Cisco router

I have been studying for my ccna for a little while, but the router simulation software that came with the books is not very good. So, I am thinking of buying something cheap but worthwhile of helping my studies to practice on. I might just go the rack rental route, if I find any. If anyone has any ideas, I would like to hear them. If anyone has any hardware, I am interested in a price.

Thanks.

I have been studying for my ccna for a little while, but the router simulation software that came with the books is not very good. So, I am thinking of buying something cheap but worthwhile of helping my studies to practice on.

You probably need to define "cheap" for people to be able to help you with specific equipment recommendations for purchase.

Rack rental may very well be your most cost-efficient route, unless you really get into the hardware and it's something you would purchase/use anyway. If you do decide to purchase your own equipment, the good news is that depending on what you buy, you can use much of the same equipment for both ccna and ccnp if you're planning on going that route. The reason it gets expensive is that the latest version of their curriculum covers their recent equipment. You can't get away with less than two routers (you need >1 to have any routing protocol work, for instance). Also, though the 2500 series are much more affordable than the 2600 series routers, you can't load them with enough memory to hold some of the newer feature sets that cover some of the heavier routing protocols, etc. You'd most likely be fine with them for the ccna, but if you're planning on doing the ccnp I'd try to get your hands on some 2610/11/20/21/xx's.

Switches are also important. You'll probably want two, otherwise you won't be able to do VTP. Anything in the 2912/2924/2950 range will work in general, but keep in mind that the 2950 series only does 802.1q trunking, so if you want to practice ISL you'll need two of the older switches.

Then there's the WAN stuff, which you might get covered with your routers, depending on what you choose and what modules you get for them.

So, as you can see, it can get pretty expensive, but it might be worth it to you. If you have a buddy who is pursuing the same certs, you could each buy half of the equipment (1 switch + 1 router each, give or take) and then meet on the weekends and connect your stuff together to practice...

- Colleen

PS: I have a Cisco 3548-XL-EN switch that I'd part with for ~$800.00. Probably not what you're looking for for ccna practice, but thought I'd mention it in case you or anyone else wanted one.

Thanks for all the info--very helpful. I'm definitely not looking for anything in the 800 dollar range, but I didn't know if I could get by with 1-200 bucks. I will check and see if I can find anything on ebay in your model range for that price.

Rack rental seems more and more like the route I should look into, since I can probaby cover everything, including wan stuff. A quick google search didn't turn up much of anything in okc. Does anybody know of any? I'm sure they're out there somewhere...

Thanks for all the info--very helpful. I'm definitely not looking for anything in the 800 dollar range, but I didn't know if I could get by with 1-200 bucks. I will check and see if I can find anything on ebay in your model range for that price.

You can get a couple of 2500 series routers for < $200.

Rack rental seems more and more like the route I should look into, since I can probaby cover everything, including wan stuff. A quick google search didn't turn up much of anything in okc. Does anybody know of any? I'm sure they're out there somewhere...

There are a lot of "virtual rack" services online, where you can pay a smallish fee to rent a certain amount of rack time. You won't be able to physically touch the equipment, but they should provide a setup where you won't need to. You will miss out on little troubleshooting stuff like what happens when you accidentally cable DCE/DTE wrong, but it's a cheap and convenient option that a lot of people use. Google for 'cisco "virtual rack"' to turn up a ton of choices.

- Colleen

There are a lot of "virtual rack" services online, where you can pay a smallish fee to rent a certain amount of rack time. You won't be able to physically touch the equipment, but they should provide a setup where you won't need to. You will miss out on little troubleshooting stuff like what happens when you accidentally cable DCE/DTE wrong, but it's a cheap and convenient option that a lot of people use. Google for 'cisco "virtual rack"' to turn up a ton of choices.

- Colleen

Yeah, but I was hoping to find one here in okc--not that there's anything wrong with the online rentals, but it would be a little more fun to be right there with the equipment.

The 2500 series would allow me to do most of the stuff I need to know, right? What if the IOS on them is not updated? Does cisco allow people to update second hand non-commercial stuff?