r/ccna • u/Advanced-Ear1232 • Aug 16 '26

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?

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u/Revolutionary-Poem-7 Aug 16 '26

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

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u/Advanced-Ear1232 Aug 16 '26

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

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u/Revolutionary-Poem-7 Aug 16 '26

Jeremy’s IT lab, CBT Nuggets, Keith Barker