CCNA Newbie Here

[kctexan61]

Hello, I am new here and to cisco. I was wondering if the equipment I purchased off of ebay is enough to get me my ccna and continue with ccnp.

2=2620
1=2651xm
1=1841
2=2950T
1=3560

Cisco Press ICND1 & ICND2
CBT Nuggets
Trainsignal

Is there anything I am missing? I have been awaay from I/T for about 7 yrs now. I lost my job several months ago so I have decided to complete a goal I had 9 yrs ago after finishing college. I am middle aged I hopes it not to late.

 

[CiscoGuy33]

kctexan61,

Welcome to the Tek-Tips Cisco Cert area

Your lab looks fine as long as you have some WIC-1T's, WIC-2T's and/or NM-4A/S or NM-8A/S to connect the routers by serial cables for WAN connections. Make sure as many as possible are running 12.4 IOS.

Other than that, you have a great CCNA lab and a good base for CCNP.

As far as study material, I have ALWAYS liked and suggested the Sybex CCNA Study Guide by Todd Lammel 6th edition. Todd has been writing this study guide since the CCNA came out and he tends to cover exactly what you need for the exam. It is a great contrast to the Cisco Press stuff. You can get the book for $30 at Amazon.

I have had students fail the exam 1 or 2 times (did not listen when I told them to get this book to go with the Cisco Press stuff) they got the book and passed the exam

Hope this helps!

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[kctexan61]

Thanks for the reply. I am sure that I don't have 12.4 on any of the routers. I will work on getting 12.4 IOS for the routers the switch has been upgraded so I am fine there. I will also see if I can get the Lammels book as well. I am a little rusty on subnetting; any suggestions?

Thanks

Looks like a really nice forum, hope I can contribute as knowledge increases.

 

[silverhairb]

There's a pretty good section on subnetting in "CCNA for Dummies." At least I thought it was pretty good. I learned from it.


[the other] Bill

 

[CiscoGuy33]

kctexan61,

I think Chapter 3 in Todd's book is the best chapter on subnetting I have ever seen in 10 years of teaching CCNA classes in a Cisco Network Academy.

This is also a pretty good place to learn subnetting -

http://www.learntosubnet.com/

As for the 12.4 IOS, the test is based on 12.4 and there are little differences or extra commands that you will want to know, you will see it when you go over the Sybex book.

You want at least 1 with 12.4 and the others I would try to have at least 12.3, the more you get used to 12.3 and 12.4 the easier it will be when you see commands in questions.

As Bill said about "CCNA for Dummies" - I always love these books because you can read them in about 1 day and then have a good background as you read the more complex books or CBT's.

When I start a new subject, I always read the Dummies or Idiots book on the subject first, it lets you get familure with the concepts and ideas. I have a whole shelf of "Dummies" books

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[kctexan61]

Thanks Silverhairb and CiscoGuy33 I will take you guys advice. Much appreciated. Oh yeah I forgot to mention I have wic-1t in all routers except the 1841 but the 2651 has two, so I believe I can use one of those in the 1841.

 

[Lemon13]

i also recommend the videos by Jeremy Cioara, i found them pretty good when i did my ccna (he´s a funny guy, u can relax a bit and learn at the same time)

 

[CiscoGuy33]

kctexan61,

You might want to look for a NM-4A/S or NM-8A/S to put in one of the 2620's and make it a Frame Relay switch. Frame Relay will be important to both CCNA and as you move forward.

In many cases you will want more than 1 WIC-1T in each router

You will want a setup like this so you can break a link and see how routing still works in which case each router would need 2 WIC-1T's, 1 WIC-2T or a NM-4A/S-

  R1      R2     R3     R4
1841---2651XM---2620---2620
  |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |

or setup for Frame Relay where the 2620 would have a NM-4A/S
and act as a Frame Relay switch for Routers 1,2 and 3

 R1       FR      R2
1841-----2620----2620
           |
           |
    R3  2651XM

Hope this helps!




E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[maczen]

Regarding the subnetting guide I would have to disagree Gene. I REALLY liked Lammle's lesson but then I came across this SUBNETTING TUTORIAL!

https://cisco.hosted.jivesoftware.com/docs/DOC-3384

It was posted by this genius networking guru named Billy Haines !!! I definitely recommend it!

(I will admit that my opinion may be slightly biased!!!) LoL But seriously, I have read the chapter that Gene is referencing and it is very good! Just wanted to link to my tut for quick reference for the Googlers out there!

B Haines
CCNA Security, CCNA R&S, ETA FOI

 

[kctexan61]

CiscoGuy33, I will look into your sugestions, and Maczen that doc looks like it will come in handy. I will be here often. I really appreciate you guys

Thanks All!

 

[kctexan61]

Picked these up for 100 bucks....are they worth that? I thought I could use them for something I know they are old. Also got CCENT by Lammle to add to my study material.

1-2924XL-EN
1-3548XL-EN
1-2503
1-2520

 

[CiscoGuy33]

kctexan61,

The 2520 will become your Frame Relay switch

Frame Relay where the 2520 has 4 serial ports built in 
and will act as a Frame Relay switch for Routers 1,2,3 and 4. The 2503 R5 can be attached to any of the 4 routers that has a 2nd WIC-1T or a WIC-2T or a NM-4A/S -
          
        R4 2620
            |
 R1      FR |     R2
1841-----2520----2620
           |
           |
    R3  2651XM----2503 R5

Having multiple switches is great for STP, trunking and other switch labs as long as you have some 2950's to see the main IOS that you will be tested on.

Hope this helps!

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +