Buying gear for CCNA Lab?

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I'm thinking about getting some gear together so I can practice my arse off for a CCNA as I've heard this is the best and realistically only way to pass.

Any suggestions on how many routers\switches would be needed and what models would provide the best combination of features to cover the exam syllabus?

I've looked on E-Bay and there are a huge array of items and I don't want to blow money on worthless stuff.

Thanks for any and all advice!

 

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I reckon three routers, 2600 series, and two switches, 2950 series ought to do you.



Oh, Welcome to CF BTW!

 

Thanks for the welcome.

Ouch, that little lot isn't going to be cheap. I reckon that'll be something like £700 pounds of kit even second hand.

Maybe I'll have to invest in a sim. How do people feel about the Boson stuff?

 

You'd be suprised what you can pick up cheap on ebay these days.

 

Hi and Welcome to CF!

umm has anyone ever tried or heard of these guys?
CiscoKits They deliver worldwide and a mate of mine in south africa told me about it.. just dont know what they like... otherwise ebay could be your best bet..

 

Great link, thanks Zimbo

 

Yep

I enquired with them when I was going to buy some kit but the postal charges were excessive shall we say. Like others have said go with some cisco 2600 modular routers which can be expanded at a later date. I stick with EBAY for your kit.

 

I've tried e-Bay and one 2950 switch is going to cost me £120+

I think the Boson Sim is going to be the only way forward.

 

I have a few coworkers who purchased items from Cisco Kits, and while they got some really good deals, their "after the sale" service wasn't good.

 

A switch isn't 100% essential for a starter lab you could just go ahead and buy some cheap cisco 2500 routers instead. If you are going to use just sims I would research their functionality as some sims dont support certain commands.

 

I didn't buy any kit at all I practiced on Mindtech.

Far cheaper alternative to buying real kit. Go for the CCNP lab instead of the CCNA lab though.

 

not as much fun as taking stuff to bits and putting it back together Buying your own kit does have advantages as well disadvantages. I think if you do buy kit of ebay you can sell it at a later date and note loss much money. I've sold bits of my kit and have actually made money which has enabled me to get more advanced kit

 

Thanks for all your advice on this subject. I've managed to 'aquire' a 2600 series (not sure which one though) from a branch of work that closed ages ago.

It's running version 12.1 IOS so I'm not sure if that needs to be or can be upgraded.

If anybody has some advice it'd be welcome!

 

Actually am I going to need 2 routers to make a lab?

I can pick up a 2500 off of e-Bay pretty cheap.

 

To start off with no you wont. You will be a ble to get by with two switches and a single router. As your studies progress though you will need the additional router(s) to complete the labs to the required level.

 

How comes the switches are so darn expensive?!? I can't possibly make a lab up unless I can scavange more kit...

 

Try looking for 12 port switches.

These should be less expensive, yet still allow you to do all of the the testing you need to do.

 

What do you think of this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CISCO-Complet...845197307QQcategoryZ73321QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Looks like a bargan!