Will layer 3 switches allow you to use routers?

kriscamaro68

Question for you Cisco people. I want to wire my house with rj45 jacks in each room. I have a time capsule and a dlink dgl-4500 router. If I get a layer 3 switch like a 3550 or 3560 can I then configure it so that I can plug both the time capsule and dlink in and use them as my switches and WAP's for the house? This will allow me to run 2 different wireless networks. Hopefully that makes sense. Or was was also thinking of getting a ASA5505 instead of a layer 3 switch. Any ideas?

e24ohm

A layer 3 switch will allow for routing between subnets, since routing takes place at layer 3 of the OSI model. What i am not sure of, is if you use the standard routing commands on a Layer3 switch. I guess you would build static routers, and you would have to decide on which link would be your default route. I am only guessing on this matter, so I hope i have helped somewhat.

thank you.
E

ColbyG

Why do you want an L3 switch for this? Will the wireless networks be on different subnets?

Either way, yes, it should work fine. Though, you could do it all with an L2 switch if everything was on the same subnet.

Stotic

If you bought a 3750 you might as well just turn that into your router and just hang connections off of that (as long as you enable routing on it). The more affordable option would be to buy just a layer 2 switch and connect that back to your router and use what we call 'Router on a stick.'

kriscamaro68

My whole logic behind it is this. I want to have one rj45 jack for each room. 4 total jacks in the house. I want to be able to plug my dlink in my office and be able to plug my desktop in to the dlink router and also use it for the wireless because it supports wireless n at 5ghz for my laptop. I also want to be able to take the time capsule and plug it in in my g/f office and setup it up so that she can plug in her desktop to the capsule and then use her laptop with the wireless 2.4 ghz from the capsule. So the cable modem would be going directly to the switch I want to be able to disperse the connection from there to the other rooms. I wasnt sure if I would need a layer 3 switch for that or not. I want the computers to all be able to connect to one another ie her desktop to my desktop and vice versa and they will all be on the same subnet. hopefully that clarifies things or it made it worse.

kalebksp

If you want the switch to act as your router to the ISP you will need a L3 switch. Personally I think there are easier and cheaper ways to do this, like get a L2 switch and another cheap SOHO router for the internet connection.

kriscamaro68

Well I am doing it just to play with cisco equipment and also run everything the way I want to. This just seemed like a fun thing to try.

kalebksp

That's always an option, but using a piece of your home network for practice can get annoying when changes are made and the network goes down. Also, it doesn't look like switches support NAT, so that would likely be an issue.

ColbyG

Just grab a 2950, that will do what you want and give you some Cisco practice (without spending $300+).

kriscamaro68

Thanks for the reply guys. I will be doing this in a few months here once I have some more time. Thanks again.

tech-airman

kriscamaro68 wrote: »

Question for you Cisco people. I want to wire my house with rj45 jacks in each room. I have a time capsule and a dlink dgl-4500 router. If I get a layer 3 switch like a 3550 or 3560 can I then configure it so that I can plug both the time capsule and dlink in and use them as my switches and WAP's for the house? This will allow me to run 2 different wireless networks. Hopefully that makes sense. Or was was also thinking of getting a ASA5505 instead of a layer 3 switch. Any ideas?

kriscamaro68,

What is a "time capsule?"

Netwurk

tech-airman wrote: »

kriscamaro68,

What is a "time capsule?"

It's what he'll use whenever he buys non-Cisco equipment for a Cisco lab. That way he can go back in time and get the good stuff.

kriscamaro68

Netwurk wrote: »

It's what he'll use whenever he buys non-Cisco equipment for a Cisco lab. That way he can go back in time and get the good stuff.

It also is a apple wireless router with a hd inside. basically nas with wirelss router.

Netwurk

Netwurk wrote: »

It's what he'll use whenever he buys non-Cisco equipment for a Cisco lab. That way he can go back in time and get the good stuff.

kriscamaro68 wrote: »

It also is a apple wireless router with a hd inside. basically nas with wirelss router.

I guess it depends on your goals bud - are you building a Cisco lab or just getting enough gear to pass your CCENT?

When I started my Cisco lab I had to get things to work with my Linksys wireless, my Netgear switch, my old CatOS switch, and my DSL modem. It took a decent amount of time and research, as well as a little help from the forums.

Over the years I've upgraded to an all Cisco lab wherever possible, but it is important to know how to get your other equipment to play nice with the Cisco stuff.

Hang in there, you'll figure it all out.