:

If you don't want to spead lots of money on Cisco hardware, Boson makes a really good Cisco switches/routers emulator.

Tel

Agree! i used Boson when i was preparing for my Intro and ICND ... it is preety good software

Still remember a simulator is a simulator and a router is a router

But i think it preety much covers everything and a person can pass CCNA using Boson