One of the\u00a0most asked questions which comes up in the xISP world is “How do I learn this stuff?”. \u00a0 Depending on who you ask this could be a lengthy answer or a simple one sentence answer. \u00a0Before we answer the question, let’s dive into why the answer is complicated.<\/p>\n
In many enterprise environments, there is usually pretty standard deployment of networking hardware. \u00a0Typically this is from a certain vendor. \u00a0There are many factors involved. in why this is. \u00a0The first is total Cost of Ownership (TCO). \u00a0It almost always costs less to support one product than to support multiples. \u00a0Things like staff training\u00a0are usually a big factor. \u00a0If you are running Cisco it’s cheaper to train and keep updated on just Cisco rather than Cisco and another vendor.<\/p>\n
Another factor involved is economies of scale. \u00a0Buying all your gear from a certain vendor allows you to leverage buying power. Quantity discounts in other words. \u00a0You can commit to buying product over time or all at once.<\/p>\n
So, to answer this question in simple terms. \u00a0If your\u00a0network runs Mikrotik, go to a Mikrotik training course. \u00a0If you run Ubiquiti go to a Ubiquiti training class.<\/p>\n
Now that the simple question has been answered, let’s move on to the complicated, and typically the real world answer and scenario. \u00a0Many of our xISP clients have gear from several vendors deployed. \u00a0They may have several different kinds of Wireless systems, a switch solution, a router solution, and different pieces in-between. \u00a0So where does a person start?<\/p>\n
We recommend the following path. You can tweak this a little based on your learning style, skill level, and the gear you want to learn.<\/p>\n
1.Start with the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification in Routing and Switching<\/a> (R&S). \u00a0There are a ton of ways to study for this certification. \u00a0 There are Bootcamps (not a huge fan of these for learning), iPhone and Android Apps (again these are more focused on getting the cert), online, books, and even youtube videos<\/a>. Through the process of studying for this certification, you will learn many things which will carry over to any vendor. \u00a0Things like subnetting, differences between broadcast and collision domains, and even some IPV6 in the newest tracks. \u00a0During the course of studying you will learn, and then reinforce that through practice tests and such. \u00a0Don’t necessarily focus on the goal of passing the test, focus on the content of the material. \u00a0I used to work with a guy who went into every test with the goal of passing at 100%. \u00a0This meant he had to know the material. CompTIA is a side path to the Cisco CCNA. \u00a0For reasons explained later,\u00a0COMPTIA Network+<\/a> doesn’t necessarily work into my plan, especially when it comes to #3. I would recommend COMPTIA if you have never taken a certification test before.<\/p>\n 2.Once you have the CCNA under your belt, take a course in a vendor you will be working the most with. \u00a0At the end of this article, I am going to add links to some of the popular vendor certifications and then 3rd party folks who teach classes. One of the advantages of a 3rd party teacher is they are able to apply this to your real world needs. If you are running Mikrotik, take a class in that. Let the certification be a by-product of that class.<\/p>\n 3.Once you have completed #1 and #2 under your belt go back to Cisco for their Cisco Certifed Design Associate (CCDA)<\/a>. This is a very crucial step those on a learning path overlook. \u00a0Think of your networking knowledge as your end goal is to be able to build a house. \u00a0Steps one and two have given you general knowledge, you can now use tools, do some basic configuration. \u00a0But you can’t build a house without knowing what is involved in designing foundations, \u00a0what materials you need to use, how to compact the soil, etc. \u00a0Network design is no different. These are not things you can read in a manual on how to use the tool. \u00a0They also are not tool specific. \u00a0 Some of the things in the Cisco CCDA will be specific to Cisco, but overall it is a general learning track. \u00a0Just follow my philosophy in relationship to #1. Focus on the material.<\/p>\n Once you have all of this under your belt look into pulling in pieces of other knowledge. Understanding what is going on is a key to your success. \u00a0If you understand what goes on with an IP packet, learning tools like Wireshark<\/a> will be easier. \u00a0As you progress let things grow organically from this point. \u00a0Adding equipment in from a Vendor? Update your knowledge or press the new vendor for training options. \u00a0Branch out into some other areas ,such as security, to add to your overall understanding.<\/p>\n Never stop learning! Visit our online store<\/a> for links to recommend books and products.<\/p>\n WISP Based Traning Folks.<\/strong> Vendor Certification Pages<\/strong> If you provide training let me know and I will add you to this list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the\u00a0most asked questions which comes up in the xISP world is “How do I learn this stuff?”. \u00a0 Depending on who you ask this could be a lengthy answer or a simple one sentence answer. \u00a0Before we answer the question, let’s dive into why the answer is complicated. 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Having said this, we now have a reseller relationship with flexoptic.net.\u00a0 They have optics you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "xISP"","block_context":{"text":"xISP","link":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/xisp\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2407,"url":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/from-the-archives-wispamerica-2013-presentation\/","url_meta":{"origin":1450,"position":2},"title":"From The Archives – WISPAMERICA 2013 Presentation","author":"j2sw","date":"August 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a presentation I did in 2013 about layers and how to apply them to your network.\u00a0 Much of this still applies today. 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\nThese companies and individuals provide WISP based training. Some of it is vendor focused. Some are not. \u00a0My advice is to ask questions. See if they are a fit for what your goals are.
\n-Connectivity Engineer<\/a>
\n–Butch Evans
\n–<\/a>Dennis Burgess<\/a>
\n–Rickey Frey<\/a>
\n–Steve Discher
\n–<\/a>Baltic Networks
\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n–Ubiquiti<\/a>
\n–Mikrotik<\/a>
\n–Cisco<\/a>
\n–Juniper
\n<\/a>–CWNA
\n<\/a>–CompTIA<\/a><\/p>\n