CET2615 is the third course in Florida's networking sequence. The Statewide Course Numbering System titles it Advanced Routers and describes it as covering "advanced router configurations; LAN switching; network management; and advanced network design," as the "3rd of 4 part series designed to prepare students for the Cisco Certified Networking Association exam." Its statewide prerequisite is recorded as "router tech" — that is, CET1610.
In practice this is now the capstone of the CCNA curriculum. Cisco consolidated its four academy courses into three, and the third — Enterprise Networking, Security and Automation — is what three of the four Florida colleges offering this number have retitled it to: State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota ("CCNA3 Enterprise Networking, Security, and Automation"), St. Petersburg College ("Enterprise Networking, Security, and Automation") and Hillsborough Community College ("Cisco Enterprise Networking, Security, and Automation"). Tallahassee State College lists it as "Open System III". All four carry it at 3 credits.
The change of name reflects a real change of subject. The older "Advanced Routers" course was about scaling routing protocols; the current one adds network security, wide-area technologies, network management and — the genuinely new material — automation and programmability. A student finishing this course has covered the CCNA examination blueprint and has seen the shift in how networks are operated, from device-by-device configuration toward version-controlled, API-driven management.
requests library, and Postman or an equivalent REST client, for the automation topics. Netmiko and NAPALM appear where a programme goes further than the academy material.The state definition — "Advanced Routers", third of four — describes Cisco's older curriculum. The current course is Enterprise Networking, Security and Automation, and the practical differences are substantial: less time on legacy WAN encapsulation, considerably more on security, network management and automation, which did not appear in the older syllabus at all.
Three of the four colleges have adopted the new title. Tallahassee State College's "Open System III" is a generic sequence name that does not indicate which curriculum version it follows — a student there should check the syllabus, particularly for the automation content, which is the part most likely to be absent from an older course and the part employers increasingly ask about.
Because Cisco's consolidation left Florida with a four-number sequence for a three-course curriculum, CET2620 — nominally the fourth part — now carries genuinely different subjects at different colleges, from network security to the Internet of Things. If you are planning a sequence, confirm what your college teaches under that number rather than assuming it continues this one. This course, not that one, is where the CCNA blueprint is completed.
All four institutions carrying CET2615 list it at 3 credits, as do all six carrying the laboratory form CET2615C.
| Institution | Its title | Credits | Contact hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota | CCNA3 Enterprise Networking, Security, and Automation | 3 | not published |
| St. Petersburg College | Enterprise Networking, Security, and Automation | 3 | not published |
| Tallahassee State College | Open System III (generic title — check the syllabus for the automation content) | 3 | not published |
| Hillsborough Community College | Cisco Enterprise Networking, Security, and Automation | 3 | not published |
All four are Florida College System institutions, so statewide numbering guarantees transfer of this course between them — though, as the note on Tallahassee State above says, equal transfer does not guarantee equal content.
CET2615C is carried at 3 credits by St. Johns River State College, Broward College, Northwest Florida State College, Valencia College, Florida Gateway College and Seminole State College of Florida.
⚠ The 45 contact hours at the top of this guide are derived — no institution publishes an hour figure for this course — and follow Florida's standard allocation for a 3-credit lecture course. The C form typically runs 60 hours for the same 3 credits.
The statewide prerequisite is CET1610, and the assumed knowledge is substantial: fluent subnetting, comfort with VLANs and trunking, and the ability to configure and verify OSPF in a single area without reference. Students who arrive without these spend the term catching up on the previous course while the current one accelerates. It is typically the final required networking course in an A.S., and the point at which students sit the CCNA examination.
Statewide numbering guarantees transfer to any Florida public institution offering the same number. It articulates into a B.A.S. in Information Technology, Network Systems or Cybersecurity as a required or strongly recommended foundation. Into a B.S. in Computer Science it will usually count as elective credit only. As always, the guarantee covers credit, not requirement satisfaction — confirm with the receiving department.
Completing this course with the preceding two covers the CCNA 200-301 blueprint. The examination is a separate cost, is not required to pass the course, and is the single credential that most changes an entry-level graduate's employment prospects in Florida. Networking Academy students are usually eligible for a voucher discount — ask the instructor, because it is often not advertised.
Three credits, typically 45 contact hours, and the most demanding course in the lower-division sequence. Budget eight to twelve hours a week outside class. The automation material is where students with no programming background struggle most; it requires no prior Python, but it does require a willingness to read code carefully, and starting that in week one rather than week ten makes the difference.
This course is unusual in the sequence because automation is part of its syllabus, which makes the question of AI tool use a topic of study rather than only a policy matter.
Where these tools help: explaining an unfamiliar REST API response; drafting and commenting a first-pass Python script against a device API; interpreting long or unfamiliar show output; explaining a security concept in different words; generating practice topologies and design scenarios; and producing documentation drafts, which is genuine professional work that networking graduates are routinely asked to do badly and slowly.
Where they fail: generated configurations mix vendor syntax and software versions; default values are frequently misstated, and a wrong default produces a network that mostly works — the worst kind of fault. In the automation material specifically, models produce scripts that assume an API shape the device does not have, and invent endpoint paths and field names that read exactly like real ones. Security is the most dangerous area: an access control list or a NAT rule that is subtly wrong can silently permit traffic it should deny, and no error message will tell you.
The professional stance this course teaches: a change is verified against the device and against the requirement, not against the explanation that accompanied it. The automation content makes that concrete — an API call returns state you can read back, and a script that does not verify its own result is an incomplete script. That is the habit worth taking to an employer, and it applies to generated code exactly as it applies to your own.
Academic integrity: read the syllabus. Instructors differ on whether AI assistance is permitted for scripting exercises, and a policy that permits it for documentation may prohibit it for graded configuration or code. Practical examinations in this course are typically observed and on live equipment, where work a student cannot explain is visible immediately.
Generated September 12, 2026 · Updated September 12, 2026