[shyanpomer]

how good are ccna stuff of hotcerts.com ?. they have a good package going on, so i wondered if anyone used them . Please do let me know

[lowdaksport]

I dont know about that site. I am going to school now for it and i have available the actual ccna books from cisco through school. And I also get free sample tests. Then I also get quizes through the semester to practice what i know with questions just like on the certifications. Anyways that doesnt help ya but if you just buy the books I think they cover everything well based on the exams i guess. I took the first half of the ccna exams and the one thing you need to know very well is access lists and subnetting. They focus on those a lot. Subnetting is actually a huge majority of the exam. Not sure about the second half. Im in those classes right now. Im kinda rambling again lol but good luck with ccna.

[milhous]

cisco certifications are highly respected and are considered to be ranked at the top of all it certifications in general. this is because there is a good amount of technical theory that must be understood to understand networking.

in other words, they are not like microsoft certifications where you can do some simple practicals, read the book, take the test, and pass. for the ccna, you'll be learning about topics such as binary math, basic physics, and electricity.

while i believe there is no one right way to study, take and pass the ccna, test, i believe it is difficult to study for it on your own, which is why i'm also going to school as well at a local community college, which happens to be an official cisco networking academy. in addition, even if you might be able just pass the test and get the cert, if you decide on getting more advanced certifications like the CCNP, and dare I say, CCIE, you may be short changing yourself because the CCNA curriculum provides a very solid and robust foundation for achieving these higher certifications.

if you're interested, here's more information about the network academy.

Academy Connection

good luck, networking is a very rewarding field to be in as our dependence on the network continues to grow everyday.

edit: i don't anything about that site either, though there are tons of places like that that'll sell you prep materials, helpful or not.

[ghporter]

Anymore it's a certification or no job. That's dumb in many cases, but that's the way it is. But you need to know which certifications employers are interested in before you invest a lot of money.

Certainly Cisco certs are gold in the large corporate market, but there are far more jobs in the medium and small corporate market, so Cisco may or may not be the best path. I'd check what sorts of certifications are being asked for in job postings on Monster.com and other job search sites to get a good handle on both what's hot and what's good.

And be aware that "desired certifications" are subject to fashion, just like what ties are acceptable in the boardroom. Some "hot" certifications are worth not much more than a half-decaf late, while others are good only for certain, very limited applications (think massive parallel computing management-outside of Lawrence Livermore Labs, there aren't many places such skills are really useful). So something that an employer desires may be very interesting and cool to learn, but make sure you cover the basics very thoroughly as well.

I have a BS in computer science (Highest Honors), and real-world experience in securing both work stations and whole LANS. That's worth poo in the job market. I'd need hundreds of hours of hands on "grunt work" on managing and configuring networks just to get in the door at most places, and for jobs I'd feel appropriate for me (with more than a decade of real management and leadership experience), I'd need a file folder full of certifications. It's all in what the employers think is important - and they are often illinformed about what is really useful on the job.

Study the market before you study networks.