Cheap Cisco Router & Switch for Home?

How to Throw 101 · Apr 15, 2013

I'm sure that this question has been asked about a thousand times, but I have not seen a very clear answer...
I was wondering what would be a cheap cisco router and switch for a home environment. I do plan to play games (wired-in and wireless) and I am planning to take the CCNA very soon... so I just want to have something to play around with before then.
I hope that this is detailed enough for some people to help me out!

edogawa · Apr 15, 2013

Would this work for you? It's cheap and should do the trick.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124190

bill001g · Apr 15, 2013

You can no longer pass the CCNA with just a single router to play with. You will likely need 3 or 4 and maybe even 2 switches. None of the commercial equipment really does wireless in the same unit you almost always use separate AP. Wireless is not included in the CCNA other than basic theory stuff. Most people are now using software simulators like gns3 or packettracer to study.

If you want real equipment it does little good to get real old stuff because even the CCNA is testing commands that only run on the newer code. 2811 would be the oldest I would go for but you will still pay a few hundred just for the basic router and you will likely need some serial interface cards.

dbhosttexas · Apr 15, 2013

Dumb question for you Cisco guys. I started prep for the CCNA back in '02 or '03 and went instead the RHCE route, so forgive me if I haven't kept up with Cisco... But they used to have software that basically "Virtualized" a network with their routers / switches etc... don't they still offer simulation software to allow you to prep for the test? I know Cisco put their name on Linksys stuff, but the firmware / management of that stuff is FAR from real Cisco...

bill001g · Apr 15, 2013

GNS3 loads actual IOS images in virtual machines so most commands not deep in the hardware are exactly the same. We have used it to simulate actual networks. Problem for some people is getting the IOS images. A guy I work with is using it to study for his CCIE lab and says it should be enough...there is something it can't do but I forget. Back when I got my CCIE 10 yrs ago the only option was stacks of expensive routers

hurley081182 · Apr 15, 2013

I do not know what your spending limit is. But if you are planning to take your CCNA course and need gear check out Ebay they have bundles from previous users who passed CCNA and do not want the stuff anymore.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cisco-CCNA-Lab-Kit-3-x-2610-Routers-w-IOS12-4-2-x-2950-CCENT-Lab-Bonus-CD-/281090934492?pt=US_Enterprise_Routers&hash=item41725346dc

Network Octane · Aug 8, 2015

Have anybody tried buying from us. We offer great discounts on Cisco & other products. We might make it easier to setup networks with our special pricing. try us - http://www.networkoctane.com

dragonejt · Nov 19, 2016

@
dbhosttexas

It's called Cisco Packet Tracer

nigelivey · Nov 21, 2016

bill001g :

Worth pointing out that GNS3 struggles to emulate a switched network correctly, great for routing though.

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Cheap Cisco Router & Switch for Home?

How to Throw 101

Honorable

edogawa

Splendid

bill001g

Titan

dbhosttexas

Honorable

bill001g

Titan

hurley081182

Honorable

Network Octane

Reputable

dragonejt

Commendable

nigelivey

Splendid

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