network training school?

[treetop]

Hi all.

With the hopeful job recovery that is coming, I am planning to do some network training(with certification of course) to get in a better position.

Since there's quite a few of you that obviously knows what you talk about, can you recommend any school in the east coast? BTW, I am refering to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area.

In my mind set, Cisco would be the most obvious choice but I am open to suggestions. Just to make sure, I do not currently have any Cisco experience, and so far I have looked at www.networktrain.com, which have a price package of $6100 for their CEP(CCNA to CCIE). It is this a reasonable price to expect or should I look at other ones?

Any idea and recommendation would be greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance.

 

[narzy]

go to http://cisco.netacad.net read up and locate the nearest acadamy, a lot of community collages are offering cisco programs as well, fairly cheaply.also consider getting a novell cert as they are some of the hardest to get IMO.

 

[cmetz]

treetop, buy a used 2514 on EBay and learn at home first. You'll get more out of a class you go to if you have some experience going in, and have the ability to experiment at home.

 

[narzy]

Cmetz thats generally true, but the 3.0 version of the cisco networking acadamy is vastly improved over 2.1. it starts from the rudementry basics, heck even my mom can understand it . but getting some cisco equipment to mess with is definatly a good idea.

 

[NetWareHead]

Start out small....dont pay up front for a CCNA to CCIE package. Even if you do manage to succeed in getting all 3 of these certs (they are very hard tests) you'd be considered a certification junkie and employers still wouldnt take you seriously. Experience is more important and get some hands on cisco experience before trying their exams. If you like you could start out with the CCNA and take it from there. As far as other certs are concerned, getting a microsoft, novell and some kind of linux cert should make you well rounded.

 

[RhythmAddict]

Originally posted by: cmetz
treetop, buy a used 2514 on EBay and learn at home first. You'll get more out of a class you go to if you have some experience going in, and have the ability to experiment at home.

Too true. You'll learned exponentially more messing with the stuff at home...I was training for my CCNA, and I actually haven't even taken the test yet 'cause im lazy but....I know far more practical stuff right now compared to whats required for a CCNA....
Great if you have friends with the same interests....we set up VPN's, external routing protocols....use the firewall set/ACLs..tons of cool things!

 

[treetop]

thanks for the response. I have done some research for the cisco academy, however it seems my local college does not have one around, or at least the their website didn't mention anything about it. maybe I have to call them up to find it out. Secondly, I have looked into buying the sybex CCNA Virtual Lab book, it is this a good one or should I look into something else?

 

[RhythmAddict]

If you really want to know the stuff, buy the sybex (larger) book for the CCNA....and maybe the sybex study guide(smaller)....if you just want to pass, you can get away with the study guide and less theory, for lack of a better term. Def. get a cisco router tho, it'll help A LOT.
cheers :beer: