I have various friends aspiring to become qualified CCNA’s, and they’ve asked me if i could put up a post that shows the ideal, and budget conscious CCNA Lab to help them study and prepare for the CCNA exam.

The bare minimum of equipment that i’d purchase for my ccna study lab is as follows:

Here’s the breakdown of all the prices of equipment. Bare in mind, that some of this equipment is a few years old (we’re on a budget remember) , but it still does the job perfectly well and is still widely used in workplaces today. If you are willing to splash out a little feel free to purchase newer equipment, but its not needed.

CCNA VOICE

The CCNA Voice, or Cisco Certified Network Associate, recognises a candidates knowledge and abilities needed to administer a Voice based Network. The CISCO CCNA Voice Certificate validates that a person has the required skill needed for specialized job roles within the Voice Technologies sector. Roles may include Voice Technologies Administrator, Voice Engineer, and also Voice Manager. It proves that the candidate has the required skills in VoIP (Voice over IP) technologies such as IP Telephony, IP PBX, Handset, Call Control, and VoiceMail Solutions.

The CCNA Voice Certification ‘enterprise’ option assesses skills and knowledge relating to the Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6., or CUCM 6.0. It’s typically used by larger organisations and companys such as governments, universities, colleges etc. the CVOICE 642-436 exam is required to gain this accreditation.

The CCNA Voice Certification ‘commercial’ option tests a candidates knowledge and skills relatin to the CISCO Call Manager Express, or CME, and the CISCO Unity Express (CUE) solutions which are typically utilised by smaller to medium organisations, eg: Companies with less than 2000 or so employees, Small schools and colleges, retail businesses, Small council based organisations etc. The IIUC exam 640-460 is required to gain this accreditation.*

*NOTE:  Important info relating to the CCNA Voice Certificate
On June 24th, 2009, Learning@Cisco announced a program change to the ‘CCNA Voice certification’. There is now 2 options available for candidates wishing to gain their CCNA Voice Certificate, A commercial option and an enterprise option.     

This practise test consists of 20 practice questions for the 640-801 CCNA Exam.

Please read through the question, then click on the checkbox that contain the correct answer(s). The small area to the right hand side of the question will display ‘YES’ if your answer(s) are correct and ‘NO’ if you have chosen the incorrect answer.

You can click on the ‘Explanation’ button to find out more information about the answer, and you can click ‘Next Question’ to continue with the CCNA practise test. It’s worth remembering that your answers are not graded, so try to keep track of which topics you had the most difficulty with, so you can study more on your weaker areas.

Note: I do not host the test on my site, this is an external link, so any questions regarding the test should go to the test sites owner, and not here at ccnajobs.

Start The Test     

If you are reading this, then i can probably assume that you’ve decided to go for the most cost effective route to study for and (hopefully) pass the CCNA Exam. It is perfectly feasable and possible to pass this exam, i should know – i did it – and so have many other people. However, with the plethora of CCNA Course books, CCNA Training and CCNA Boot Camps out there, it can often be easy to get lost and confused as to which ones to choose.

Before you empty your wallet or get your credit card out, here’s 5 things to consider:

1. Which CCNA Exam?

There are several CCNA streams and tracks to embark upon. There’s CCNA, CCNA Voice, CCNA Security, CCNA Wireless… not to mention the vast array of other associate level certificates, eg: CCDA. The original CCNA, which covers Routing and Switching, is a pre-requisite for all of the others, so make sure your getting the right CCNA Book for the specific stream/track you are taking.

2. What version?

Its worth bearing in mind that Cisco revise their CCNA exam regularly. 640-802 is the current version, but make sure you check the Cisco website for any further revisions, so you can be certain you have the right CCNA Book for that version.

3. PDF’s

Books are handy, expecially on long commutes or when your relaxing on the sofa with a hot drink. However, some books can still be a bit ‘bulky’ to carry around. Luckily, nowadays some CCNA Books also come with a CD which contains a PDF of the entire book. This can be printed off in ‘bite sized’ chapters for you to take with you. Reading things in small chunks also helps your brain to digest the information more efficiently, making your CCNA Course a lot easier to get through.

4. Who is the Author?

Is the book written by a reputable author? Does it have good reviews in places like Amazon?. Material that has not been written for the CCNA Syllabus and/or contains technical or outdated data can have a disasterous consequence on your training. Authors like Todd Lammle and Wendell Odom are well known and respected for their great CCNA material so be sure to check them out (you’ll find some of their Amazon products on this site).

5. Practise DOES make perfect

Whatever CCNA Course you do, don’t rely entirely on books to pass the CCNA Exam. The CCNA Exam contains (at least) 2 to 3 simulation questions and theoretical knowledge gained from books is simply not enough to pass these questions. Books are great for laying down the knowledge and theory foundations, But you’ll need either access to real Cisco networking equipment and/or a simulator to put this theory into good practise.

Check the links below for some top rated CCNA books and CCNA simulators.

CCNA Books

CCNA Simulator     

Without doubt, the most frustrating part of doing your CCNA Training is getting actual hands on experience. You’ll find that In-experienced Network Administrators, are rarely (if ever) given significant access to production routing and switching equipment. This can be expecially difficult for those who are currently unemployed and have no access to any proper network equipment.

Don’t worry, not all is lost. What you need is a CCNA Simulator. A CCNA Simulator runs on your PC and simulates routing and switching equipment, meaning you can try everything you have learned from home without the need for hands on experience. Most simulators come heavily documented with all the possible commands needed and situations you may face in real life, and come loaded with troubleshooting advice and techniques.

If you are serious about passing your CCNA Exam, then a simulator can save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

As usual, you’ll find my recommended ccna simulator products below.