A+ Certification

[EvillE423]

I know this area of Nico doesn't get much traffic, but I'm bored and this is the appropriate place for it. Who all is A+ certified? I'm currently working on my IC3, then A+, then Network+, then who knows what else. Also, what all can I expect on the A+ test? Is it fairly easy?

[Meatro20]

There's lots of sites that will tell you what's on the A+ exam.

Yes, it's easy.

[albert_ey]

Dude! The A+ is Easy! I've taken it a total of 3 times. Once to get certified, and the other 2 times as part of a competition I was in.

I want to take the Network+ too, what materials are you using to study for that?

[Sf2fan]

I am A+ Certified. I bought a studybook and just did some of the practice exams online. No biggie if you have ever put together a system before and done some upgrades.

[EvillE423]

Sweet, everyone has told me that it was a fairly easy test. I haven't started on the Network+ yet. So no study materials. I think it's a book like the A+ is. Could be wrong though.

[dangeris]

Can I ask why are you going for those certs? Are you planning to do PC repairs and such?

[bighercman]

A+ is the easiest cert to get in the IT industry. Im A+, Network+, Server+, CCNA and MCP. Im working on my MCSA right now and after im going to go for either CCNP or CCVP. After im done with the next cisco cert im going to go for whatever the Server 2008 Certs are called now.

As far as the study guides for these, just do a google search on A+ brain dumps. Those are usually the best that you'll find out there. Some are free but others are paid. Good luck!

[dangeris]

A+ is the easiest cert to get in the IT industry. Im A+, Network+, Server+, CCNA and MCP. Im working on my MCSA right now and after im going to go for either CCNP or CCVP. After im done with the next cisco cert im going to go for whatever the Server 2008 Certs are called now.

As far as the study guides for these, just do a google search on A+ brain dumps. Those are usually the best that you'll find out there. Some are free but others are paid. Good luck!

Exactly my point.! Why waste your time with that cert. I also work in the IT industry, specifically DoD. I have my CCNP, CCDP, first part of CCIE and CISSP, and I also have my MCSE and and MCSE+I which I think all Microsoft certs are a joke any way after that little stunt they tried to pull in 2K.

EvillE, if you want to learn something, learning something with a good ROI, learn networking! After being in the industry for over 15 yrs, there's one thing I've learned,...you can run ANY operating systems you want; Unix or variants, Windows, etc , or know how to repair servers / workstations, they all have one thing in common! They all talk TCP/IP! Version 4 or 6 (except for appletalk of course).

If you know how to get them all to talk, physically and logically separate them to protect the information, and to maintain the network so you know the difference between a routed and routing protocol, you'll make a good living doing so.

Go for your Network+ then your CCNA. Get a job in the field and practice what you learned. Then go for the next Cisco cert. But keep this in mind. After you get the certs, don't go bragging that you have them. I love the guys that I train that comes in bragging that they have this cert and that cert. Whatever! certs only tell me that they know how to take an adapative test. As soon as I throw them into a real live situation, I soon find out, they they have no clue where to start to troubleshoot.

Oh and if you're lucky enough to get a job in the DoD industry, learn how to use and configure any of the General Dynamics encryptor products such as KGs (Micro, Mini, Gig-E) That there my friend will boost your income

Good Luck and don't be afraid to ping us for any help or info.

[bighercman]

Exactly my point.! Why waste your time with that cert. I also work in the IT industry, specifically DoD. I have my CCNP, CCDP, first part of CCIE and CISSP, and I also have my MCSE and and MCSE+I which I think all Microsoft certs are a joke any way after that little stunt they tried to pull in 2K.

EvillE, if you want to learn something, learning something with a good ROI, learn networking! After being in the industry for over 15 yrs, there's one thing I've learned,...you can run ANY operating systems you want; Unix or variants, Windows, etc , or know how to repair servers / workstations, they all have one thing in common! They all talk TCP/IP! Version 4 or 6 (except for appletalk of course).

If you know how to get them all to talk, physically and logically separate them to protect the information, and to maintain the network so you know the difference between a routed and routing protocol, you'll make a good living doing so.

Go for your Network+ then your CCNA. Get a job in the field and practice what you learned. Then go for the next Cisco cert. But keep this in mind. After you get the certs, don't go bragging that you have them. I love the guys that I train that comes in bragging that they have this cert and that cert. Whatever! certs only tell me that they know how to take an adapative test. As soon as I throw them into a real live situation, I soon find out, they they have no clue where to start to troubleshoot.

Oh and if you're lucky enough to get a job in the DoD industry, learn how to use and configure any of the General Dynamics encryptor products such as KGs (Micro, Mini, Gig-E) That there my friend will boost your income

Good Luck and don't be afraid to ping us for any help or info.

Your right on the money Dangeris!!! Networking = $$$$$$$. One thing that ive heard that is really exploding right now is VoIP/IP Telephony and video conferencing. If you know how to do that, which is what i want to learn, you can expect a very good living. Remember, the more money you get, the more you can spend on mods for your car!!!!

Oh and as for the "paper" certified people, i find it funny. When i interviewed people for a position at our work i enjoyed throwing real world scenarios at them and watching them flop! .

EvillE, just get your A+ and get your foot in the door somewhere. Get some experience under your belt and see if they will pay for you to get more certs. Some companies will do it and use it as a tax write off. Take as much as you can from the 1st job and when your ready move on up in that company do it or just move on to somewhere else bigger and better.

Oh and one more piece of advice that ill always use and pass on to you, NEVER FIX SOMEONES PC FOR FREE!!!! Charge them just as much as they would at best buy. People would rather have you fix it than them. You put all that time and dedication into learning everything, might as well get a return on it and dont let them take advantage of you. I learned the hard way! Oh and family is excluded from that, never charge family....

[dangeris]

Your right on the money Dangeris!!! Networking = $$$$$$$. One thing that ive heard that is really exploding right now is VoIP/IP Telephony and video conferencing. If you know how to do that, which is what i want to learn, you can expect a very good living. Remember, the more money you get, the more you can spend on mods for your car!!!!

Oh and as for the "paper" certified people, i find it funny. When i interviewed people for a position at our work i enjoyed throwing real world scenarios at them and watching them flop! .

EvillE, just get your A+ and get your foot in the door somewhere. Get some experience under your belt and see if they will pay for you to get more certs. Some companies will do it and use it as a tax write off. Take as much as you can from the 1st job and when your ready move on up in that company do it or just move on to somewhere else bigger and better.

Oh and one more piece of advice that ill always use and pass on to you, NEVER FIX SOMEONES PC FOR FREE!!!! Charge them just as much as they would at best buy. People would rather have you fix it than them. You put all that time and dedication into learning everything, might as well get a return on it and dont let them take advantage of you. I learned the hard way! Oh and family is excluded from that, never charge family....

Right on! H.323 is an up and coming technology but only will work if you kow how to implement and maintain QoS within an environment. My team, where I work, have developed and implemented 4 "long hallways" where video conference and VoIP is the main protocols given priority as to not suffer in phone lag or quality. Subscribing to tech magazines help you determine where the industry is going and help you plan where you should concentrate your area of studies next. Ultimately bighercman is right. It's just a means to make more money to spend on our mods

I've been in the IT industry so long now that I totally forgot you need to get in there first to get your feet wet so again I have to agree with bighercman to get your A+ and get into a company. Once in, dazzle them with what you know.

And bighercman's point of fixing PCs for free....I hate when you build someone a PC and all of a sudden you're their personal tech support. Charge them for your time. You don't have to kill them on your charges. Call up a local PC shop and ask them what they charge for bench time and charge just under that to be competitive.

[bighercman]

Right on! H.323 is an up and coming technology but only will work if you kow how to implement and maintain QoS within an environment. My team, where I work, have developed and implemented 4 "long hallways" where video conference and VoIP is the main protocols given priority as to not suffer in phone lag or quality. Subscribing to tech magazines help you determine where the industry is going and help you plan where you should concentrate your area of studies next. Ultimately bighercman is right. It's just a means to make more money to spend on our mods

I've been in the IT industry so long now that I totally forgot you need to get in there first to get your feet wet so again I have to agree with bighercman to get your A+ and get into a company. Once in, dazzle them with what you know.

And bighercman's point of fixing PCs for free....I hate when you build someone a PC and all of a sudden you're their personal tech support. Charge them for your time. You don't have to kill them on your charges. Call up a local PC shop and ask them what they charge for bench time and charge just under that to be competitive.

Sorry to get off topic right now but what are you guys using for VoIP? Cisco or Avaya? What would you recommend? I want to learn how to set this up by the end of the year to switch the company im working at to IP Phones. We have 3 different model PBX systems that annoy the hell out of me. Comdial (extremely old and outdated. mabye 10 years old), NEC (a few years old), and Nortel/Merridian (older than the NEC phones). I personally would go to Cisco because i have access to a lot of material for it and for support, plus we already have cisco routers all over. It seems that it would be easier to go cisco and do a trade up program for our routers to get them VoIP ready. Also, im assuming that you use PoE for the phones or do you have power injectors/power bricks?

[dangeris]

Most of our campus is on the Rohlm system but we did do VoIP for one project that served up about 200 IP phones. When I set that switch, it was on a Cisco 6509 with a bunch of 48 port PoE blaldes. Then I configured QoS so the VoIP gets priority over the scavenger packets.

Cisco is the better way to go as far as VoIP and a lot easier to configure. PBX..

[EvillE423]

Thanks guys for the info and help! Right now, I'm just trying to get as much education under my belt as possible and go from there. My aunt is a professor at our local university (ETSU - East Tennessee State University) and when I get through school she is going to help me get my foot in the door in the IT dept. I go to a trade school here in town and they offer all of the above I listed plus a network cabling thing I'm supposed to be taking in May and Photoshop. Don't think the Photoshop will help me out any but it would be neat to learn everything. After reading every ones advice on the Network Plus, I'm leaning towards it now. Once again, thanks for your info and help and I'll keep you updated on how things go.