Everything Else

It would, but I think you missed the part about "cheap". Lowest price I can find for a usable 2800 is about $1500. That's why I was kinda looking thru the 2600 -3600 serieses. A 1721 looks like it would be adequate but seems to have some significant shortcomings.

In Cisco-land $1500 *is* cheap. Of course, that's just the bare chassis, you would still need the HWIC for fiber.

With anything below a 2691/3660, you're still going to need that transceiver, I think. The NM-1GE (Gigabit SFP NM) is only supported on the higher-end models in those series that have the backplane capacity to support fiber.

The voice capabilities are roughly equal (ignoring trunk capacity and backplane speed) on 17/26/3600 series, as they will all use the same WICs and the 26/3600s will both use most of the same NMs.

You won't get much wireless integration capability out of a 17/26/3600, at least not on the level of the 28/37/3800 series, but you could do basic inter-VLAN routing, and given a RADIUS server, dynamic policy assignment.

Forget the 1721. It's a broadband router, like your D-Link; the cost-benefit ratio is way too high.

Yes, it does not look good if you only have a cisco cert. Well, I have a BS CS from NM Tech. The main point of getting the cert is to a) learn some more about networking, and b) make me stand out a little more when applying for a job. Despite occasional thoughts of leaving the nation, I will be looking for a job in the U.S., probably somewhere in Colorado but outside of the cities. I know, if you don't do the Denver corder it is hard to find much there, but I will try. So don't need to worry about my coming to you with just a cisco cert. However, if I hear of anyone your area with just a cisco cert I will send them your way .



Anyway, I have another question: what is the best way to get some practice? I have been messing with the books & the netsim LE software that came with the books. However, I really need to do more than just read the book & have netsim LE tell me to upgrade to the full version when I try to do something. Some people seem to be able to get it by just reading the book, but I am not one of them. I need to do a lot more real stuff to really learn it. I can do a job given the book and some time, but they don't let you use the book on the exam...

After deciding that the book was not enough I checked into taking a class. The only place that I found near Socorro (in this case, in Albuquerque) offers a typical prerecorded class & simulated lab setup, with a T.A. They have a few real routers to goof with, but not enough to do full labs on real hardware. The class is 10 3.5 hour sections. There setup would probably work, except for the price; they want $2595 for it. Discounting room & board, a semester at NM Tech costs less...

This leaves me with the conclusion that I am probably best off buying some simulation software. I don't like the Boson NetSim, LE, though many of my problems are due to the fact that it is always trying to get me to upgrade. Also, I use a Mac at home for my primary computer, and have to run the thing under virtual PC, which is annoying. It is tempting not to buy anything from them because of this, but getting the certification done is more important.

What would you recommend for practice? Should I buy the full version of the Boson NetSim, or something else? Is there a better way to do it?

Well, looks like the full Boson CCNA pack is about $300:

http://www.boson.com/Product/CIS-KK-CCNA-01.html

It is way more than I want to pay, especially given that it is wintel only and they don't even bother to say so on their webpage. On the other hand, it is almost as much as the $2500 class offers and may enough to learn the stuff.

Anyone used this stuff? Is it actually worth buying?

I mean that the CCNA is useless. It shows and means nothing. If you're going for one I suggest that you should also take the CCNP.
As a side note, I'm not a big fan of Cisco, even though they have several good products.

It depends on how you look at it. For me, it will not really make much difference on the job. Everything that it covers is stuff that I would easily look up if I ever needed it on the job. For that matter, I disagree with some of the ways that they do things, and will just have to know the "right" answer for the test. The ability to think for yourself & research the stuff you are working is far more important than any certification. I wonder how many people set the enable password to "cisco" just because that is what they always did in the CCNA study...

Also, as you may gather from my previous comments, I am not all that impressed with cisco. They make some ok stuff, but I don't think that they are that good of a company. They stay in business because they a) are the largest networking company out there, and b) they keep buying out their competition. If I get a job where I decide what switches to purchase there is a good chance that I would not get cisco. They cost more, and most people don't need the features that are unique to cisco anyway. Besides, if I designed a network, I would avoid proprietary software, hardware, and protocols, as much reasonably possible in order to avoid vender lock in

However, something is also worth whatever someone will pay for it. In the U.S. there seems to be a lot of desire for certifications. I think that the certification thing is taken way too far, but I can't change it (yet). As previously noted here, some people make hiring decisions based partly on CCNA certifications. Some places will also pay you a bit more if you have one. During layoffs they will give you a slightly better chance of not loosing your job. Do I think that this is the best way of doing things? No. Do I think that it will pay for me to get a certification? Yes.

I think that there is a good chance the certification will help me get a job, and possibly get me a hire pay. Thats why I am getting it. Sadly it is not really about learning stuff (though I try to learn as much as I can from it), but about how the U.S. job market works.

As for a CCNP, well, I will worry about that after getting a job. If my employer likes the idea I probably will; if they don't care I probably won't.

Well, the boson software has some annoying requirements:

-M$ windows only
-It uses the internet to do a large portion of stuff (they would not tell me how much)

The windows part is expected (I really wish they would make it for Linux or Mac or Irix or something else). However, the network part is a big problem because:

-I don't have any antivirus software for my windows stuff (I never connect it to the net).

-I am stuck with an ultraslow dialup connection; I am lucky to get 28.8kbps.

-Being a dialup connection I don't want to tie up the phone all the time.

Anyway, I looked around some more and am going to see if the Semsim software will work. It costs less anyway. Anyone around here used it?

I have the Boson software, and it doesn't require Internet connectivity. It requires Internet *registration*, but no actual connectivity is required.

I put it on my SO's AutoCAD PC to try it out and didn't find anything in it that I couldn't do with my "real" routers. I'd be willing to relinquish the license to you, if you'd like - it's of no use to me. PM me if you're interested.

Not to mention the valuable experience of basically filling in for the manager of networks and maintenance at the TCC for what, five years or so?

And learning how to tiptoe around what can only be described as difficult managers who aren't even on your team, and yet want to grab all the authority they can...

You're off to a better start than most CS graduates, I would think.

Actually a bit under 3 years. And, yes, there were some very difficult managers. I got tired of having to worry about irrational reactions from a manager from outside of my chain of command.

On the other hand, I can't really put on my resume that I did my boss' job while I was a student worker. I suspect that most prospective employers would think "Yeah, and you also invented TCP/IP while you were at it; next candidate." Thankfully, if someone contacts my references they can at least find out that I did far more than a student was expected to. Overall I would say that the various jobs I had as a student (the computer center & LANL) gave me a huge amount of experience beyond just having a CS degree.

No, some hiring people would think, "Oh christ, another nitwit company run by incompetent assholes, just like us. Let me get the name so I can be sure never to apply there ..." That kind of thing is a lot more common than you'd like to believe

While I have not had a real (i.e. 40 hours / week for more than a summer) job, I get the feeling that there are a lot of incompetent people & companies out there. I always find it a little scary when people complain that dilbert is too realistic. Hopefully I can get a job without any major troublemakers, but I doubt that I will. As is I am pushing it by trying to get a job in Colorado and not in a city (take one look at the colorado listings and they are spamed by jobs in the Denver metro area and CO springs). Well, maybe I will get lucky...

Okay so I've never even touched ASP and all I know is it's kind of like Visual Basic, but my new job in CA is going to involve me in it quite heavily. Since it's an MS thing, I'm sure it's taboo, but is anyone here forced to use it in their daily work life? Cuz I could use some advice as to what book or books to get as boot camp and/or reference.

I've got a little over a week before I have to hit the ground running in OC.

I tried to try it but I couldn't get the free for download tools to work right. Windows is a rather alien environment to me and their server tech is downright funky.

It ~should~ be pretty easy language-wise but I'd jump on it now if you aren't familiar with how Microsoft's web server software works. I'm an apache\perl dude and it baffled the fuck out of me.

I'm pretty slow though.

ASP.NET or "classic" ASP? Here's the differences, as they'll affect your learning vector:

"Classic" ASP uses VBScript (A VB-like scripting language - go figure!) as it's primary development language. It does not make use of any of the .NET runtime, libraries or fancy-pance JIT "stuff."

ASP.NET can use any of the .NET languages and often makes use of things like XML, SOAP and WSDL.

While I'm certainly no expert on either of these topics, I have done a bit of maintenance work with both. Nothing I really enjoyed or was amazed by though.

If you're going .NET, I would suggest starting with C#. You'll probably find it most familiar.

I should have answered that question in my original. Classic ASP to start with. I'll be learning .NET ASP and C# after a while, mostly because my dad is still getting acquainted with it. The Jedi Master needs to know what he's teaching before he can teach it.

I'm ready to learn new stuff and even though I have to learn MS stuff, I'm just glad to be doing tech shit instead of production monkey business.

A quote from one of the boson labs: "...this is a trick question. This is the kind of misdirection you might see on the exam." Sigh... I sure hope that they are not really into trick questions. They tend to get me, and they are also one dumb way to test networking skill; they really test your ability to detect trick questions.

Oh, and while I am not fond* of the boson netsim, it appears to be good enough to learn what you need for the CCNA exam, and the price was right (thanks, ipaddict).

Well, I hope to be ready to take the exam soon, and then I can worry more about finding a real job.

e.g: It is windows only, and crashed half way through a big lab. Grrr...

I did the CCNA last year, passed it and then had the good intentions of going on to study towards the CCSP (more my area of work), but have not found enough free time to study for it because I'm also doing a part-time MSc ( glutton for punishment here... ). What I do remember well from the exam is the need to know your calculations for working out the subnetting/no. of hosts etc etc - I clicked "Finish" with about 3 secs to spare, mostly owing to the fact that I panicked and fluffed up my calculations. Those who are more maths capable than me probably say "WTF, that stuff's easy" but I found it tough.

Good luck with your exam.

Nick

What happens if you don't finish in time? I assumed that you just miss the questions that you don't have time for, like on most timed tests, but I thought I should ask. Anyway, I am fairly good at subneting calculations, but I will practice more to be safe. I wish they would let me use my HP48gx calculator on the exam. It will do all the decimal to bin to hex to octal conversions; it will even do bitwise operations, such as AND & OR!

I miss my 48GX. RPN rules.