Networking Course Advice...
 

What sort of courses ,qualifications do you need to fit and eventualy test and repair small networks.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

Probably useful to go down the..

Comptia A+, Comptia N+ route then move on to CCNA, CCNP (cisco)

:)

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

I'd go along with that. Also if you want to do those I'd recommend having a look at these guys.
http://www.jbctraining.co.uk/

I went to an open day there last year and they seemed to be really good. Their main thing is a 7 week residential course to become and IT professional, but they also do shorter courses including the Comptia and Cisco ones mentioned above.

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

Ha Ha, I first read that url as JCB Training and thought, "What's driving cranes got to do with networking?" :D

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

CCNA is not for small networks, it's a very advanced networking course.

I'm sure there are some Microsoft certifications too, can't remember the codes though.

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

Without meaning to argue with you...

The CCNA certification indicates knowledge of networking for the small-office, home-office (SOHO) market and the ability to work in small businesses or organizations whose networks have fewer than 100 nodes

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

I have had a suggestion for a trainning company does anyone have any other's ?

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

About 10 years worth of real life experience!!

Trust me - some stuff is easy.....but other stuff can be damm difficult!

I'd start with a basic understanding of the OSI 7 layers!

Lee

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

Not exactly your basic stuff is it? Not to mention, I've still yet to see a 'small' network using Cisco hardware.

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

My small network at work uses cisco, i'll send you a pic ;)

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

We have a Linksys Switch at work if that counts? :)

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

I thought Linksys was the home division of Cisco :rolleyes:

If you want a good switch, get a HP Procurve. A friend of mine picked up a managed Procurve 24 port gigabit switch with 2 fibre uplinks for £250 the other day. It's an absolute beauty of a switch.

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

All Cisco switches in college, would explain alot as the network was built by a division of Cisco themselves for free apparantly. I don't know whether to believe that.

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

I'd disagree and say it is a fundamental requirement for anyone serious about becoming a network engineer.

It's the level expected for beginning network bods at my place.

Cisco do hardware for all sizes of networks... not just huge, conglomerate, multi-national, enterprise-size ones.

Re: Networking Course Advice...
 

Thats true. I normally find it's the general size of the company that dictates what kit they purchase.

i.e. A small company would generally use network kit at the cheaper end of the scale - DLink or whatever, whereas a large company would have the latest network gear as the backbone of their infrastructure albeit HP, Cisco, Linksys etc.