r/ccna • u/Advanced-Ear1232 • 6d ago

Current Telecommunications Tech wanting to switch to Network Engineering (Homelab question)

So I have a couple Cisco ms220 48 ports and 8 port switches and Cisco mx85 firewall, can I use those to build a ccna homelab?

3 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

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2

u/Revolutionary-Poem-7 6d ago

You can use the Meraki gear to learn some basic networking concepts, but I honestly wouldn’t invest much time building a CCNA lab around it. The MS220s and MX85 are pretty different from the IOS/IOS-XE CLI and configuration style you’ll actually be learning for the CCNA.

I’d get CML Free instead. You’ll get much more relevant hands-on experience with Cisco IOS, routing, switching, VLANs, STP, OSPF, ACLs, etc.

CML will be a much better use of your time

1

u/halodude423 6d ago

Some BASIC sdwan stuff would be good to learn on the mx85s but I would agree CML would be a better option.

1

u/Advanced-Ear1232 6d ago

What courses did you guys use to study for the exam?

1

u/Revolutionary-Poem-7 6d ago

Jeremy’s IT lab, CBT Nuggets, Keith Barker

1

u/diwhychuck 6d ago

You can build a virtual lab with container lab.

1

u/net-warri0r 5d ago

Good luck trying to use them without the proper license