Network Training

Well the basic one would be a Network+. But that certification by and in of itself would not prove you capable of managing a network.

My advanced answer would be that you should hold the following to be the network guru:

A router vendor admin cert (CCNA, JNTCP, etc).

An OS cert (MCSA, Novell CNA, Linux Cert (Mandrake or RedHat or whatever one of the Linux gurus here advises).

A security Cert (CISSP, SCP, etc.)

Then you would be able to handle most of the normal LAN/WAN issues that might arise.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with experience and multiple vendor and industry certifications.

I'd have to agree that Network+ and Possibly Security+ are good places to start, but they are very basic and won't qualify you for a Network Admin role. They're great if you're looking for an entry level IT job like a Help Desk Consultant though, which is how many of us got our start in the IT field and can provide valuable experience that will later lead to a more high-level position. The higher level Networking Certs tend to be vendor specific, since it is haqrd to really get into the advanced nuts and bolts of networking without being vendor specific so at that point it's really just deciding where you want to specialize. There are a multitude of areas to focus on, everything from routing/switching to network OS's, security, database administration etc etc. Also I'd reccomend learning a programming language or two since being able to script can be extremly useful to a network admin.

Hope this helps