CCNP Enterprise Training Online.
Four months, $1,299. ENCOR 350-401 and ENARSI 300-410 — the two exams CCNP Enterprise requires — plus Cisco SD-WAN on a real Viptela cluster and a Python/Ansible automation module. Labs run on real Catalyst 9300/9500, ISR 4451 and ASR 1001-X hardware over VPN. Cisco's exam fees ($400 ENCOR + $300 ENARSI) are paid to Cisco separately.
Do I need CCNA before CCNP Enterprise?
Cisco removed CCNA as a formal prerequisite, so technically no. Practically, you need CCNA-level fundamentals or you will drown in week two of ENCOR — multi-area OSPF makes no sense if single-area OSPF is still shaky.
This program opens with a four-week CCNA-level module run at CCNP pace. It exists for people arriving without the certification or with rusty fundamentals. If you hold a current CCNA and use it daily, treat that module as revision and move fast through it.
What the four months cover
- OSI/TCP-IP stack fluency — bit-level packet flow
- IPv4 subnetting + VLSM (whiteboard practice from day 1)
- Cisco IOS CLI mastery — 80+ command patterns
- VLAN, trunking (802.1Q), VTP, voice VLAN
- STP, RSTP, root election, port-security, DHCP snooping
- Single-area OSPF, EIGRP basics, static routing
- ACLs (standard + extended), NAT, DHCP, DNS
- IPv6 addressing + neighbour discovery
Configure VLAN trunking between two Catalyst 9300 switches, break the trunk deliberately, troubleshoot it, then add inter-VLAN routing on a Layer 3 switch.
- Multi-area OSPF — LSA types, virtual links, summarisation
- BGP — eBGP, iBGP, route reflectors, path selection
- EIGRP — DUAL, named mode, stub routing, summary
- Layer 2 advanced — MST, EtherChannel L2/L3, REP
- QoS — classification, marking, queuing, policing/shaping
- Wireless — 802.11ac/ax, controllers, FlexConnect
- Security — AAA, IPsec VPN, ZTNA, infrastructure ACLs
- Network programmability — NETCONF, RESTCONF, gNMI primer
Build a 10-router enterprise topology: 3-area OSPF plus an iBGP backbone plus 2-AS eBGP edge with route reflectors. Then deliberately break it and troubleshoot under time pressure — the format ENCOR uses for its free-response simulations.
- Advanced OSPF — type-7 NSSA, route filtering, summary
- Advanced BGP — communities, attributes, prefix-lists
- Route maps + redistribution — the loop-free way
- Policy-based routing (PBR) production scenarios
- MPLS basics + L3VPN concepts (RD, RT, VRF-lite)
- VPN — DMVPN, GETVPN, FlexVPN, IKEv2
- IPv6 first hop security, RA guard, DHCPv6
- Troubleshooting methodology — layered approach
Redistribute between OSPF, EIGRP and BGP across a 6-router topology without creating routing loops, verify with show commands, and document the route-map logic properly.
- SD-WAN architecture — control, data and management planes
- vManage installation, vSmart, vBond, vEdge onboarding
- Templates — feature, device, CLI templates
- OMP (Overlay Management Protocol) — routing logic
- Application-aware routing (AAR), SLA classes
- Security overlays — IPsec, ZBFW, application visibility
- Cloud onRamp for SaaS + IaaS integration
- Migration strategies — MPLS to SD-WAN co-existence
Deploy a complete SD-WAN overlay — 1 vManage, 2 vSmart controllers, 2 vBond orchestrators and 4 vEdge routers — then configure templates, application-aware routing for Office 365 traffic, and a security policy.
- Python for network engineers — paramiko, netmiko, NAPALM
- Ansible — inventory, playbooks, roles, network modules
- Cisco DevNet — APIs, model-driven programmability
- gNMI streaming telemetry — modern monitoring
- Build a 50-router config audit script (your portfolio piece)
- Build an Ansible playbook for VLAN-as-code
- LLM-assisted network operations — runbook automation
- AI-augmented alert triage
Write a Python script that uses NAPALM to configure 20 routers in parallel, an Ansible playbook that version-controls device configs, and an LLM-powered bot that triages alerts and suggests remediation.
Which exams do you actually have to pass?
Two. ENCOR 350-401 is the core exam, shared across every CCNP Enterprise track. Its blueprint spans six domains — architecture, virtualisation, infrastructure (advanced routing, switching and wireless), network assurance, security, and automation.
Then one concentration exam. This program takes ENARSI 300-410, Advanced Routing and Services, which is the most commonly chosen and the most directly useful for enterprise work.
Worth knowing: passing ENCOR alone earns the Cisco Certified Specialist – Enterprise Core certification. So if life intervenes after the first exam, you still hold something.
What hardware do the labs run on?
| Category | Equipment |
|---|---|
| Switching | Catalyst 9300 · Catalyst 9500 · Catalyst 3850 |
| Routing | ISR 4451 · ASR 1001-X · Cisco 8000-series |
| SD-WAN | Viptela vEdge · vManage · vSmart · vBond cluster |
| Security | ASA 5500-X · Firepower 4100 · Palo Alto PA-Series |
| Wireless | Cisco 9800 WLC · 9120 / 9130 access points |
| Automation | Python · Ansible · gNMI · NETCONF · RESTCONF |
The SD-WAN row is the one worth pausing on. That is a real Viptela cluster — vManage, vSmart, vBond and vEdge — not a diagram. Most providers teach SD-WAN from slides because standing up a working overlay is expensive.
No Packet Tracer. No GNS3. No EVE-NG for graded work. Rack time is calendar-blocked per student, and equipment generations are refreshed within roughly six months of Cisco's general-availability dates.
Who teaches it?
Networkers Home was founded in 2007 by Vikas Swami, Dual CCIE #22239 — Routing & Switching (October 2008) and Security (January 2009), cleared within 90 days of each other — and a Cisco TAC VPN engineer in 2004. The CCIE number is verifiable on Cisco's public database.
How much does CCNP Enterprise cost in total?
- 4-month live cohort, US-East or US-West
- 24×7 real-hardware lab access
- Viptela SD-WAN cluster time
- All session recordings
- ENCOR 350-401 — $400
- ENARSI 300-410 — $300
- Retakes charged at the same rate
Roughly $2,000 all in for training plus both exams on first attempt. For comparison, instructor-led CCNP training in the US market generally runs $2,500 to $5,000 before exam fees, and Cisco Learning Partner classes run higher again.
What do CCNP-level roles pay in the US?
| Role | Experience | US range |
|---|---|---|
| Network Engineer (CCNP-certified) | 2–4 yrs | $95,000–130,000 |
| Senior Network Engineer | 4–7 yrs | $120,000–160,000 |
| Network Architect | 7+ yrs | $150,000–200,000 |
| NetDevOps Engineer (CCNP + Python) | 3–6 yrs | $130,000–180,000 |
How to read this table: US labour-market reference ranges from public US job postings — not Networkers Home placement outcomes. This is a certification course, not a placement programme, and the institute does not run a US hiring pipeline.
How do US students attend?
About 8 hours of live class time a week.
Identical syllabus, trainers and rack access.
Budget 14–18 hours a week total: roughly 8 hours of class plus 6–10 hours of lab and reading. Sessions are recorded and posted within about 30 minutes. Rack access is 24×7 either way, at 180–240 ms US latency.
When this is the wrong course for you
- You have never configured a router or switch. Start at CCNA — the four-week opener assumes you can absorb fundamentals at pace, not learn them from zero.
- You can only give it 5 hours a week. The realistic commitment is 14–18, and people below that do not finish.
- You want purely self-paced material. CBT Nuggets and INE do that well; this is a fixed-schedule cohort.
- You need US placement support. This is a certification course.
CCNP Enterprise training online — frequently asked
How much does CCNP Enterprise training cost?
The Networkers Home program is $1,299 USD, one time, for four months of live instruction plus 24×7 lab access. Cisco's exam fees are separate and paid directly to Cisco: ENCOR 350-401 is $400 and ENARSI 300-410 is $300, so $700 for the two exams you need. Across the US market, comparable instructor-led CCNP training runs $2,500 to $5,000, official Cisco Learning Partner classes run higher, and self-paced video subscriptions like CBT Nuggets or INE run $60 to $200 a month. Budget roughly $2,000 total here for training plus both exams on first attempt.
Do I need CCNA before CCNP Enterprise?
Cisco removed CCNA as a formal prerequisite, so technically no. Practically, you need CCNA-level fundamentals or you will drown in week two of ENCOR — multi-area OSPF does not make sense if single-area OSPF is still shaky. This program handles that by opening with a four-week CCNA-level module run at CCNP pace, which is there for people coming in without the certification or with rusty fundamentals. If you already hold a current CCNA and use it daily, that module is revision and you can treat it lightly.
How long does CCNP Enterprise take?
Four months of instruction here, then most people need another six to ten weeks of self-paced preparation before sitting both exams. Realistically that is six months from starting to holding the certification, assuming you pass each exam on the first or second attempt. The weekly commitment is roughly 14 to 18 hours: about 8 hours of live class time across four sessions, plus 6 to 10 hours of lab work and reading on your own. People who try to do it on 5 hours a week do not finish.
Which exams do I actually have to pass?
Two. ENCOR 350-401 is the core exam, shared across all CCNP Enterprise tracks, and its blueprint covers six domains — architecture, virtualisation, infrastructure (advanced routing, switching and wireless), network assurance, security, and automation. Then one concentration exam, and this program takes ENARSI 300-410, Advanced Routing and Services, which is the most commonly chosen. ENCOR alone also earns you the Cisco Certified Specialist – Enterprise Core certification, so passing it is worth something even if you stop there.
What hardware do the labs actually run on?
Real Cisco equipment racked in Bangalore, reachable 24×7 over VPN. Switching runs on Catalyst 9300, 9500 and 3850. Routing on ISR 4451, ASR 1001-X and Cisco 8000-series. SD-WAN work runs on an actual Viptela cluster — vManage, vSmart, vBond and vEdge — which is unusual, because most training providers teach SD-WAN from slides. Security modules use ASA 5500-X and Firepower 4100 alongside Palo Alto PA-Series. Wireless uses the Cisco 9800 WLC with 9120 and 9130 access points. No Packet Tracer, no GNS3, no EVE-NG for graded work.
What time do the live classes run for US students?
US-East weeknights run Tuesday and Thursday, 7:00–9:30 PM ET. US-West weekends run Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 AM–2:00 PM PT. Both cover the identical syllabus with the same trainers, and sessions are recorded and posted within about 30 minutes. Lab access via vpn.networkershome.com is 24×7 regardless of track. US-region latency to the Bangalore racks runs roughly 180–240 ms, which is imperceptible for CLI configuration work.