Home lab doubts / setup help

nvrl8agn

So I am new to Cisco tech and studying for my CCNA. I bought some stuff off of ebay for a home lab and am now concerned that I may not have gotten all I needed and that I may not be able to set it up and still have my home network run. I bought the following 2 X 2950 switches 1 2611 XM router 1 2621 XM router I did not buy any memory upgrades or module cards at the time because I thought they had more to do with performance as opposed to functionality. As I learn more I think I may need to buy two WIC 1T modules and a DCE/DTE cable in order to connect the two routers to do some trunking. Are there any other things I HAVE to have in order to properly study for my CCNA R/S? All of these devices can be connected using straight and crossover cables correct? Second I am unsure how I should pursue connecting my lab. Currently my home network consists of a cable modem connected to a Linksys EA3500 router that gives me 4 port connections and Wi-Fi. I am unsure where I should insert the CISCO network. Can I just connect one of the XM routers to one of my home router ports and go from there? Or will I have to connect my cable modem to my xm router, connect that to the other router and switches and then plug my home router into one of the switches. Sorry to ask such an entry level question as normally I would be happy to spend hours and days figuring this out but my wife is expecting a baby in three weeks and I am trying to bang this out before he arrives. I have the book learning down and have been playing with router and switch configuration individually but I need it to all come together. Thanks for the insight!

cygnus21

If I were you I wouldn't connect this stuff to my home network, because you will be changing configs a lot and it may cause trouble with your network. There are two options for working with your lab.

If the equipment is close to where you are going to be working then you can user a serial console cable connected to the serial port of your pc and the console port of the Cisco gear. The disadvantage of this is that you will need to move the console cable each time you want to work on a new device. Another way to do this is a 4 port serial card and 4 console cables with one connected to each device.

Another option is to get something like this. Digi CM32 RJ45 Serial Console Terminal Server 32 Ports 50000838 005 | eBay . Each port of the Digi connect via straight through cable to the console port of a Cisco device. all you need to do after that is telnet to the IP address of the Digi and the port that the Cisco device is connected on to start a session. Mine uses 70 + the physical port. for instance you telnet to 192.168.1.15:7001 to access the device on port 1. of course you would use whatever ip address you set in the Digi. I find this very useful since my equipment is in another room and I don't want it interfering with my home network.

Yes you want some wic cards to connect serial to serial for the routers. Then you use the ethernet interfaces to connect to the switches.

nvrl8agn

Thanks alot for the info. I was concerned there would be alot involved and the more I read it does not appear I need to be on the internet in order to do what I want to do for this stuff anyways. My equipment is actually right beside me but I imagine it will get to a point when I will want to go back and forth pretty often and no matter how close it is it will get to be a pain in the butt. Your four port pci card got me searching and I found this Amazon.com: GearMo® 36inch Quad Port FTDI USB to Serial Cable for MA PC Linux with Windows Certified Drivers: Computers & Accessories May not last in the long wrong but I am cheap and not going to need this stuff forever. As for the WIC cards I was leaning towards the WIC-2Ts. Any reason I should get something else instead?

Jon_Cisco

I never connected my CCNA lab to the internet. It seemed cool but I never came across the need.

Don't put a lab router between your wife's computer and the internet. If you add your lab do it as a side network.

CCNA in a couple weeks is ambitious. I spent about a year on it.

Good Luck!

jdballinger

I will echo the sentiments here that connecting your lab to your home network is not the best idea right now. If you were working on say, your CCIE, and were going to have certain routers configured all the time without changes (major changes anyway) then it might make sense to have a bridge out to the real world. In the case of CCNA studies though, I wouldn't bother.

Your lab setup looks pretty good, you can accomplish most of what you need to on 2 routers/switches. If you can you may want to consider picking up an additional switch (2950T switches can be had for less than $20 usually on eBay.) As far as how to set it up to lab? I highly recommend "101 Labs for the CCNA Exam" http://www.amazon.com/101-Labs-Cisco-CCNA-Exam/dp/0955781523/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410098908&sr=1-2 on the Kindle (it's only $10 in ebook format.) If you can work your way through all these labs, you won't have any issues configuring equipment in lab sims.

Your time table is VERY ambitious, but not impossible if you have 4-6 hours per night to study and lab. We're all here if you need more help!

nvrl8agn

Thanks for the recommendation on the labs as that is exactly the type of thing I am looking for. As for the timetable it may sound ambitious but I am more than half way through my CCENT studies at this point and am studying 5-8 hours a day as I recently found myself unemployed. My only other time obligations involve helping my 35 week pregnant wife with my almost 4 year old and things around the house. She wants me to get this as bad as I do. Hoping to take this time to get the cert and be ready for new employment early Oct.

Ryuksapple84

Good Luck, I was in a similar situation. CCENT is pretty easy. ICND2 gets a bit more dry but good stuff. Feel free to reach out if you have questions. Congrats on the new addition to your family.