Advantages: Qualification at end
Disadvantages: More work

...I have surrently undetaken the Cisco Certified netowking course and I would like to recomment it to any one else who may find it to be beneficail t there career. The Cisco course is very informative and if you have an interest in netwoking you may enjoy it. You wil learn all the basics in networking such as topologies and ethernet, tcp/ip etc that is very interesting. The course cost £1500 but the offer has been given to me at my college at no extra cost. At the end of the course you are given a certified netwoking qualification that may be useful in the future. The course is very intersting and I recomment it to others.... Read review

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Advantages: A networking qualification available at the end
Disadvantages: extra workload

...As well as the 4 as levels I have taken, I am also taking a cisco networking course. This takes place after college for 3 hours a week. The course is split into semesters and each is made up of chapter tests. I have just finished semester 1 and I have foud that I have learned a lot. the first semester has a lot of general information, but also features a lot about planing a network, taking into consideration wiring closets, types of wires etc. As well as the theory there is an extensive practical side to the course, with many cabes you have to make and wire up as well as taken to pieces computer units. Since I am doing Computing as an A level, the cisco course coinsides with this perfectly, by delivering background knowledge, an extensive readings and practical demonstrations. Thankyou cisco!... Read review

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Advantages: Experienced Company, without the hype.
Disadvantages: Some products require real skill to use effectively.

...Who are Cisco Systems? Why do we care? Who are the Competitors? Cisco Systems manufacture routers used to connect different computer networks and a large proportion that ultimately form the Internet. I have been using Cisco routers for many years and find them really reliable, not that easy to manage though. In recent years I have seen their strategy change or rather evolve into a global core networking platform. With their TV campaign I can see how they are starting to build brand awareness in the home user market. More than any other networking company, they are consolidating and shaping their new 'world, home' market. The message they present is simple and clear, the Internet is powered by Cisco Systems. As more small businesses home users create networks of their own, Cisco is successfully creating a feeling of confidence that you... Read review

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Advantages: Helplines at local rates. Cheaper calls during peak hours.
Disadvantages: Does not support 128k ISDN

...Whilst looking around the maze of ISPs and their offers I came across Sniffout.com and it's £9.99 per month (£3.99 from Sniffout and £5.99 BT Surftime). It gives you unlimited access in the evenings and weekends and if you are surfing during the day it gives you weekend rates i.e 1p per minutes during the day. I had trouble in the past with other ISPs and setting up the surftime, however with sniffout it was easy, fast, very reliable and should there have been any problems their help lines are charged at local rates, unlike most who charge 50p per minutes. I thought this was too good to be true and thought something is bound to go wrong, but I have been surfing now for over two weeks. I get first time connections, no kick offs, speeds are good (although I do have an ISDN connection, PSTN connections may be different). All in all... Read review

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Advantages: A good career move if you like networking.
Disadvantages: Very difficult to do Systems as well as this.

...A little background info first: Cisco sell Routers and Switches among other things. For those that don’t know, Switches are for connecting network devices together and routers are for connecting Networks together. In a very high end representation. CCNA is the first of three qualifications you to becoming CCNIe (Which is the top certificate and there are a very few people in the UK that have them). After looking into how I could get into network design I found that a high percentage of the Internet traffic goes over Cisco products (not to mention the salary you could get for having become Cisco qualified). I was however told that the courses are very difficult and the exams are even more so. This disheartened me and left me wandering if it was worth making the effort. Unlike other exams Cisco exams do not allow you to go back... Read review

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Advantages: Great starting point for advancement, Certification
Disadvantages: credible in industry, geek like...

...The CCNA changed earlier this year. Not a great deal of problems though. A CCNA is the Cisco Certified Network Administrator which indicates that the holder of the certificate has passed a Cisco exam indicating that they can carry out the operation of an administrator in a Network IT function. The actual exam is taken online via either prometric or VUE which costs about £90... The pass mark is a rather high 85 % give or take 1%... As I said the exam changed recently, it used to be 65 questions and was quite straight forward... Nowadays the Exam also consists of a performance related section on a Cisco router/switch whereby the screen represents an actual screen display from a switch and asks you to type commands etc instead of multiple choice type answers. The exam is now 45 questions which are slightly harder and make sure... Read review

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Advantages:
Disadvantages:

...After upgrading to the ISDN communicty not so long ago, and hearing so many wonderful things about Windows 2000 it dawned on me as Network Administrator that an upgrade would be a BENEFICIAL step. This cause of action brought me so many problems you would not believe... At first I had an ISDN card that promised 'Full Compliancy' so naturally I wasn't worried, WRONG !! Win2k couldn't find it present in my machine.. ok Buy a new one (coz it's faulty).. once again WRONG !! Win2k couldn't see it.. even swapping slots with network cards etc didn't help.. So eventually I made a phone call to Microsoft "..the only ISDN service available is via a USB modem.." so that's what I did, bought the modem, installed it (very easily), Win2k picked it up no problems.. and I've never had a problem with it since !! An excellent little device.. I just wish... Read review

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Advantages: reliable, supportable and Cisco behind you
Disadvantages: cost

...and read the books out there can do this.I have encouraged and coached friends and collegues in the use of Cisco kit and I know very little about the indepth technologies. Main Specs Product Description Cisco PIX Firewall 515E - firewall Device Type Firewall Enclosure Type Rack-mountable Dimensions (WxDxH) 42.7 cm x 29.9 cm x 4.4 cm Weight 4.1 kg Processor 1 x Intel Celeron 433 MHz RAM Installed ( Max ) ( 64 MB ) Ports Qty 2 Data Link Protocol Ethernet, Fast Ethernet Network / Transport Protocol TCP / IP Communication Mode Half-duplex, full-duplex Features Full duplex capability, firewall protection, manageable Power 48 V For more information on firewalls and the threats of the internet see: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/firewall.htm... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap
Disadvantages: Slower than ADSL

...ISDN is an old technology now but still worth a look if your very much into online gaming. Although ADSL is much quicker averaging download rates of 50/60Kb/sec for a minimum cost of £40 per month it still isnt cheaper than ISDN and could still be out of a gamers price range as opposed to ISDN. The common idea at the moment is that you can buy ISDN for £40 per month for 15Kb/sec or you can get ADSL at 50/60Kb/sec for the same price but this is not true. ISDN is in the long run is cheaper than ADSL as you can pay a one off charge of £175 and then get the complete package for £27 per month plus £15 for a 24/7 ISP coming to a total of £42. ADSL is £40 plus £10 for phone line = £50 and at the time of writing most ISPs are charging £58 meaning that in total for ADSL you pay £58 + £10 for your phone line equalling nearly £70!! Although... Read review

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Advantages: Very Cheap, with lots of features
Disadvantages: Will help with CCNA, but may stuggle with CCNP

...I bought one of these routers off ebay to help with my upcoming (Cisco) CCNA exam. These are by no means cutting edge routers, and are obsolete now as they only support 10Mbps via their AUI (lan) port and support a limited amount of protocols. The router itself has one AUI port, which when used with a transceiver can connect to either another router or a switch (at 10Mbps); 2 serial ports which can be configured with a routing protocol such as frame relay to connect to another switch or ISP data terminal equipment, a console port to configure the router itself, and an AUX port for modem connection. Though well past it's sell by date, the switch is perfect to get to grips with Ciscos IOS (internetwork Operating System) and set up simple routed networks in conjuction with other routers and switches. One thing to be aware of when buying one... Read review

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