Aubrey; I was paraphrasing some of the disparaging comments one would expect when treating Packet Tracer as a serious learning tool compared to the other options available (such as labbing with real gear or using GNS3). That said, I got my start with Packet Tracer and from chatting with some Global Knowledge instructors they are of the opinion that you could even pass ROUTE with little more than a few textbooks and Packet Tracer.

If you're anything like me and love attention to detail you won't be disappointed. Be prepared to camp on VTP and STP chapters for a couple days if not longer!

I too completed the Cisco Networking Academy for my CCNA at a local community college. I thought the course and experience was worth every penny. Other than the in-class discussion I really liked the animations included in the online course. I thought these were very helpful in showing just how the packet would traverse the network and made it easy to understand. I would even pay just to have the online course material for the CCNP with no class time.

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“Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal, a commitment to excellence, that will enable you to attain the success you seek.” – Anonymous

im trying not to race with myself to finnish this. i tend to get a bit quick and miss stuff when i see the finnish line so im making a real effort it these studies to take it all in, make revision notes etc and test alot.

ive just finnished section 2 and now moving onto VLANs. im assuming and hoping that like the previous routing section that switch configuration and the understanding of processes becomes alot more 'second nature like' as the unit goes on and the more i practice. i seem to remeber at the start of the routing unit that there was alot to get my head around but now i see it quite clearly. im still yet 100% decided on whether to go CCENT or just wait for the full exam. i think il make my decision after this switch section.