Physical lab/cabling help

My brother in-law hooked me up with a bunch of cisco gear:

3x Catalyst 2950 w/ GBIT adapters
2610 w/ WIC 2T
2620 ATM-T1-4T1-IMA
2621 w/ VWIC-2MFT-T1
AS2511-RJ
1711 w/ WIC 4ESW & WIC-1AM
1720 w/ WIC-1DSU-T1

Problem: It did not come with any of the cables. While researching the cards I realized very quickly that my lab is not going to be doing a whole lot right off the bat. Can I get some suggestions on cards and cables to get that would bring this up to a nice CCNA lab? Perhaps even get another router on ebay to mess around with things? Thanks in advance!

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Comments

notgoing2fail

You've got yourself some good gear there. It's kinda tough to say what cables you need because it all depends on what lab scenario you want.

But in general here's what you should have:

1) POWER CABLES obviously for every router/switch

2) straight through cables. Just get a bunch of cat5 cables. Maybe about 5-7 of them?

3) Cross over cables. Same thing. Just get a bunch. 5-7'ish.

4) DCE/DTE crossover cables. 3-4 are good. These are v.35 cables.

5) Serial WIC's. You'll need some for your Frame Relay lab.

spartangtr

notgoing2fail wrote: »

3) Cross over cables. Same thing. Just get a bunch. 5-7'ish.

Thread hijack.

Does anyone know where to get very short crossovers? Shortest I can find are 3 feet. Something like 6 inches would be perfect, just for trunking switches together. The ones I have now are like 5 feet and are a mess.

kalebksp

spartangtr wrote: »

Thread hijack. Does anyone know where to get very short crossovers? Shortest I can find are 3 feet. Something like 6 inches would be perfect, just for trunking switches together. The ones I have now are like 5 feet and are a mess.

monoprice.com sells half foot cables for cheap. Though I recommend to you and the OP to make your own, that way you get the size you want and it's a good skill to have. I wouldn't do that for work unless you have a decent cable tester/certifier.

notgoing2fail mentioned DCE/DTE cables (aka crossover serial cables). These cables can have a variety of connectors, most commonly DB60 and Smart Serial (v.35 is another option but I've never seen a router with that interface). You can get DB60 to DB60, SS to SS, and DB60 to SS, it just depends on what you interfaces you have. You WIC-2T has SS connectors.

notgoing2fail

Making your own cables is the way to go. The key is getting a solid very good crimper. If you settle for a cheap one, you're going to pay the price.

I've done my share of cable making back in the day so I don't desire to do it anymore. But for my own rack, I could use custom cables because it makes no sense to use a 5 feet cable for crossing over to a switch that's only 1U beneath it!!!

alan2308

kalebksp wrote: »

monoprice.com sells half foot cables for cheap. Though I recommend to you and the OP to make your own, that way you get the size you want and it's a good skill to have. I wouldn't do that for work unless you have a decent cable tester/certifier.

I just checked monoprice. Their options for crossovers are much slimmer, 3ft is the minimum.

thehourman

notgoing2fail wrote: »

Making your own cables is the way to go. The key is getting a solid very good crimper. If you settle for a cheap one, you're going to pay the price.

I've done my share of cable making back in the day so I don't desire to do it anymore. But for my own rack, I could use custom cables because it makes no sense to use a 5 feet cable for crossing over to a switch that's only 1U beneath it!!!

That's what I did. It benefits me too because I learned how to route cables for the entire 2nd floor of my house.
monoprice is the place to go to buy your bulk cable and networking tools. Of course, quality ain't as good as the higher price tools, but just for home those tools should be sufficed.

tengu

Thanks everyone. The making my own won't be a problem (cat5 cross and patch at least). I was thinking very seriously about getting some serial WICs and even a 25xx router as a frame relay switch. The ATM is way out of date so maybe another card there.

People have been whispering monoprice for cables, but is there a good (cheap!) place for WICs? Also will this equipment be well suited for the CCNP?

alan2308

tengu wrote: »

Thanks everyone. The making my own won't be a problem (cat5 cross and patch at least). I was thinking very seriously about getting some serial WICs and even a 25xx router as a frame relay switch. The ATM is way out of date so maybe another card there.

People have been whispering monoprice for cables, but is there a good (cheap!) place for WICs? Also will this equipment be well suited for the CCNP?

Since you already have a good number of routers, picking up a NM-4A/S for one of the 2600's and using that for a Frame Relay switch will probably be more economical than picking up a 2522 or something similar. And of course, it'll still be useful for other things if you're not doing Frame Relay.

As far as WIC's go, you can also consider using the WIC-1dsu-t1 (especially since you have one already). They can be connected with a t1 crossover cable, which is as easy as a cat5 cable to make, its just a different pinout. Plus they're usually cheaper than the WIC-1t, and the cables are WAY cheaper, especially if you make your own. There's a little more to configure compared to the more traditional WIC's, but its not that bad once you get the hang of it.

DPG

Don't forget the rollover cables for your console access server.