Hi Guys
I typed this post in English because my Sinhalese typing is terrible
I have been reading all of the comments on this thread and thought I'd add my 2 cents to it and hopefully clear up some confusion.
I don't know about any of the institutes mentioned in here so I wont comment on them.
If you only want to do CCNA you can use packet tracer for your studies that is all you need! better yet you can use GNS3. you can find more information on GNS3 here gns3 [dot]net they do have few videos that will help you get started on GNS3 it's a brilliant software!
If you plan to do CCNP you will need to get your hands dirty with some real gear. This is not to say you can't use packet tracer. You can still use it to cover about 70% of the material but this would NOT be enough for you to pass!
namely you will be not be able to practice these topics.
HSRP, VRRP, GLBP,Private VLN's, CEF and STP tools like BPDU filtering etc...
Disadvantages of each of these software
-Packet tracer -
This is a simulator and is not running the actual IOS so functionality is limited and has some quirky behavior! but for CCNA topics you wont go deep enough to notice this! so PT is fine here.
-GNS3 -
This is a emulator software it emulates the actual CISCO gear and lets you run the IOS software natively on your system! which is great but it eats up shit loads of your system memory. You will need 4GB+ memory to run a decent amount of routers. works best if you use the Linux version of GNS3 instead of windows version for obvious reasons!
If you use GNS3 i would advice you to keep away form 2600xm routers as they tend to eat up a lot more memory and crash often.
-Cisco IOU-
This is a software developed for CISCO employees for their internal use! mostly for proof of concept etc... However it was released on to the internet and people say it's really good. GOOGLE is your friend here!
I did self-study for my CCNA and CCNP exams and doing self-study for CCIE as well now.
It really depends on your comfort level and the commitment your willing to make for your studies. however seeing as some of you may not be comfortable with technical material being explained in English I can understand the barriers and dilemma you might be facing! God knows happened to me when I first started!
If you want to do your CCNA by self-study there is free video course offered by
ine [dot] com. just register for a free account and you will be able to stream their free CCNA course. This is a excellent course and it's free!
If you wish to do CCNP you can get any number of self-study material! If you have reached this stage I assume you know how to do a google search and find them.
Finally for anyone who is doing self-study and having trouble understanding anyone of the topics send me a PM and i will give my skype ID. We can have a chat and ill explain the topic to you in Sinhalese and help clear up any confusions that you might have!
Please understand I don't have time to teach you everything. Only message me if after you do a google search and if you still can't find the answers or having a hard time understanding it.
good luck to you all!
Budu sarani