Hi All,

I’m finally looking at pulling my finger out and getting some certifications mainly my CCNA. I’m looking for some instructor lead training just to get more of a feel for the devices as unfortunately I don't work with them on a day to day basis as of yet. :)

So I’m trying to find people who may have done the ICND1 & ICND2 Courses with training company’s either in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and just wondering how you found the training material/Trainers? Was the company you used any good etc.

I'm finding quite a varying pricing depending on the courses, for example we have pepperstorm in Melbourne which do a full ICND1 & 2 in 5 days which seems a bit rushed imo for around $4500 which seems pretty good value when you consider some others are charging $2650 - $4000 for 5 days training just for ICND1.

Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated :)

Thanks,
Qten

Not really answering your question here, but have you considered self study? Just get some books and maybe some equipment and teach your self.

Hell of a lot cheaper than instructor led courses, and you can get heaps of help from online forums and stuff.

i'm paying $825 per semester for TAFE Lidcombe.

It's pricey but it's all fully tax deductable for me so why bust a testicle doing self study?

I'm doing it at uni, and many industry people come to just do the CCNA or CCNP.

1 semester, 2 units, and it's the whole CCNA in 12 weeks.

I'm two weeks in, and haven't learn anything new yet, but this is still CCNA1 - Network basics.

People already look like they are struggling :/

Most students look to be international.

It's going to get interesting.

Qten writes...

Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated :)


The 5 day courses are really too short I think. I highly recommend checking with your local TAFE colleges for one that runs the Cisco Net Academy Program. CCNA is a four module course run over either 6 months (twice a week) or 12 months (once a week), although since each module is 10 weeks long its not really 12 months more like 10 but you get what I mean.

Anyway, each class is typically 3 hours long and consists of an hour or so of theory and then the rest is hands on lab work. So you get sometimes as much as 2 hours hands on to work with real live Cisco equipment, far better than simulators or just reading it in books, and way more hours on the gear than you'd get in a 5 day course.

There is some out of class reading as well, I spent 1-2 nights per week keeping up with the reading and the practice tests. If you do the extra reading, listen in class, and make the most of your hands on time you'll blitz the course like I did.

The CNAP doesn't include the actual Cisco exams but will usually include a discount voucher, so you can go sit the cert for less than full price. Overall its a great way to get certified in Cisco and I look very favourably at candidates who have scored well in their CNAP studies and completed the cert afterwards.

ICND1 now actually gives you cert by itself CCENT or something. If your happy to do it over a semester alot of tafes and unis will offer it over several weeks.

i would also recommend finding a TAFE that does it over 6 or 12 months. ive just finished the 4 modules and now im ready do sit the 801 exam.
there is absolutely no way i could get through the 4 modules in 5 days thats just rediculous

I did the 5-day version, the CCNA bootcamp, at Excom in Sydney. I already had a little Cisco experience (ie I could understand a basic config and could use TAB key), I already knew a fair bit about TCP/IP and networking, and just wanted to round out the gaps because I wasn't getting time for self-study even though I had routers and switches at home. It worked well for me because the pieces fell in together, but at least half the class was pretty lost by the end of the week. Two people left after day 2.

My main criticism would be that the equipment was not up to scratch - eg instructor wasted time digging around storeroom for cables and many of the later labs required two people sharing. This course needs individual hands-on time. My other criticism is the instructor - late the first day and had never trained there before so didn't know simple things like lunch arrangements. He initially had trouble getting the equipment connected to the same network as the PCs we were using (not sure why). He usually taught more advanced courses and a little boredom came through in his attitude more than I think he realised.

So overall, not a recommendation for that venue. TAFE CNAP sounds like a really good choice.

Thanks everyone for all the comments thus far. Sounds like TAFE will need some further investigation :)

Qten,

(luke) writes...

there is absolutely no way i could get through the 4 modules in 5 days thats just rediculous

dam straight. Anyone who thinks they can go through the whole CCNA course in 5 days is full of poo.

Darkr writes...

I'm doing it at uni, and many industry people come to just do the CCNA or CCNP.

1 semester, 2 units, and it's the whole CCNA in 12 weeks.


Just wondering what uni you go to?

Darkr writes...

1 semester, 2 units, and it's the whole CCNA in 12 weeks.

yea.. you still gotta pass the test thou.

I got out a old ICND box for free from a library looking to chuck it out. Was from year 2002 so not to behind. Hooked up a Cisco 837 router from work and just played around with it.

Getting the basic commands down is easy and there are heaps of cisco information sites.

Second, I got myself a Cisco Router Simulator of the net, works a treat without having to purchase and setup an actual physical network to play with.

T0nyGTSt writes...

It's pricey but it's all fully tax deductable for me so why bust a testicle doing self study?

I've brought all my own Cisco Routers/Switches/cables/memory upgrades from places like iptrading/ebay or begged/borrowed stuff, I also had to do my own research into what equipment I need and what memory/cables each router uses.
Also used the Cisco 7200 simulator dynamips to add more routers when needed.

I can tell you right now, that if you and me went for a job requiring someone with a Cisco CCNA certification, I reckon I would get it over you, because my resume would state these -

- Experience Ordering Cisco routers
- Experience in ordering & installing memory upgrades
- Experience in ordering Cisco serial Cables
- Experience in ordering & installing Cisco WICS
- Experience in ordering Cisco Smartnet contracts
- Experience in Logging a Cisco Smartnet contract
- Experience in using simulators to pretest a configuration
- Used Visio to map out home lab.
- Setup my own Study lab containing the following equipment.
2X 1700 Series routes
3X Cisco 2500 series routers (1X 2501 1X 2503 1X 2514)
1X Cisco 2611 router with Smart Serial Wic
1X Cisco 1751 router with Smart Serial Wic
1X Cisco 3640 routers with 2FE & 4A/S module & Smart serial Wic
2X Cisco 2900XL Switches
1X Cisco 3500XL switch
1X Cisco 837 Router

See my resume would read Cisco GEEK! -lol

However if you only intend on getting your CCNA to complement another Certification and don't really intend on going further into the Cisco Certification, then your spot on!

For those wanting to go deeper, then I say this is the best way.

fast hackem writes...

For those wanting to go deeper, then I say this is the best way.

yes that's nice and all but a lot of people work 9-5 and have families and normal life stuff that seems to elude half of whirlpool

i'm due to fly interstate to set up our new queensland office so excuse me if i don't have a lot of time to play around sniping on ebay

as i said before, the Lidcombe class seems to be full of people who aren't in the IT industry

truth be told i only want the ccna for the certification and some underlying theory

3 hrs at class is great and all but priority now is the job i got

T0nyGTSt writes...

yes that's nice and all but a lot of people work 9-5 and have families and normal life stuff that seems to elude half of whirlpool


- lol, very true, I hear you!

i'm due to fly interstate to set up our new queensland office so excuse me if i don't have a lot of time to play around sniping on ebay

Wasn't in anyway having a go at anyone, just saying that setting up your own home lab brings experiance. What I wrote in my last post was a good example of what I can write in a resume, from just setting up my own home lab. You too can write down what you did in class as experiance in your resume, I've seen students do it before, a few years ago when I was doing IT support for a UNI.

truth be told i only want the ccna for the certification and some underlying theory
Come to think of it, then you won't need your CCNA, just do the CCENT and save yourself some time. (which is the first part of the NEW CCNA cert path)

fast hackem writes...

See my resume would read Cisco GEEK! -lol


I don't think you've gone far enough though.

- experience unpacking Cisco boxes
- experience placing Cisco equipment on bench
- experience wiping dust off Cisco equipment
- experience eating sandwich while looking at Cisco equipment

Dudley writes...

I don't think you've gone far enough though.
-LOL

don't forget
-experience taking new Cisco Switches to lan party's to "Pre test"

All these get your CCNA in a few day course's are for sucker$. You are getting ripped off - why can't people see that?? Unless your work will pay for it, save your hard earned $$.

Buy 2nd hand CCNA study guides from ebay OR amazon for a 1/3 - 1/2 the price.

Then buy a good router/switch simulator software package again 2nd hand on amazon for cheap $$$. I paid $7US for my copy ;-)

At the end of the day, you could spend thousands on getting your CCNA quickly, but with no hands on experience no-one will hire you.

Having said that, TAFE would be the only option I would recommend as you get a good dose of hands on experience over the course of 1 year and gain industry cert's at the same time.

my 2cents worth.

I will admit though I had backbone switches/routers (7500 & 12000's) at my disposal, so I was lucky aswell...

Dudley writes...

I don't think you've gone far enough though.

- experience unpacking Cisco boxes
- experience placing Cisco equipment on bench
- experience wiping dust off Cisco equipment
- experience eating sandwich while looking at Cisco equipment

LOL!

-experience turning of the lights in the server room and dancing to the blinking cisco lights?

(what? just me?)

- i smoke a spliff and passed out to the blinking lights of a rack full of cisco gear

ive done about 5 weeks of it at TAFE and its pretty hard
the way they ask the questions is pretty terrible

i tryed to find some books to help on the net but the issue was that theyve just changed the course this year!
so the old stuff wasnt really thaaaaaaaat useful.

ECU in Perth.

handbook.ecu.edu.au/Cour...3.01&HB=HB&SC=UG

sephiroth_d writes...

so the old stuff wasnt really thaaaaaaaat useful

As in ISDN/IPX/RIP v1 ?

I did the Cisco CCNA semester 1 at Lidcombe TAFE back in 2001 and found it very good. Pity Semester 1 doesn't have much hands on stuff, we made a couple of patch cables and wired a patch panel and that was about it. Was fun getting to play with the Fluke LAN tester though :-) just wish I had one of them myself but being unemployed makes a $10 000 (IIRC) piece of gear a little out of range :-(

I still intend on finishing the CCNA (IIRC I'll have to start from the beginning again since it was so long ago) but if I finish UNI I doubt my future employer is going to front the cost's (plan on being a teacher, primary or high school).

The instructor I had back in 2001 was very good and really knew his stuff. Bugger knew about 5 or 6 spoken languages too.

im not too sure
basically the new CCNA course that they are teaching is just been done for this year.
all the stuff i found was from a 2005 course .

my course is coming to cost about $2000 at TAFE, id been to tafe before and they offered a discount because of that.

its going to go for at least 6 months.

i think it might be possible for you to do a 5 full day course IF THEY ARE ONLY TEACHING YOU THE ACTUAL ANSWERS FOR THE TEST.
but apart from that theres heaps to learn

phoenixthesmeg writes...

plan on being a teacher, primary or high school

Why do you want to do the CCNA then?

The five day course teaches how to pass an exam. It doesn't teach networking. Its good for someone who has been doing the work but not for someone starting out.

phoenixthesmeg writes...

Was fun getting to play with the Fluke LAN tester though :-) just wish I had one of them myself but being unemployed makes a $10 000 (IIRC) piece of gear a little out of range :-(

By the sounds of it, that Fluke Lan tester model is what the Data cablers use.
There is one that is under the 1k mark, that will do stuff like Ping tests/Pickup DHCP/cable length/cable locator/Network speed and even if a pair/cable is wired incorrectly.
I've used one of these at my last job and found it to be a valuable piece of equipment.

I still intend on finishing the CCNA

Self study option lets you do the CCNA in two parts

- ICND1 (now comes with a Certificate called CCENT)
- ICND2 once you get both, you get your CCNA Certificate.

You might find that you are ready to sit the ICND1 exam and get your CCENT certificate.

Dudley writes...

Why do you want to do the CCNA then?

I'm a geek and it's fun.

fast hackem writes...

You might find that you are ready to sit the ICND1 exam and get your CCENT certificate.

I might have a look into that but even sitting the exam cost's more than I can afford ATM :-(

I also want to build up a CISCO lab at some point too (nothing too new though as it's just too expensive and way over the top for home use :-) I'll just keep my new ProCurve switch for a while).

Edit - The fluke meter was one beautiful piece of gear, I drooled so much :-)

phoenixthesmeg writes...

I'm a geek and it's fun.

You need better hobbies.

Dudley writes...

You need better hobbies.

What better hobbies exist? IT lets me play with routers, switches, PCs, PPCs and all kinds of gadgets with and without flashing lights :-)

Well I guess since I'm an IT guy pretty much anything else sounds better than that when it comes to my free time.

phoenixthesmeg writes...

What better hobbies exist?

Exactly! my hobbie is my Job!

IT lets me play with routers, switches, PCs, PPCs and all kinds of gadgets with and without flashing lights :-)

You forgot the most important thing.

Downloading PORN !!

Anyway back to the topic. ......

Hi Guys,

Need some suggestion in regards to CCNA, that which option is better. Joining TAFE for training so that i will be able to get some hands experience on Routers, or either buy a simulator and then prepare myself for it. The last option will be to prepare my own lab, and need suggestion how much will i have to spend in order to setup a lab.

Your help will be much appreciated. Thanks
Ftag

I would go with the TAFE or home lab options as they give you hands on experience and IMO that is very important. CISCO gear is very complex (I haven't played with any myself yet though) and without any hands on experience your not very likely to pass let alone with good marks.

Well that's my opinion anyway :-)

Thanks for a good advise. Anyone knows how much it costs to build an own lab....

FTag writes...

Anyone knows how much it costs to build an own lab....

Look on eBay. Some routers are very expensive but you can get a few for under $100 but make sure you get the correct routers, especially since the CCNA requirements have changed.

Others can help with specific routers as I don't know but I too would like to know :-)

Anyone had Seen training material which CBT Nuggets is selling from there website
www.cbtnuggets.com

FTag writes...

Thanks for a good advise. Anyone knows how much it costs to build an own lab....

For a CCNA Lab ?
There isn't really a std list of equipment to go by unlike the CCNP/CCIE that I've heard of. So It's hard to price one.

I can tell you that e-bay is the best place to look for S/H routers/switches
and that you will want at least the following

2 Switches (2 for practising VTP/vlan commands)
2 Routers (more the better for routing labs)
2 PC's ( ideal for testing ACL's/routing labs)

As for what model switches/routers, well here's a great website that goes in depth,
www.networkworld.com/community/node/23715
This is part 1, there is 9 parts.

FTag writes...

Anyone had Seen training material which CBT Nuggets is selling from there website
www.cbtnuggets.com

It is great stuff!, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is on the self study path, as well as the Cisco Press books.

Thanks for a great advise Fast Hacken. I have checked there website and they are selling training cd's for CCNA under 400 and for CCNP i think under 600, which i think is quite good enough for any one who didnt know much about this track.

Hi Qten;
I am CCIE certified and have been since the training was made available in australia at the cisco lab's *S* so long ago now - we did our certification exam in the US of A as there wasn't anyone in australia suitably qualified to offer the exams at the time.

Bottomline is that you really only have 3 choices:
1: Self Paced Training Using certified study guides and second hand equipment
(Pitfalls are that you cannot just throw up a hand and ask someone to help or explain what you have just stuffed or created - no immediate peer review/support)

2: 5 Day Turbo Boot Camps - You get to train on the latest hardware using the latest firmware with Cisco certified trainers - Peer support on the day
Down Sides: Price, Forced learning - no extra 5 or 10 mins as you are working to a timetable/schedule which is very tight - Price - no practice hardware at home or office to embed the knowledge

3: Tertiary Studies - Either Tafe or Advanced Learning Institue such as uni or school of technology
Upsides - affordable, peers at your level and above and below, labs where you can book practice time - Oh did I mention affordable - peers - practice labs
Downside: time frame to achieve end result

Quality of skills is determined not by which course you attended, infact majority of industry based employeers want you to do a test & provide proof of concept and understanding, majority of private sector compaines will use an external employment agency to find suitably skilled people for such a role - some agencys require you to under go a competency test, others simply require your certification number.

If you wish to be the best you can be as a cisco engineer then I strongly advise option 3 with a healthy does of option 1.
Whatever you choose I wish you all the very best
P.S: make sure you join the cisco public support and tech forums they are a valuable resource.

Sir Bastard writes...

I am CCIE certified and have been since the training was made available in australia at the cisco lab's

Hi Sir Bastard,
I was wondering if you ever did an 'refresher' course for your CCNA cert. when it expired? Or just move on to the CCIE ?
Mine's about to expire (CCNA)a fter 3 years, and I'm wondering whether to do a refresher or just do another exam to extend the cert.
Any suggestions ?

Hi Tesla,
I did many refreshers and new technology upgrades with the certification
maintenance required by cisco to maintain and enhance/improve my skillset.

I am talking a long time ago and the certification program has change significantly since my day. Cisco introduced several new skillsets/certs that had to be achieved
to allow you to progress to CCIE status after I had achieved my original certification
and I had to successfully achieve each of those additional certs to maintain a current status to my ccie - I stopped spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours every couple of years to keep current 3 yrs ago as I could no longer justify the time or expense

My understanding of the new certification program is simply that you must achieve each level of certification to move onto the next and as such you do not need to demonstrate real world skills beyond those detailed in a cisco text book

I believe it is better to a level higher than the level you need as this allows you to grow your workplace to meet your skillset instead of growing the skillset to meet
the requirements of the workplace.

Hey guys,

I've got a question.

I did CCNA semester 1 and 2 about 6 years ago. I've finally pulled my finger out (Been working full time etc etc) and was looking at finishing CCNA off and doing semester 3 and 4 but the curriculum seems to have changed. I saw CCNA discovery and so forth, does anyone know what would be required to get my CCNA, will I have to start all over or can I just continue?

Cheers,

Jim

Hi All,

First of all i would like to thanks Sir Bastard for his suggestion of what to do, and how to achive CCNA. Sir Bastard i have done my CCNP in 2002 and since then didnt get much chance to work on the equipments. Now i have to certify myself from scratch.

As discussed in this forum that if i start with TAFE, i think i would end up in spending may be around 6000 for the course and if in future any one of us would like to go for CCNP, So what should we do. Is there any institute or Uni where we can study and get ourselves trained on it. So that in future if we go to the employer we can justify by our Certification that this is what we have done and this is where we have recieved training.

Any Suggestion please.......

Hi FTag
First off - I haven't been studying vendors of cisco certs for some time!

I would think that you may get some credit time from a tafe like institue or you may qualify for a seat at one of the University Technology Campus's as a mature or part-time student(you will have to enquire at your local facilities).
I think any credit will heavily depend on whether you sat the CCNP exam or simply completed a recognised training program without cisco certification.

At the end of the day to keep costs at a realistic level you may have to do like so many others, and simply buy the cisco books and a simulator and get the head down & bum up study thing happening.
The upside to this is that you can gain confidence with configuration tasks and develop the knowledge required to discuss different interface types/classes and their real world usage.

im currently doing the CCNA now at tafe
but one thing to mention, is that the CCNA is sort of only half based with the actual equipment.
the other half is based on how networks work, how the router uses the ip address to send it somewhere else etc.

if your looking to get better networking knowledge and dont even use cisco id stil reccomend it.

im glad i didnt bother considering a 5 day course... too much to learn!

I went to a 5 day ICND1 course at Dimension Data in November... I always find DDLS a really cool place to learn. I've done a few things there and the instructors are always very good.

With a few weeks of study after the course I passed the CCENT exam. I'm doing the same thing for ICND2.

So yeah, Dimension Data gets a thumbs up from me.

Hi Sir Bastard,

Once again thanks for such a great suggestion. I will get in contact with Tafe and UTS and will ask them about my options.

Thanks
FTAG

Anyone over 40 gained the CCNA and got a job out of it?

I hope I havent missed this, but I didnt see a response when someone asked what University offers CCNA/CCNP courses... so

does anyone know which Universities offer the CCNA and CCNP courses?

cheers

Russ

I saw Charles Sturt offer CCNP as part of their 'Masters' degree and you can do it via Distance Learning.

Sir Bastard writes...

My understanding of the new certification program is simply that you must achieve each level of certification to move onto the next and as such you do not need to demonstrate real world skills beyond those detailed in a cisco text book

I believe it is better to a level higher than the level you need as this allows you to grow your workplace to meet your skillset instead of growing the skillset to meet
the requirements of the workplace

The CCIE still does not require any of the other "lower" certifications...In fact, most CCIE's I know never bothered w/ doing the full NA NP IE track.

I also do not believe you should have your workplace grow into you rather than you grow into it. If your skillset is far beyond where you're working, you should be looking for a harder job. You should be growing in your workplace (and your company should be encouraging this growth) and you should be learning something while there. That's not to say you shouldn't be competent in what you are doing but if there's nothing more to learn and you're actually pushing your workplace to find anything even remotely interesting to work on (interesting as in it's a challenge) then you should be looking for a new position or new company.

phoenixthesmeg writes...

I did the Cisco CCNA semester 1 at Lidcombe TAFE back in 2001 and found it very good. Pity Semester 1 doesn't have much hands on stuff, we made a couple of patch cables and wired a patch panel and that was about it. Was fun getting to play with the Fluke LAN tester though

What? I do that sort of work everyday at school and more! CCNA sounds easy. I wonder why we didn't do another cisco course after IT essentials....

What's the CCNA final exam like? Written or multiple choice?

elnoob writes...

I do that sort of work everyday at school and more!

I do that at Home (No permanent cabling though :-) which is a pity as I really want to set up a proper wiring cabinet with patch panels etc).

What's the CCNA final exam like?

I can only speak for semester 1 from several years back but it was all multiple choice done online via the CISCO testing site. Had to log in to the CISCO website and do the exam at a certain time and I think it had to be done at TAFE but can't be 100% sure on that as it was so long ago.

Jimothy writes...

I saw CCNA discovery and so forth, does anyone know what would be required to get my CCNA, will I have to start all over or can I just continue?

Cheers,

Jim

Anyone please???

ICND1 & ICND2 tests are completely closed book yes? No calculator even?

Maxwellbest writes...

Anyone over 40 gained the CCNA and got a job out of it?

Age is not a critical factor. Experience and work ethic is of far more importance.

Unfortunately there are other factors. If you have sideburns, elbow patches, listen to the beatles or you think rodney rude is funny then an employer may be concerned.
Get a facial, dress sharp and dont mention your age in the interview or CV.

They may wonder (although its wrong) as to whether it would be appropriate to have such a mature person working with guys in their early to mid 20's that may have more knowledge (not experience) than you do.

Another thing they will wonder is why you have left it so late in your career to decide what you want to do.... They'll never ask up front in an interview but just assume the worst possible scenario (like youve just been let out :)

So its up to you if you want to lay the cards on the table and explain your situation.

fdr writes...

ICND1 & ICND2 tests are completely closed book yes? No calculator even?

Yes, All Cisco test are.

Polymer714 writes...

The CCIE still does not require any of the other "lower" certifications...In fact, most CCIE's I know never bothered w/ doing the full NA NP IE track.

Im glad someone else posted this. CCIE has no prerequisites and has not required you to do/achieve/maintain low lever certs to have it.

The only prerequisite is you pass the CCIE written exam before taking the lab exam.

Another thing they will wonder is why you have left it so late in your career to decide what you want to do.... They'll never ask up front in an interview but just assume the worst possible scenario (like youve just been let out :)

He he. Let out.....Like that one. Well, lets just say, after numerous twists and turns, not to mention seemingly endless rounds of redundancies in the organisations I have been involved in, I am looking for something to get my teeth into. However, coming around to the conclusion that vendor certification may not be the way to go.

Maxwellbest writes...

He he. Let out.....Like that one. Well, lets just say, after numerous twists and turns, not to mention seemingly endless rounds of redundancies in the organisations I have been involved in, I am looking for something to get my teeth into. However, coming around to the conclusion that vendor certification may not be the way to go.

It probably isn't. If you have the experience at age 40, you won't need the CCNA. If you get the CCNA claiming it was for experience, your skill level is probably fairly low...which isn't a big deal but depending on the rest of your resume, the expectations of what you should be paid or the expectations the company will think you have of what you should be paid, might not match your expertise level...

The CCNA is a really basic basic cert level...I know some CCNA's that are good , they all had experience and just bothered w/ the cert just because...Most other CCNA's are generally not very knowledgeable in what they are doing. In fact, a vast majority of the CCNP's know very little as well. What I mean by that is they've obviously studied to pass the test but they really do not understand how it applies in a real world situation...I know some very good CCNP's as well but like I mentioned in a previous thread, most people w/ the appropriate skill level will probably not bother with lower level certs and either do the CCIE or not do the CCIE depending on what it'll achieve for them. If you want to be a router jockey the whole time, getting your CCIE is something good..if you want to do more than that, it may be good or may not be good..... I'm not saying this to discourage people to get the lower level certs, it's really to encourage people to really learn about what they are doing and worry less about what level of CCxx they have.

Polymer:
You need a CCNA to do CCNP+

Sir Bastard writes...

Cisco introduced several new skillsets/certs that had to be achieved to allow you to progress to CCIE status after I had achieved my original certification and I had to successfully achieve each of those additional certs to maintain a current status to my ccie

There are no pre-requisite certs for CCIE today and there never has been. You don't need to be CCNA, CCNP, CCDA, CCDP, CCIP, CCSP, CCVP or CC anything to become a CCIE.

To become a CCIE you need to first pass a computer based test (CCIE written) and then within 18 months attend and pass a practical test (CCIE Lab).

Also, you don't need any certs to maintain a CCIE, you just need to pass the current version of the CCIE written once every two years. The subject matter examined in the CCIE written has changed over the years, but it's not a cert.

Most people just cram the lastest P4S for a week before taking their re-cert and they get through it.

WantSat writes...

Polymer:
You need a CCNA to do CCNP+

Yeah but I didn't say otherwise..

The CCIE you do not need any lower level certs...and to re-certify you only have to pass the written again.....

Penguin I see from your comments you came along - long after I did my orginal CCIE certification.Just for you interest sake My ccie# is below 300 and not much above 200 (not in the 20'000's range but in the very low 100's)So I'll simply ask that I be excused for using a broad reference to emphasize recertification requirements.

Hey guys,

I was wondering if it is possible to do CCNA by correspondence/online/distance next year, as I think it would be a good experience thing (as I will only be doing 4 VCE subjects, alreading doing 2 3/4's this year.)

I had a look at Box Hill Institute, and could only find Night / Weekend courses.

fast hackem: what your post says to me: "Hi I can buy crap off ebay and download simulators"

Congratulations your mediocre.

These days I think Dynamips has really got a lot of power and removes a lot of hardware purchasing requirement.

I mean I am halfway through my CCNP and I haven't turned on the 1700s and 2600s I have here. I have however simulated a lot of environments in between my two dynamips machines.

I bought a Dell gx270 off ebay and put 2Gb of RAM into it and then upgraded my work laptop to put another 2Gb of RAM in there and I have two machines that can simulate nearly 10 routers each. I haven't pushed them, I haven't had the need to yet.

I have done hours of work on the consoles and the total cost to me has been under $100 for the PC, $120 for RAM and $55 for the laptop RAM.

It represents amazing value

Tom

Sir Bastard writes...

Penguin I see from your comments you came along - long after I did my orginal CCIE certification.Just for you interest sake My ccie# is below 300 and not much above 200

Getting a bit O/T here but oh well. CCIE#'s start from 1024 upwards. Sure you don't want to put another zero on there?

Mike.

No I don't want to put another zero on my card
You may wish to review cisco publications from late lateish 90's about private certification centres and the ccie registration numbers revoked from circulation due to problems with stolen exams/answers etc.
Now I am going from vague memories of that era the re-issuing of a certain range of CCIE #'s with a completely new examination criteria and the new certification range starting from #1024 for public training facilities.
Certifications recieved from Cisco's own training facility were not revoked/re-issued and as such my number will remain in the low 200's

You should contact TAFE, they are cheap, and I'm doing CCNA's and ITEssentials with them. I'm also doing 3 certs mind you. :)

Sir Bastard writes...

No I don't want to put another zero on my card
You may wish to review cisco publications from late lateish 90's about private certification centres and the ccie registration numbers revoked from circulation due to problems with stolen exams/answers etc.
Now I am going from vague memories of that era the re-issuing of a certain range of CCIE #'s with a completely new examination criteria and the new certification range starting from #1024 for public training facilities.
Certifications recieved from Cisco's own training facility were not revoked/re-issued and as such my number will remain in the low 200's

The CCIE program started in the early 90's and started off with 1024. I'm not sure about re-issuing a new range or any new examination criteria but I'm fairly certain the first CCIE, #1025 was in 1993.

Maybe you had an internal cisco certification but the guy who actually wrote the original exam was #1025. Since your number supposedly is lower than that, I doubt anyone with any common knowledge would recognize your certification (or what used to be your certification) nor do I think they could actually verify it on Cisco's website (which is available to verify all CCIEs).

I'm just wondering if you guys realise how basic the CCNA is these days?
There's no need for Tafe courses or a bootcamp at $xxStupidAmountOfMoneyxx

If you've done your CCNP previously, then you would have no problem just using the training material from the Cisco Learning Centre (partner education centre?) and doing the exam.

ipv6 and nat isn't scary.
OSI layers are simple
the simulations, well if you've ever used a router you should know this one.
subnetting = basic once you write out your own "cheat" reference sheet before the exam begins.

Try doing your CCDA and passing that first go ;) Now that's a tough one. (in saying that I scored 860 my first time)

The CCDA is basic as well...not sure what gives you the impression it's not.

Concerning IPv6..the problem I see with it is there are very few implementations of it out there..Yes it exists but it's really uncommon..You can work for any of the largest international providers out there and never even sniff it...It's one of those things you learn and then have to re-learn because there are so few opportunities to apply it....

One day...probably...

Polymer714 writes...

The CCDA is basic as well

I'm sure it is if you have more than a week to study for it ;)

Also, a quote from one of the guys at Cisco "The CCDA is one of the hardest exams we have, it has an extremely high fail rate"

IPV6 is something cisco has started to push a great deal in their exams. Even the CCDA has bucket loads of it.

T0nyGTSt writes...

i'm paying $825 per semester for TAFE Lidcombe.

For fear of so sounding snooty..

I paid $200 for 2x 2610 routers & 2925 switch from ebay
$0 for books downloaded from net
$0 for tuition
$150 for exam
Passed first go with 933.

Total cost for CCNA - about $350

This in my mind is the only way to do it. The majority of the exam is subnetting and other theory anyway. You will get some labs ie how to setup NAT but its usually very simple which you can learn on the ebay routers.

Sorry but SIF pay for instruction, the cert isnt that valuable and isnt worth that much to begin with.

Krisso writes...

$0 for books downloaded from net

Are there books available for free to download for Cisco study ?

TomNS writes...

These days I think Dynamips has really got a lot of power and removes a lot of hardware purchasing requirement.

i agree with TomNS. Dynamips rocks. I also have quite a nice lab at home but hardly ever used it for BSCI.

However for the BCMSN you will need a few switches and routers since Dynamips doesn't support switches.

bte writes...

Are there books available for free to download for Cisco study ?

The fact that you are asking this question is concerning. (no)

Krisso writes...

The fact that you are asking this question is concerning. (no)

I already knew the answer. I was asking it for the benefit of others who may not.

Instead of putting $0 for books, why not make it legit at put down $70-$100 for books, which will get you a brand new CCNA study guide from whichever publisher you fancy. You could also get one second hand, but you would need to make sure it's for the current exam and not an older exam or it's useless.

bte writes...

but you would need to make sure it's for the current exam and not an older exam or it's useless.

Mostly the older content is still current, the 640-802 exam no longer has ISDN and has wireless and IPv6 added.

AFAIK the only text for 640-802 is Exam Prep CCNA 2nd Edition, Jeremy Cioara, David Minutella, Heather Stevenson (2008)

I found this a very good book I would recommend it to anyone going for CCNA also before you test do some of the pass4sure practice exams. These are extremely beneficial. Most people would probably fail without doing some of these first.