CCNA Certification

[NathanBWF]

I'd like to get my CCNA cert and a local Tech College is offering a CCNA course for $4,000/cdn (280 hours of instruction, CCNA exams and books included). I'm wondering if it's worth the money to take the course, or just buy some study materials and try to get it on my own. Input from other CCNA's would be greatly appreciated...

 

[Zugzwang152]

i guess it depends on how much you already know. if you need 300 hours of in-class instruction plus whatever outside study time, maybe you need more work experience before you attempt a CCNA. Maybe try a Network+ or something before you attempt CCNA.

 

[SagaLore]

The bootcamp I went to was $3,000 and it was great. I'd prefer to cram it in all in a week, from morning to night. I hate stretching out stuff, because I forget what we did a few weeks previously. Everything makes more sense when it is a faster pace for me.

 

[Sentinel]

I took a class at my university, 5 Saturdays/8hrs, got upper div credit and learned plenty enough to get the CCNA.

 

[cjgallen]

If you just want to pass the test, you can get an exam cram study guide anywhere online for under $100 (or bootleg it *cough*).

I went through 8 cisco courses at the local college (4 ccna, 4 ccnp). It was a waste. Even after going through the classes, I would have never passed the CCNA exam without the freakin' exam cram PDF I found online.

 

[KB]

CCNA was pretty easy. I just downloaded one of those virtual router softwares that train you for the CCNA and was able to pass it in just two weeks of self-study.

 

[NathanBWF]

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
i guess it depends on how much you already know. if you need 300 hours of in-class instruction plus whatever outside study time, maybe you need more work experience before you attempt a CCNA. Maybe try a Network+ or something before you attempt CCNA.

I've already got my A+, N+, MCP and MCSE, that's why I was wondering if I needed another ~280 hours of training.

The only real reason I would like to go is because it's instructor led, so if I were to run into problems or had questions to ask I'd have someone there to help me but I'm not to eager to spend another $4k on schooling.

Also, how long is the CCNA good for (before you have to re-write the exams)? 3 years?

 

[tami]

i'm not sure how long a CCNA is good for, but you can get plenty of help for CCNA on a forum (AT maybe not, but there are many cisco folks out there that are eager to lend a hand). you just should ensure that you have good resources available, and definitely some sort of router/switch emulator program since the CCNA relies heavily on that.