Mitch,
Aubrey is right, although I've never used a study guide to get a cert,
they are certainly geared towards novices with little or no experience.
Taking a class is better although more time consuming and costly.
I just bought the book, sat down and read it over a week, then sat the
exam and scored 987. The (in my opinion) CCENT is a exam that covers
many topics from a very high level and is aimed at a very broad audience
from IT Sales to beginner IT Engineers. It is an overall basic
knowledge of networking. I wouldn't expect to get an engineering job
with a CCENT, but starting off on a helpdesk in an ISP would be more
like it. Salary depends on where in the world you are. In Australia I
wouldn't expect more than 40k base with no experience and only a CCENT.
I'd also suggest you hit ebay and look for some old "cheap" routers like
2500's and switches like 2950's. Make sure they've got 16MB of flash
and DRAM and an IOS of 12.3 or later. Build yourself a little lab that
you can play around with. I can't stress enough how helpful the binary
game that Cisco provide on the CD is. Master that game and you'll be in
such a better position to do well on the exams.
If you put in 8 hours a day reading, I would expect you'd be a CCENT in
no more than two weeks. Then do the same with the CCNA... and you're
off and running. Do this before you start thinking about a security
course. If you don't know about how a router works, binary math, IP
Addressing, ACLs, routing protocols, etc., you'll struggle with how to
secure a network. You'll learn all that by the time you become a CCNA.
Good luck.
Aubrey Adams wrote:
> <Mitch@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:vp3j54584tj37ir5pfub2cgnu03mnuc5l7@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> I thought the Official CCNA Certification Guise was what I needed to
>> get going.
>>
>> But it starts right out talking about frames and trunking, things I
>> don't know.
>>
>> I had assumed the books were for a ground-up approach, but it seems
>> they're not.
>>
>
> The Official CCNA Certification Guide - is that, a guide to the
> certification, as are all the certification guides. These are not books
to
> try to learn stuff from that you don't already know.
>
> If you know nothing about networking at this level then start with
something
> like a Cisco Press Study Guide instead of a Cert Guide, or perhaps Gary
> Donahue's "Network Warrior" (O'Reilly). If you are really serious you'll
see
> what courses a local college is offering - learning networking in a
class
> with a knowledgeable instructor and access to labs is much more
motivating
> (and fun too, if you don't enjoy learning about something why do it!).
>
> As for what you'll earn with a CCENT, well that depends - What part of
the
> world do you plan to work in? What jobs requiring that entry level of
> knowledge and skills are available? What can you actually do as a result
of
> achieving your CCENT? An employer just uses certs like any other
> qualifications, to filter job applicants and as a benchmark, but it's up
to
> you to demonstrate your skills and knowledge.
>
> Aubrey
>
>
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