cheap lab/soho router - cisco 851

suitsonfire

hello all. i have been a long time user of this site and i thank everyone for their contributions and insight.

i wanted to share a nice cisco router that a company is selling on ebay for $115 total. the seller has a bunch (as of 1/9/10) for sale.

Cisco 851-K9 with AC adapter, pwr. cord, 1 yr. warranty - eBay (item 200419370927 end time Jan-17-10 02:28:00 PST)

hope this helps some aspiring ccna takers.

captobvious

Kickbacks?

suitsonfire

no kickbacks, just a cheap router i found and wanted to share. i like helping poor folks like myself.

usernamed

Hi everyone, first post here.

Is the Cisco 851 a good choice for studying CCNA/CCNP?

Would the 871 be more "complete" for this task ... ?

Many thanks!

mikem2te

usernamed wrote: »

Hi everyone, first post here.

Is the Cisco 851 a good choice for studying CCNA/CCNP?

Would the 871 be more "complete" for this task ... ?

Many thanks!

Hi to you. The 850 series are a nice little router. I have an 857W.

They are reasonable for CCENT and some CCNA tasks but not really any further.

They have some limitations, such as routing protocols (supports only RIP, not OSFP & EIGRP), no VLAN capability, and probably a few others. I believe as you say, the 871 is more complete, I think it supports these features with the "AdvIPServices" IOS. Most I have seen though only have AdvSecurity IOS and don't have enough flash memory to support AdvIPServices.

I am on the lookout for a cheap 877 but they seem to be going for silly money on ebay. I could get a 1801 for the same price which seems a better choice.

tiersten

mikem2te wrote: »

I am on the lookout for a cheap 877 but they seem to be going for silly money on ebay. I could get a 1801 for the same price which seems a better choice.

It is expensive but an 1841 or one of the old 2600XM/3600 routers would be a better choice since you can put WICs into those.

mikem2te

tiersten wrote: »

It is expensive but an 1841 or one of the old 2600XM/3600 routers would be a better choice since you can put WICs into those.

I'm after something small and without a fan, currently I use one of my 2801's for my internet access router. It's a top device but sits there in the corner sounding like a small jet fighter.

An 877 could quite easily take the place of the 2801 for my broadband router, it has some of the advanced functions so would not be out of place in a lab and I could enjoy some silence when I study, well, until I fire up the rest of the lab, then it's back to the ear plugs.

tiersten

mikem2te wrote: »

I'm after something small and without a fan, currently I use one of my 2801's for my internet access router. It's a top device but sits there in the corner sounding like a small jet fighter.

Ah. Yeah. The larger routers aren't silent so you would have to find an 8xx of some kind. My 1841 has a fan and I assume that the 1801 would have one as well. The 1841 fan isn't that bad though but you can still hear it if you've got it running in the room.

mikem2te wrote: »

An 877 could quite easily take the place of the 2801 for my broadband router, it has some of the advanced functions so would not be out of place in a lab and I could enjoy some silence when I study, well, until I fire up the rest of the lab, then it's back to the ear plugs.

Do you use any of the extra features in your 2800 like IPS?

My solution to the noise problem was to put it in the garage and just go in there when I need to change wiring. The rest of the time I just remotely connect to it.

mikem2te

tiersten wrote: »

Do you use any of the extra features in your 2800 like IPS?

I only really use the zone based firewall in anger, the rest of the features I just use for my studies. Currently I'm having a play with SSL VPN's, excellent for connecting to my home network from any computer without installing any client software.

Another thing I'm playing with is the voice features. I tricked a 2801 up with some voice hardware and bought a Cisco IP phone for my CCNA Voice. I have configured it up to do some least cost phone routing, eg for local calls a call will be sent out my home line, if I make an international call it gets sent out my SIPGATE sip account. Cool stuff.

tiersten

mikem2te wrote: »

I only really use the zone based firewall in anger, the rest of the features I just use for my studies.

Just curious as enabling IPS on my 1841 brings it to its knees. The listed performance for the 1841 with nothing else enabled is 38Mbps but it is sold as being only suitable for a dual T1/E1 connection. Once you turn on IPS and the firewall then performance drops to around 5Mbps which fits with what Cisco are rating it for.

mikem2te wrote: »

Currently I'm having a play with SSL VPN's, excellent for connecting to my home network from any computer without installing any client software.

Yeah. SSL VPN is great for that. It is nice that you get 2 built in licenses as well for admin use and you don't have to fork out for it. Kinda unusual for Cisco to be honest

mikem2te wrote: »

Another thing I'm playing with is the voice features. I tricked a 2801 up with some voice hardware and bought a Cisco IP phone for my CCNA Voice. I have configured it up to do some least cost phone routing, eg for local calls a call will be sent out my home line, if I make an international call it gets sent out my SIPGATE sip account. Cool stuff.

Very cool. I want to get more into VOIP soon and things like that just make it an even better reason to get into it.

mikem2te

tiersten wrote: »

Just curious as enabling IPS on my 1841 brings it to its knees. The listed performance for the 1841 with nothing else enabled is 38Mbps but it is sold as being only suitable for a dual T1/E1 connection. Once you turn on IPS and the firewall then performance drops to around 5Mbps which fits with what Cisco are rating it for.

I feel a bench marking session approaching. I'll have to set up a web server on my computer and see what throughput I can get out of the router. I'll post the results in a couple of days.

Kaminsky

usernamed wrote: »

Hi everyone, first post here.

Is the Cisco 851 a good choice for studying CCNA/CCNP?

Would the 871 be more "complete" for this task ... ?

Many thanks!

If you have one or can get hold of one cheaply then sure. If you are going off to buy one, you would be better off going for a 1721 which a lot cheaper just for studying CCNA. For the ebay price you pay for one of those, you could get several 1721's. On the 1721, you can max out the memory on them and they can run 12.4T which I think is currently CCNP IOS level so would actually be usefull if you continue to CCNP level after the CCNA.

If you go near the 26**XM, these can also load 12.4T but are rack mounted. The 26*0XMs have 1 FastEthernet port and the 26*1XMs have two FastEthernet ports. The * in the 26*.XM is mainly memory, cpu and packets per second performance. The non 23**XMs will be ok for ccna but not beyond.

On ebay, the 851/871 and the XMs are commanding a hefty price tag for used. The word is also out on the 1721s and the price is creaping up slowly on ebay.

The 851 can get to 12.4T but only on security. Not Advanced IP. The 871 can only get to 12.3-8 in advanced IP. Unless your going onto wireless. Yes they look slightly prettier than the 1721s I agree.

mikem2te

Kaminsky wrote: »

The word is also out on the 1721s and the price is creaping up slowly on ebay.

Agree prices are creeping up. IMO 1760's are the ones to go for in the 1700 range, seem to be good value for money still, I picked up 2 for £25 on ebay. Rack mount though but good if you intend to study CCNA Voice.

Kaminsky wrote: »

851 can get to 12.4T but only on security. Not Advanced IP. The 871 can only get to 12.3-8 in advanced IP. Unless your going onto wireless. Yes they look slightly prettier than the 1721s I agree.

I thought the 870 range was good for 12.4T and 15M. 870 are certainly prettier looking though:)

broc

They are, I am running 12.4T on my 877W and they also support 15M.

tiersten

Kaminsky wrote: »

The 851 can get to 12.4T but only on security. Not Advanced IP.

Yeah. You can only get Advanced Security for a 851. They never released anything else.

Kaminsky wrote: »

The 871 can only get to 12.3-8 in advanced IP.

You thinking of Advanced Enterprise Services?

The 871 has:
Advanced enterprise services at 12.3.8-YI2(ED).
Advanced IP services and Advanced Security at 15.0.1M1.