Studying CCNA

Hi,I'm would like to do ccna.What I've heard so far is that is is not an easy course.I hear it is impossible to study on your own and you just have to go for classes.Is that true?I've got myself the Sybex CCNA Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide 5th Edition and have access to Cisco Networking Academy CCNA 3.1 semister 1 to 4, I've also got a cisco 2600 router and a 56k dialup line.I've got a lan with 3 computers running windows server 2003 and windows xp pro respectively.With the resources that i've got can i study from home and be able to pass the exam and be able to work on routers and switches?

hi,

yes, i do most certainly believe that you are well equipped to study for the exam. i believe that passing the exam takes a lot of will power and desire to pass it. learn as much as you can and be able to apply it since the exam teaches real life scenarios in IT and networking.

Hi,I'm would like to do ccna.What I've heard so far is that is is not an easy course.I hear it is impossible to study on your own and you just have to go for classes.Is that true?I've got myself the Sybex CCNA Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide 5th Edition and have access to Cisco Networking Academy CCNA 3.1 semister 1 to 4, I've also got a cisco 2600 router and a 56k dialup line.I've got a lan with 3 computers running windows server 2003 and windows xp pro respectively.With the resources that i've got can i study from home and be able to pass the exam and be able to work on routers and switches?

Wow! I definitely think you can pass the CCNA as long as you study and do a lot of hands-on lab because you have all the tools!

Here's what I have:

1. Sybex CCNA Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide 5th Edition
2. Currently enrolled to Cisco Networking Academy Program 1 to 4
3. My Lab:

(1) Cisco 1721 Router - for the fractional T1 line (512kbps/1 mb)
(3) Xytel DSL Modems
(2) 3Com Manageable Layer 2 Switch
(3) LinkSys BEFSR41 DSL Routers
(35) Workstations running on Win XP Pro
(5) Polycom IP Point 500 VoIP Phone units


.......My lab is our office

Cheers.

Newbie here guys.

Im also interested in taking up CCNA exam.
but in reference to the post above, do I need to have all the hardware (routers) that you have posted?

or is it enough to have Simulators?
Im a little worried here, coz i don't have enough money
or rather it is not justifiable to buy routers.

thanks

I wouldn't just rely on the Sybex Study Guide. I used the Cisco Press CCNA books in combinations with the Sybex book. I recently passed the CCNA-INTRO exam and credit the Cisco Press books for preparing me. The Sybex book was lacking in some areas.

The simulators are probably sufficient for the type of practice you would need for the CCNA. While the people above listed having a Cisco router, only one isn't really enough to get good practice with topics such as OSPF. With a router simulator, you can create multiple routers with many interconnections and essentialy build the network from scratch. I personally like labs because I like to run all the cabling and see things physically.