CCENT

nemowolf · April 4th, 2008, 06:55 PM

I had never heard of the Cisco CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician) certification. Anyone out there have it or currently trying for this?

I have almost no networking experience with Cisco products so i think this might be a good thing to check into for me. I am still working on some of my MS Certs, so it wouldnt be for anytime soon, maybe after summer.

Anyways, any info would be appreciated.

**GroundZero3** · April 8th, 2008, 01:40 PM

Its a dumbed down CCNA certification which pretty much means nothing.

I wouldnt wasted my time with it and go for the CCNA.

nemowolf · April 8th, 2008, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GroundZero3

Its a dumbed down CCNA certification which pretty much means nothing.

I wouldnt wasted my time with it and go for the CCNA.

I know nothing though so im working from Zero knowledge base, still not worth it?

paul9 · April 8th, 2008, 09:43 PM

CCNA will cover the CCENT material and more. It is also a well recognised qualification.

**GroundZero3** · April 9th, 2008, 09:40 AM

There are plenty of books out there that explain the CCNA material very well. CBT nuggets i know for a fact does a great job covering the material needed to know to pass the exam with a million examples. (plus the cisco press books for the CCNA are great)

If you are serious about learning about networking, go for your CCNA. Its just a little bit more material than the CCENT. Looking at jobs, i have never seen anyone asking for a CCENT, its at least a CCNA or higher.

Im not trying to down play the CCENT, I just feel if you really want to learn networking do the CCNA.

nemowolf · April 9th, 2008, 02:21 PM

I am mostly looking to round out my educational goals and not focus solely on MS certs. Since my present company uses two models of ciscos for VPN, there really isnt much for me to work on since the configuration is all done by our administrators and we just test its functional prior to deployment to the field.

I would like to learn more about the full range and how to configure/troubleshoot them since i want to eventually open my own business working with them and other firewalls, switches, etc.

I guess your right though, why bother with it when im gonna be overlapping a good portion to move up to CCNA.

famosbrown · April 23rd, 2008, 04:43 PM

The CCENT would be good for you if you want to get your mouth wet with some Basic Cisco networking stuff. I would not study for it specifically, but you can get by passing the first of two exams toward attaining your CCNA certification, unless you opt to take the one CCNA exam that combines both ICND1 and ICND2. I'm not sure if you still get CCENT for passing the one test, but I've been told that you didn't. I will be going through the two exam approach, so I will be picking up the CCENT first. The new CCNA exams are much harder after the new release last November, and the courses have gotten longer due to all of the new material.

To answer your question, yes...I will be trying for it, but only because it is in my CCNA path. The certificate itself may be worthless to employers, but going through with it because you want to learn is a good idea. If you are going through it just to fill a resume or potentially use it to market yourself, then I agree with the other fellow members. It sounds like you are wanting to learn, so go for it. If you find that Cisco isn't for you, you can stop before getting deep into the CCNA realm of networking.

Just my opinion

.

nemowolf · April 23rd, 2008, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by famosbrown

The CCENT would be good for you if you want to get your mouth wet with some Basic Cisco networking stuff. I would not study for it specifically, but you can get by passing the first of two exams toward attaining your CCNA certification, unless you opt to take the one CCNA exam that combines both ICND1 and ICND2. I'm not sure if you still get CCENT for passing the one test, but I've been told that you didn't. I will be going through the two exam approach, so I will be picking up the CCENT first. The new CCNA exams are much harder after the new release last November, and the courses have gotten longer due to all of the new material.

To answer your question, yes...I will be trying for it, but only because it is in my CCNA path. The certificate itself may be worthless to employers, but going through with it because you want to learn is a good idea. If you are going through it just to fill a resume or potentially use it to market yourself, then I agree with the other fellow members. It sounds like you are wanting to learn, so go for it. If you find that Cisco isn't for you, you can stop before getting deep into the CCNA realm of networking.

Just my opinion

.

huh, good point. Kind of like going for MCSA while doing MCSE.

famosbrown · April 24th, 2008, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nemowolf

huh, good point. Kind of like going for MCSA while doing MCSE.

Yep...exactly!

crunchyhippo · June 9th, 2008, 07:40 PM

I agree with some of the others and say don't waste your time with the CCENT. I would say the same thing for the CCNA except that you have to have it to get to the higher level Cisco certifications, so it's necessary. You won't get a job with just a CCNA, and you probably won't find one with just a CCNP/CCSP/CCVP, etc. Virtually all employers require experience - having a cert is kind of like adding salt onto your food - it's not the food itself. Certs five years ago were valuable in and of themselves, but those days died a good death long ago.