Commsupport Free CCNA Blog

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They say in life you don’t get anything for FREE! And to be honest I’ve always believed that view.
Commsupport are delivering the 1st FREE online instructor led CCNA course for nothing? Zilch! Rien! on 2nd September so I have decided to write a blog over a period of 8 weeks to keep you all in the loop.

My natural gratuitous instinct was to get involved! Admittedly, I have already attended a 6 day course with them and I must say it was well beyond my expectation. I say this because I was fortunate enough to get 2 courses (CCNA & CCNA VOICE) for a ridiculously good price.

I scoured the net for a decent provider for months and after reading the feedback on various forums about Commsupport(Certforums included) and participating on a couple of FREE webinars, decided to part with my hard earned cash and go with them.

I was not disappointed! 6 days of intensive training with real hardware had me pulling the remaining strands of hair I had left out of my bald head!! I loved the laid back manner in which the course was delivered along with the intensive break fix sessions (troubleshooting). Brilliant course!!!!
A couple of the guys I was on the course with have already taken and passed the exam but I am planning to do mine in December due to work and family commitments. Although I am entitled to repeat the course as many times as I like for FREE, getting another 5 days off work will be difficult between now and Xmas.

Anyway here I am signed up for this FREE CCNA course and looking forward to Joe’s humorous and entertaining approach to teaching, only this time on a global stage!!
Watch this space !respct

 

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Good to hear some positive feedback for training providers. Thanks.

 

I thought I’d wait for the second session of the free online CCNA before I wrote the first post for this blog.
We started on Thursday 2nd September @ 8.00pm and did the next session on Monday 6th September @ 8.00pm.
The first session Joe covered all of the basic command lines that we needed to know to configure the boxes. A tough session by all accounts as command line is not the most interesting of subjects, respect to Joe for making it a little more of an enjoyable experience. I had to laugh out loud when we were logging off because there was some chap snoring aloud.zzzzzzzzzzzz
The second session was more like it; we got into the nuts and bolts of layer 1 and layer 2, covered duplex issues, what happens when you get mismatches in the configuration, collisions, and crc errors. We saw how to configure the duplex on ports as well as speeds. CSMA/CD.
Joe talked a lot about good practice when setting up the ports. All important stuff to know and very easy to make mistakes on the live network.
We also covered in a lot of detail the functions of a bridge and switch and how these devices make forwarding decisions, flooding decisions, how they learn addresses. How the MAC table operates.
I don’t think anyone dozed off this time.
It was engaging and entertaining at the same time we could ask questions on the IM which Joe answered by working them into the lecture. Multi-tasking Joe, he talks, draws, types answers and watches out for spiders!
Anyway Iam looking forward to the next session on thursday.I will keep you posted.

 

Thanks for the feedback, but could you use more "Smilies" in your posts, I don't think there are enough !!

 

Third session of the Free CCNA online with Joe took place on Thursday 9th September @ 8:00pm.
We covered VLAN’s, Trunking, DTP as well as an in-depth explanation of intervlan routing using a router on a stick. Lots of really good examples, Joe likes to draw everything out so everything makes more sense rather than being flashed a ton of slides (it’s like watching Rolf Harris at work). At one point his questions panel popped up so we could see all the questions he was being asked as he teaches, I must say that watching the speed of questions coming in I am surprised he kept up. I am now very happy with DTP and the whole concept of VLAN’s, there’s nothing like having concepts like these reinforced to cement the knowledge.

At the end of the session Joe kindly went through Private Vlans and how they work and he also described GNS3, although he did not demonstrate how to use it. Apparently his machine did not have it loaded, but he showed us where to down load the GNS3 program from the website.

Another great session, thanks Joe. Next session Monday!!!

 

"Cool. How's that work without the IOS?" BosonMichael asked, though it seemed as if he already knew the answer...

 

Monday night’s (4th) session (13th September) was all about VTP. This was a real eye opener for a lot of people; Joe showed us how this protocol can kill a network, I have seen this before in the class with Joe, but just to see VTP wipe a network clean of it’s vlan’s only brings home the point that you do need to be cautious and watch out for the gotchas in networking. I am always impressed to see that the passwords not working in VTP too. All in all a very insightful lecture on how one should tread carefully in this field, he makes sure this is very clear and understood.
Personally speaking, I am never going to use VTP in any network I configure if I can help it.
On another note, got the IOS from my 2610 into GNS and got myself a very good little lab working on my laptop. Saves me a few quid and gets me firmly on the road prepping for my exams. I feel more confident each day and these lectures certainly help. Joe’s great sense of humour keeps me motivated and at least I can laugh and learn at the same time.
Looking forward to Thursday already…..

 

The problem is, Cisco's IOS can't legally be used outside of the hardware platform for which it was designed... which means, you can't legally use the IOS in GNS. Doesn't matter how many quid you save, nor does it matter that you own a 2610... you still can't legally use the IOS outside of that 2610.

 

You're right on the money there B.M. But I'm reluctant to wag the finger at anyone using it.

It's a great tool that can really only be used for educational purposes. It's not really feasible to use it to run a production network on. Without resources such as this it would practically be impossible for people to attempt qualification such as the CCNP or CCIE.

I seen an online petition before calling for an IOS specifically for educational purposes, perhaps that would be the answer, surely it can't be that hard for Cisco to release one?

 

I agree with you billy. If you were using the IOS to try and harm Cisco's profits in some way, that would be a different matter. Using an IOS for educational purposes surely only helps Cisco keep market share.

 

I agree with billyr and Ubergeek but think this thread shouldn't really be hijacked for discussion of IOS legality.

 

True, bring on the next installment...

 

Doesn't matter who wags the finger or not... Cisco Legal has stated their opinion on the matter.

Doesn't matter what it can or cannot be used for. It's not legal to be used for any purposes. If you want a training tool, Cisco (as well as other reputable vendors) have training tools for you to use.

Absolute balderdash. I got my CCNP without resorting to using GNS3, and those who are attempting the CCIE usually have access to real gear.

They've got one... you can use it in a real router.

Just because you can't afford a router doesn't give you the right to use Cisco's software in a manner that violates their licensing.

 

Unfortunately, the OP discussed using GNS3, and according to the Rules and Guidelines of this forum, copyright infringement and illegal acts are not to be condoned. This is a clear violation of Cisco's IOS licensing:

Unless someone successfully challenges and overturns Cisco's IOS licensing terms, the use of Cisco's IOS on GNS3 shouldn't be condoned.

 

I thought we'd settled on keeping this on thread?

 

You might have. I did not.

 

This is a cracking thread, I can't wait for the next installment after tomorrows session.

Itworkexperience if you mention GNS one more time I think you're going to find a horses head in your bed with a fedex sticker on it's nose from America

 

Interestingly, CBT Nuggets have just released the new CCNP ROUTE video series and specifically mention that GNS3 is used throughout...

 

CBT nuggets don't have an IOS simulator.. Boson do..