I need CCNA training... Where should I start?

[mskennicutt]

I am an MCSE and our company has a Ciso 2600 router (so I would have something to 'play' with.) My boss is tired of having to pay consultant fees to our Cisco guy and I am tired of having to call him when I need to make a change.

My boss is not however able/willing to pay for me to go to one of the boot camps, so I need to find the best possible training kit that we can afford (he gave me a budget of $600 for this). I have no problem with reading books, but I seem to learn faster (and with better retention) with Computer Based Training modules.

Any suggestions out there? I appreciate any and all input!!

Thanks,
Mike

 

[blutekhnd]

I would've suggested learnkey but that's $1200

 

[UKHicks]

http://www.cbtnuggets.com/webapp/product?id=41

this is what i would recommend, cbt nuggets helped me get my first MCSE

 

[wybnormal]

Learnkey is heads and shoulders over Nuggets. I have the Redhat nuggets and I found some errors in the material presented. In some areas they presented material that have very little to do with the RHCE and skimmed in other areas. Its cheap enough.. but it's not what I call quality.

For 900 you can get access to all of what Smartcertify has to offer which is a heck a lot more then just the Cisco and the quality is somewhere between Learnkey and Nuggets.

MikeS


Find me at

http://www.packetattack.com

"Take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots."
Sun Tzu

 

[platypus55]

You can make books work for you if you engage in active learning. Here is how it works: Read a section. Write down a summary of what you have learned, Don't be cryptic. Write as if you were explaining it to somebody. If you know somebody else who is studying, read eachother's summaries. Find analagies to things in the real world and make up stupid mnemonics to help with what must be memorized. Like
PDNTSPA ="peed in the spa" for the OSI layers. Make up and swap with your study buddy 1 or 2 quiz questions on that subject with answers and explain your answers. Find some practice questions on the internet on that subject and answer them. Do the scenarios in the book. Actually type the configurations so you get used to seeing what they look like and your fingers get used to typing them. after a while you will type config t without even thinking about it. If you messed up something go back and don't go on until you have totally fixed it. Spend 20-30% of each study time reviewing previous material and try to connect it to the new material. When you feel like you know something, rent some rack time on a real router but make sure it is up to date and preferrably in a pod of 3 with a switch. I tried router sims but I found them pretty lame and only marginally useful for CCNA and not useful at all for the professional exams. That's how I passed all the exams first time, and some of my friends too.

Free IT practice exams:

http://xamsrus.com

 

[dogbert2]

Ummm, this might sound stupid, but if your boss is getting tired of paying consulting fees to the 'cisco guy' to make routine changes to the router configuration, then perhaps he could spend a few dollars to get a small lab set up where you work (3 2501's and a 1924 switch) with max RAM/Flash and updated IOS images would be more than enough gear to get you through the CCNA exam (sure, it's about $1000), but since it's a business expense, he can write it off on his tax return, and in return, he'll gain from having better trained staff to deal with routine configuration issues in a router (and NO more paying the consultant, unless it's for a very difficult issue to resolve in a router).

Just my two cents

Bill (CCNP/DP/SP)