Need Help With Cisco Networking

[iGuest 3]

Hey Guys, i want to learn cisco networking or probably wireless networking, i don't even know the difference. I've heard about CCNA and CWNA .Please i would like to know all about networking or wireless networking infact to become a Guru, some guys say personal study would be better, i mean reading online.I just completed a course on AUTOCAD. Please i need your advise on which steps to take, good text books, websites for online study, i even heard about the exams and other benefits.I desperatly want to know about it.

[yordan 10]

i want to learn cisco networking or probably wireless networking, i don't even know the difference.

Cisco is the name of a device (namely a manufacturer who sells networking devices like gateways, switches, and other things).Wireless is a way of interconnecting devices : with wires or without wires.
For instance, inside your home, you ask an Internet provider to give you Internet access. You give this provider some money, and he gives you access to the world wide web, also named The Internet. In order to do that, he puts inside your home a physical device, which connects your home to the Internet network, through the telephone cables. This device changes the keystokes you type on your PC to signals that can be understood out of your house through the network device.
The easiest way to connect your PC to this device is through an Ethernet cable. Ethernet is a protocol as well as an electrical cabling standard. This standard is implemented on each Microsoft computer, so it's the easiest way to interconnect your PC with this device, which is named a router.
Putting a cable between your PC and the router is not always easy, especially if they are not in the same room and if your mother does not want you to put a big piece of cable between her office and your room. That's why wireless connections are interesting. This is a way of allowing your computer to communicate with the router, using radio waves. This is frequently named "wireless connection".
So, Cisco is a company, wireless is a way of connecting.
Wireless connection uses communication protocols, maybe you want to learn these protocols ?
Cisco routers are the most expensive routers on the market, that's why big companies trust them so much, probably. Cisco routers use the different communication protocols (Ethernet, TCP/IP, for instance) and have their own programming languages. Maybe you are talking about learning how to program the Cisco switches and routers, in order to configure ports, configure Virtual Private Networks, configure firewalls, and so on ?
You see, this field is very vast, and your words "cisco or wireless" are not sufficient, you should tell us a little bit more what you want exactly, and which price you want to pay for this (four years at school ? some minutes goggling ?)
See you
Yordan
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P.S. You probably noticed that I moved your topic and put it here, where is most probably it's place.

[darasen 0]

Simply put there is no way in hades you are going to be a Cisco "Guru" in anything less than several years. I have three CCNA books from Cisco that weigh in at a thousand plus pages each (Glad a job paid for them) they are to study for the CCNA.

Understand that the CCNA holder is by no means a "guru". The CCNA is "Associate" level (the lowest) of training per Cisco themselves. There are followed by professional and expert levels as well as specialist training.

The absolute lowest certification offered by Cisco is the CCENT. Most likely any good book (such as this from Cisco) on that exam or "Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 " will give you more information then you are likely to ever need or use concerning networking unless you are working as an admin/tech in a large corporate environment. (Obviously you are not based on the question)

Just so you know this lowest level class from Cisco's own web page is described as follows.

Course Content

This course focuses on providing the skills and knowledge necessary to install, operate, and troubleshoot a small branch office Enterprise network, including configuring a switch, a router, and connecting to a WAN and implementing network security. A Student should be able to complete configuration and implementation of a small branch office network under supervision.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

* Describe how networks function, identifying major components, function of network components and the Open System Interconnection (OSI) reference model.
* Using the host-to-host packet delivery process, describe issues related to increasing traffic on an Ethernet LAN and identify switched LAN technology solutions to Ethernet networking issues.
* Describes the reasons for extending the reach of a LAN and the methods that can be used with a focus on RF wireless access.
* Describes the reasons for connecting networks with routers and how routed networks transmit data through networks using TCP / IP.
* Describe the function of Wide Area Networks (WANs), the major devices of WANs, and configure PPP encapsulation, static and dynamic routing, PAT and RIP routing.
* Use the command-line interface to discover neighbors on the network and managing the routerÂżs startup and configuration .


Course Outline


* Module 1 - Building a Simple Network
* Module 2 - Ethernet Local Area Networks
* Module 3 - Wireless Local Area Networks
* Module 4 - Exploring the Functions of Routing
* Module 5 - Wide Area Networks
* Module 6 - Network Environment Management

I had never heard of CWNA until your post. I looked it up and it seems completely pointless, particularly given the the Cisco training covers wired and non wired.