2501 or 2514 ?

Hi,

I want to buy a Cisco 2500 router, I am confused between the 2501 and the 2514.

I am planing to buy one router onle (shipping is so expensive), so I thought that the 2514 has 2 AUI ports, so I can connect 2 PCs to the router and have 2 different networks (each PC a different network) and try to send packets from a PC to another.

On the other hand, the 2501 has only 1 AUI port, which means 1 port only ! So does this mean that I can connect 1 network to the 2501 only ??? if so, what's the benefit of such thing (routers are here to connect different networks together !)

All I want to implement is 1 router with 2 networks attached to it in order to check the routing table (send packet from 1 PC to another at a different network). What I think is that the 2501 will always forward the packet to the only AUI port, unlike the 2514.

excuse me, but I am new to router stuff.. dunno if what I just said is right or no..can you help please.

Thanks

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Comments

wildfire

Think you are a little confused about how the router works,

Routers are used to connect networks toghether but with other routers, so you would need 2x 2501 connected via the serial port (theres two of them on a 2501)

The normal scenario would be you are a company and you have a series of PCs you want to connect to the internet or a company wan. All the pcs are put onto a switch, this swith then connects to the router Ethernet port(AUI). Then the Wan connectivity would go out another port, on a 2501 you may go out to a T1leased line, Frame relay network etc. At the other end of this would be 1 or more routers. I dont want to go to much into it as Id be typing all day. for CCNA you need 2 routers, you would not gain much benefit from 1 router.

The 2501 is a base model with 2 serial ports V.35 1.554Mbps, 1 AUI 10baseT port (need a transerver for this), an aux port and a console port.

The 2514 has the same with an extra ethernet port, so you could do what you were describing but would only be connecting ethernets toghether so as no other routers are involved no "Routing" would occur as such.

walid97

wildfire wrote:

The 2514 has the same with an extra ethernet port, so you could do what you were describing but would only be connecting ethernets toghether so as no other routers are involved no "Routing" would occur as such.

You mean that routing tables' interfaces are the serial ports only (WAN), not the AUI ports?
What I thought is that each one of these AUI is an independant interface in the routing table: each one will have a switch with different network on every switch ??

I guess I am wrong here ! I guess the serial ports (WAN) are the interfaces for the routing table..

dunno..

thanks !

wildfire

wrong no not as such, but a routing table composes of learned routes from other routers. for ports on it own router it will show as directly connected, so it wont need to do any routing. It doesnt have to be wan you want connect routers back to back on ethernet ports, thus giving higher speeds!

With only one router the router doesnt have to route as such. I hope this makes sense, Im not sure what you want to achieve but I would have two routers back to back on serial and each pc on an ethernet port, then you can run rip, igrp, Eigrp, etc etc etc.

walid97

Thanks for your reply..

My question in a clearer way is: the 2514 has 2 etthernet ports (E0 and E1) as well as 2 serial (S0 and S1).

Now, I connect a switch, switch0 to E0 and another switch1 to E1 and connect PC0 to switch0 with IP: 172.16.10.1 and PC1 to switch1 with IP 172.16.20.1. Being on 2 different ports on the router (E0 and E1), the routing table (static) will be something like:

Network......................Interface
172.16.10.0.................E0
172.16.20.0.................E1

So everything that the router receives that has a destination network of 172.16.10.0 will be forwarded to E0, the same for 172.16.20.0 to E1,
Now when I ping 172.16.10.1 from 172.16.20.1. the router will forward it to E0 because the destination address is in E0 (routing table)
This way we can have 2 different networks connected to the same router.

dunno if I made myself clear.. and thanks a lot !

wildfire

ah ok

yes this would work, you would not need to add any routing statements.it would be automatic, you would also not need swithes for this you can connect direct, Ive never connected direct but I think you will need crossover cable for this.

I was simply pointing out that it is a fairly pointless exercise other than creating two broadcast domains.

walid97

wildfire wrote:

yes this would work, you would not need to add any routing statements.it would be automatic

How will it be automatic? I mean shouldnt we have some routing statements for E0 and E1 ?

Another question, if I buy the 2501 that has 1 AUI, can I create separate broadcast domain like the 2514 (it has 2 AUIs)?

All I want to do is to test the router. By having 2 network, I can test the configurations I made to the router (sending packet from 1 network to another).. Can this be done with the 2501?

thanks !

forbesl

walid97 wrote:

How will it be automatic? I mean shouldnt we have some routing statements for E0 and E1 ?

You don't need routing statements because both of those networks will be directly connected to your router. If you do a "sh ip ro" on the router you will see both of those networks in your routing table as a "C", meaning directly connected.

walid97

Thanks dude.. I really appreciate.

Ohh.. "C" means that they are directly connected, so a ping will arrive without adding anything to the router table..

Last question,
what if I buy the 2501 that has 1 AUI only, will I be able to have 2 separate Networks at home or 1 only ?

wildfire

for what you want you would need 2 2501's or one 2514

walid97

thanks a lot forbest and wildfire (good luck for your CCNP)

forbesl

You're welcome