Is the CCNA Still Worth It? Absolutely.

Yes, the CCNA is still worth it, as long as your job touches networks. It costs $300, it’s one exam, and it’s one of the few entry certifications that checks whether you can actually configure and fix something rather than just recognize the right vocabulary. If you’ll never log into a switch, put the money somewhere else.

I passed it on my first try, around 2016, and I crushed it. That was a long time ago and the exam was different then, but the reason it went well hasn’t changed. I’d built so many lab environments by the time I sat it that nothing on the screen felt new.

Why is the CCNA still worth it?

Because it proves a skill almost every IT job leans on, and it proves it in a way that’s hard to fake. The exam includes simulations where you configure or troubleshoot devices, so memorizing a question dump only gets you so far. Hiring managers know that, which is why the CCNA still carries weight a decade after people started calling it outdated.

Networking is also the thing other specialties quietly depend on. A sysadmin who can read a routing table fixes problems faster. A security analyst who understands VLANs and ACLs knows what an alert actually means. A cloud engineer still has subnets, routes and firewalls to deal with; they just live in a console now. The CCNA teaches that layer properly, and it sticks.

Who should skip the CCNA?

Skip it if your path doesn’t run through infrastructure at all. If you’re aiming at help desk and have never worked in IT, start with something broader and come back to the CCNA when routers and switches are part of your week. If you’re headed for governance, audit or project management, it’s an expensive way to learn things you won’t use daily.

It’s also worth being honest about the job market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay for network and computer systems administrators at $99,130 (May 2025), but it projects employment in that group to shrink 4 percent from 2025 to 2035. There are still about 13,400 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or moving on. So the CCNA isn’t a ticket into a booming field. It’s a credential that makes you the stronger candidate in a steady one, and it makes you better at the security and cloud jobs that are growing.

CCNA or Network+: which should you get?

If you’ll work on Cisco gear or want a networking career, the CCNA. Network+ is vendor neutral and broader, and it’s a fine first step, but it doesn’t make you type configurations the way the CCNA does. I’ve written about where Network+ fits, and it’s a real certification that does real work. When I split my time between a school district and consulting, Network+ was one of the two certs the people paying me actually cared about.

A lot of people do both: Network+ to get comfortable, the CCNA to prove they can run the gear. If you’re short on money and already know you want networking, going straight to the CCNA is reasonable. Nothing stops you.

What’s on the CCNA exam right now?

The current exam is 200-301 v1.1, a 120-minute test covering six areas: network fundamentals, network access, IP connectivity, IP services, security fundamentals, and automation and programmability. In plain terms that’s how networks are built, how devices attach to them, routing and IP addressing, services like DHCP, DNS and NAT, the security basics, and enough automation to know what an API call to a controller looks like.

Expect multiple choice, drag and drop, and simulations. One thing catches people every time: Cisco exams don’t let you go back to a question once you’ve answered it. You can’t skip the hard ones and circle back, so practice making a decision and moving on.

What changes with CCNA v2.0 in 2027?

Cisco replaces v1.1 with v2.0 on February 3, 2027, and the exam number stays 200-301. Cisco published the new exam topics on May 20, 2026. The new version puts troubleshooting front and center, spreads security across every area instead of keeping it in its own section, and adds the role of AI in running networks.

If you can be ready before February 3, take v1.1; Cisco itself told current candidates there’s no reason to change gears. If your exam date will land after the cutover, study from the v2.0 topics from day one. Either way the credential is the same CCNA, valid for three years.

Do you need anything before you take the CCNA?

No. Cisco dropped formal prerequisites in February 2020, so anyone can book it. That doesn’t mean you should walk in cold. What gets people through is lab time, real gear or a simulator, until subnetting and basic router and switch configuration feel routine. The simulations are exactly where reading alone stops being enough, and that’s the part I’d tell anyone to over-prepare for, because it’s the part that carried me.

If you don’t pass the first time, Cisco makes you wait five calendar days before you retest, and the second attempt costs another $300. Use the score report as a study plan: find the weak areas, work them in the lab until they’re boring, and book it again.

Is the CCNA worth the $300?

For the right person, easily. It’s cheaper than most security exams, there’s only one test, and the skills keep paying off whether you stay in networking or move to security or cloud. Having been the person in HR screening technician candidates, I can tell you a hiring manager reads a CCNA as “this person has configured real equipment,” which is a claim most entry certs can’t make.

If you’re heading toward security afterward, the networking will make everything else easier, including the analyst work in my post on CySA+. Build the lab first. The certificate follows.

Keep reading: Network+ Is the Middle Child of CompTIA and It’s Doing All the Dishes and CySA+ Is the Most Underrated CompTIA Cert (and the Most Fun to Study)