CCNA or Cisco Certified Network Associate is the entry-level IT professional training program, and you have probably heard many people say that CCNA is the “best” way to learn about networking. Well, it’s true but the best way depends on your needs and goals. What are the benefits of CCNA training? How much time and money are you willing to invest in obtaining a CCNA certification? These are all great questions and I will answer them one by one in this article.

The biggest benefit of CCNA training is that it is the least expensive. A lot of the CCNA review material is free. You can download entire guides, eBooks, audio and video tutorials, and many more online. All you need to pay for is your computer and an hour or so of your time per day to review these materials.

When choosing what resources to use to get a CCNA, you want to consider cost. If you already have a PC and some LAN cable then you have all the equipment you need. If not then you will need a router, PC, and IP address. The Cisco Institute has a number of websites where you can review and learn new techniques with CCNA exam training. My favorite website is The CCNA Review Site because it offers detailed information about every topic in CCNA Lab Exam 2.0 and also gives detailed explanations of the theory behind each exam question.

Time is very important when you are studying for CCNA Exam. With a lot of free review material available, why not review it on your own time? Spend a few hours each day reviewing the material. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy like you reading off your index card or doing rote memorization but at least spend a couple of hours every day studying for CCNA Exam.

I started studying for CCNA Exam two years ago. I had a fairly decent set of hardware and a broadband connection to my home. I figured that I could get through all of the review material easily. I did not take the time to really study my stuff thoroughly. I just skimmed through it.

This did not work out to well. I was not able to pass the CCNA Exam by myself. I needed help. Luckily there are some great Cisco training resources online. I was able to find several great courses that covered all of the material in the CCNA Exam.

It saved me a lot of money in the process and it made it a lot easier for me to study. The materials are laid out step-by-step so there is no guessing involved. You just read them and repeat. Most review material is put together by experienced Cisco experts. The reason they are so good is because they took the time to get the most out of the material.

One of the great things about the Cisco CCNA review material is that you can access it completely for free. There are tutorials on the CCNA website that explain each topic in detail. They also have forums where people post questions. You can find these forums quite easily too.

The best part about these tutorials is that they are usually short. That means you can review quickly and get back to work. No wasted time trying to cram everything into 5 minutes. Sometimes it takes hours to prepare for a test, especially if you are not familiar with the subject matter. Some people try to cram as much as they can in the least amount of time possible, but this is not a smart way to approach studying. You will waste more time than you will be able to learn.

By reviewing from beginning to end you save hours of time. Not only that, but you save money too. If you are using the expensive materials you can buy, those are not going to be worth that much money. Even the least expensive ones can give you similar results.

When I first started learning CNA I used the free tutorials. Then, after I got the CCNA I started looking for some official material. I found the official site, followed all the directions and studied hard, but it still took me several years to become an excellent CNA.