Salary is usually the first question students ask at our KPHB campus, and it is a fair one. You are about to spend three to four months learning networking, so you want to know what the job on the other side actually pays.
This guide answers that with published salary data instead of wishful thinking. You will see what CCNA-level engineers earn as freshers in India, how pay grows with experience, what Hyderabad pays compared to Bangalore, and what moves you up the band. Every figure is a market estimate with a source and a date, because salary claims without sources are one of the biggest red flags in this industry.
How Much Is the CCNA Salary in India in 2026?
The average CCNA salary in India in 2026 is about ₹5 lakhs per year. Freshers typically start at ₹3–5 LPA, and engineers with 3–6 years of experience earn ₹7–15 LPA, based on PyNet Labs and Glassdoor data from January 2026. These are market estimates, not guarantees. Your skills, employer, and interview decide the final number.
One caution before you compare numbers across websites: some salary aggregators show averages above ₹20 lakhs for "CCNA" because their samples are dominated by senior engineers who happen to hold the certification. Those figures describe 10-year veterans, not people finishing a course this year. The bands in this guide are the realistic ones for freshers and early-career engineers.
Also note that CCNA 200-301 is Cisco's associate-level certification. Cisco is the certification body; training institutes like AimNxt are independent providers that prepare you for the exam. What employers actually pay for is the skill the certification represents, which is why two people with the same certificate can be offered very different packages.
What Is the CCNA Salary for Freshers in India?
A fresher with CCNA-level skills in India typically earns ₹3–5 LPA in the first networking job, which is roughly ₹25,000 to ₹40,000 per month. Common first roles are NOC engineer, network support engineer, and junior network administrator. Freshers who can configure real routers and switches in the practical round usually land at the top of that band.
Where you fall inside ₹3–5 LPA comes down to three things we see in every placement cycle: whether you can actually configure devices under time pressure, whether you understand routing and switching well enough to troubleshoot out loud, and how clearly you communicate in the HR round. Company type matters too. Global capability centres and product companies usually open higher than small system integrators.
If you are still comparing training options before chasing the salary, our guide to the CCNA course in Hyderabad, with duration and syllabus details, covers what a proper program should include.
Night-shift NOC roles often pay extra
Many first jobs for CCNA-level freshers are 24x7 NOC positions. Shift allowances can add ₹2,000–₹5,000 per month on top of base pay, and the troubleshooting exposure you get in a NOC is exactly what mid-level interviews test later.
How Does CCNA Salary Grow With Experience?
CCNA salary in India grows from ₹3–5 LPA as a fresher to ₹7–15 LPA with 3–6 years of hands-on experience, per AmbitionBox and Glassdoor listings from January 2026. Engineers who add CCNP Enterprise, firewall, or wireless skills move up faster than engineers who stay on level-1 support tickets for years.
| Experience Level | Typical Salary Band (India, 2026) | Common Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Fresher (0–1 year) | ₹3 LPA – ₹5 LPA | NOC Engineer, Network Support Engineer |
| 1–3 years | ₹4 LPA – ₹8 LPA | Network Engineer, Network Administrator |
| 3–6 years | ₹7 LPA – ₹15 LPA | Senior Network Engineer, Firewall / Wireless Specialist |
| 7–12 years | ₹15 LPA – ₹35 LPA | Network Architect, Network Consultant |
Market estimates compiled from Glassdoor, AmbitionBox, and Naukri salary listings, January 2026. Not guarantees — actual pay depends on your skills, employer, city, and interview performance.
The jump from the second band to the third is where most careers stall. Level-1 monitoring experience repeated for five years does not read as five years of growth to a recruiter. What moves you is ownership: configuration changes you made, migrations you ran, outages you resolved. That is also why hands-on training matters more than the certificate itself.
Which Indian Cities Pay the Most After CCNA?
Bangalore pays the highest CCNA salaries in India, roughly ₹4–8.2 LPA depending on experience, followed by Gurugram, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. In Hyderabad, freshers typically earn ₹3.5–5.5 LPA and the average network engineer makes about ₹5.5 lakhs per year, according to Glassdoor data for 2026, with a lower cost of living than Bangalore.
| City | Typical CCNA Salary Range (2026) |
|---|---|
| Bangalore | ₹4,00,000 – ₹8,20,000 / year |
| Gurugram | ₹4,00,000 – ₹7,20,000 / year |
| Hyderabad | ₹3,50,000 – ₹6,50,000 / year |
| Mumbai | ₹3,25,000 – ₹6,20,000 / year |
| Delhi | ₹3,80,000 – ₹5,80,000 / year |
| Chennai | ₹3,00,000 – ₹6,00,000 / year |
City estimates compiled from PyNet Labs (January 2026), Networkers Home city comparisons (2026), and Glassdoor Hyderabad network engineer data. Experience-dependent estimates, not guarantees.
Why Hyderabad is a strong place to start a networking career
Hyderabad's networking demand comes from global capability centres in HITEC City and Gachibowli, large IT services campuses, and the data centre projects announced across Telangana. Bangalore's top-end offers run higher, but Hyderabad rent and commute costs are noticeably lower, so a ₹4.5 LPA offer here often leaves more in hand than ₹5.5 LPA there. For students training at our Kukatpally campus, the KPHB metro station also puts most of these hiring hubs within a direct commute.
Which Job Roles Can You Get After CCNA?
CCNA-level skills qualify you for five common roles in India: network engineer, NOC engineer, network administrator, network support engineer, and infrastructure engineer. Hyderabad's global capability centres, IT services companies, and data centres hire for all of them. The AimNxt Networking Ignite Programme (NIP) prepares students for these exact roles, plus wireless and firewall specialist tracks.
Network Engineer
Designs, configures, and maintains routing and switching infrastructure. The core role most CCNA students aim for.
NOC Engineer
Monitors live networks 24x7, handles incidents, and escalates faults. The most common first job for freshers.
Network Administrator
Keeps an organisation's day-to-day network running: user access, VLANs, IP services, and device upkeep.
Network Support Engineer
Troubleshoots connectivity issues for clients and internal teams. Builds the diagnostic habits senior roles need.
Firewall Specialist
Manages Cisco, Palo Alto, and Fortinet firewalls. A security-side track that commands a premium over plain routing roles.
Wireless Specialist
Deploys and tunes enterprise Wi-Fi with wireless LAN controllers and access points across offices and campuses.
For the full step-by-step path into these roles, including what to learn in which order, read our roadmap to becoming a network engineer in India.
What Actually Increases Your Salary After CCNA?
Adding CCNP Enterprise, multi-vendor firewall, and enterprise wireless skills on top of CCNA can raise your salary by 30–50%, based on 2026 comparisons published by Networkers Home and Networkers Champ. Employers pay a premium for engineers who can run mixed Cisco, Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Aruba environments, because most Indian enterprise networks are multi-vendor.
This is exactly how the AimNxt Networking Ignite Programme (NIP) is sequenced. It is one 180-hour path from CCNA fundamentals to the specialist skills that sit in the higher salary bands, taught on physical Cisco routers, switches, firewalls, and wireless LAN controllers rather than simulators alone. The six modules, in order:
Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions (CCNA)
The foundation: network fundamentals, network access, IP connectivity, IP services, security fundamentals, and automation and programmability. This module prepares you for the CCNA 200-301 exam and the fresher band above.
Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (CCNP- 350-401 ENCOR)
Enterprise architecture, virtualization, OSPF and EIGRP routing, network assurance, security, and automation. CCNP ENCOR-level skills are the single biggest driver of the 30–50% premium.
Implementing and Operating of Firewalls (Cisco/Paloalto/Fortigate)
Hands-on configuration of Cisco ASA, Palo Alto PA-series, and FortiGate firewalls: policies, NAT, VPNs, and troubleshooting. Firewall skills open the security-side roles that pay above plain routing work.
Implementing and Operating Enterprise Wireless Technologies (Cisco/ Aruba)
Wireless LAN controller configuration, access point deployment, WLAN security, and troubleshooting across Cisco and Aruba platforms. Wireless specialists are scarce in Hyderabad, which shows up in offers.
Soft skills/Cultural skills sessions
Communication and workplace readiness. The difference between a ₹3.5 LPA and a ₹5 LPA offer is often the HR round, not the technical one.
Mock interview sessions with experts
Practice rounds with industry professionals before real interviews, so the first time you answer a pressure question is not in front of the employer.
The NIP runs 180 hours in total, including lab hours, with one year of LMS access and lab assistance. Full module details are on the CCNA and CCNP networking course page. Cisco is the certification body for the CCNA and CCNP exams; AimNxt is an independent training provider and issues its own certificate of completion.
Want to see the real Cisco lab before you decide?
Book a Free Live Demo Session. Sit with the trainer, touch the actual routers, switches, firewalls, and wireless controllers, and ask about placements directly. No payment required.
Is CCNA Enough to Get a Job in India?
CCNA-level knowledge is enough for entry-level network jobs in India, but the certificate alone rarely gets you hired. Recruiters shortlist on skills they can verify: a practical configuration round, troubleshooting questions, and clear interview answers. Training on real Cisco routers, switches, firewalls, and wireless LAN controllers is what separates shortlisted candidates from rejected ones.
We tell students this plainly because the alternative wastes their time. Watching videos and clearing a multiple-choice exam produces a certificate. It does not produce the muscle memory of bringing up an OSPF neighbour relationship or tracing why a VLAN is not passing traffic, and those are the tasks interviewers put in front of you.
What employers actually test in fresher interviews
An honest note on placement promises
No institute can guarantee you a job or a salary, whatever the advertisement says. AimNxt's Job Interview Guarantee program guarantees interview opportunities through a network of 110+ hiring partners until you are placement-ready. The offer itself depends on your performance, and we think you deserve to hear that stated clearly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Earn a Network Engineer's Salary?
Train on physical Cisco routers, switches, firewalls, and wireless controllers at KPHB, Kukatpally — with mock interviews and the Job Interview Guarantee program backing your search.
Networking Ignite Programme (NIP) at AimNxt
CCNA + CCNP ENCOR + Firewalls + Wireless · 180 hours · real Cisco labs
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