Cisco 851 router

steve2012

I am currently studying for my CCENT and am using the Ciscopress Library as well as CBT Nuggets. In the Nuggets ICND1 video, it is recommended to pickup a 851.

I just ordered a Cisco 851 router. Is this router a good start to get to know the IOS or did I make a mistake in picking this up?

Thanks,

Steve

impz

i dunno if the 851 router is a good pickup but you can refer to this recent thread about lab setup.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/61388-complete-newb-setting-up-home-lab-ccna.html

and if you are lazy like me ill directly quote one of the posts :

mikej412 wrote: »

Certificationkits is fine -- but you pay for the convenience of someone else doing the shopping (and storage, and any upgrades) and you lose out on the learning experience.

I thought 2501 routers were only worth $25 back when I built my lab -- and now I think they are worth only $10 and should come with MAX memory and flash (and preferably the $5 transceiver without paying for it). Of course other people were always bidding them up over $50 so I didn't get one for a long time -- but I survived with $9 maxed out 2513s and paid $1 for an 8 port IBM Token Ring switch and $5 for a transceiver (since a 2513 is just a 2501 with an ADDED Token Ring port).

The 2500 series still has some life, but is losing steam for lab use with the rise of IPv6. But even today they can still be used as backbone routers in a CCIE Lab.

Oh -- if you can't find a cheap $10 2501 switch, you can hunt for a $15-$20 steal on an old PRE-XM 2600 series router. They support more DRAM than the 2501s but still have only 16Meg flash. There may have been a BIO update that let you upgrade a 2620 series to 32Meg..... but it's been a while so I could be wrong.

A 2610 or 2611 could do "Router on a Stick" (ROAS) with it's 10Mb Ethernet Interface if you had the the 12.2( 8 ) IP Plus IOS image. But with the last CCNA exam upgrade you also need at least one router to support SDM.

The cheap routers above DO NOT support SDM. The routers below do support SDM. In the old days you needed at least one router that supported ROAS. Today you need one router that supports ROAS and SDM.

The 1721 is a good little $50 desk mount router -- but some people sell the older version that only comes with 16Meg flash. You want the version with 32 Meg Flash -- since the flash CAN'T be upgraded. And you want the POWER BRICK. No Power Brick -- no Sale. And you want either the big and bad 12.4 Enterprise IOS (and the DRAM to run it) or the 12.4T Advanced IP Services (still good for CCNA) for the Zone Based Firewall support for the CCNA:Security Certification.

The funny thing is the rack mount 1760 routers are great little (slow booting) routers that can be upgraded for voice. I've actually seen them sell for less than the 1721 -- but you may need to upgrade the memory. Look for the models with the "32F in white letters within the black square" above the Fast Ethernet port. That means 32Meg Flash that's fixed on the motherboard -- but these do have slot for a Flash upgrade, its just that the 32Meg onboard and the max upgrade give you all the room you need to load Cisco Call Manager Express software if you do some Cisco Voice studies later. You want 32Megs of flash, so the older model with 16Megs of onboard flash is still fine as long as it has been upgraded and has the biggest and baddest and latest and greatest IOS image.

The 2600XM series prices vary depending on the supply and who is cleaning out their warehouse (and which company has recently upgraded all their routers and flooded the market with tons of used 2600XMs).

I got my 2650XM and 2651XM routers (0 is single lan port, 1 is dual lan ports) for less than the slower 2610XM and 2611XM routers were selling for at the time. A lot of people trying to save money chose the cheaper and slower 261xXM routers over the faster 262xXM routers -- and don't even look for the "more expensive and faster" 265xXM routers.

The 265xXM series has models that shipped with 256Meg DRAM and 48Meg Flash -- so look for those (but the 128 DRAM 32Meg FLASH models are fine).

If you can find a 2610XM for $40 -- it's a good deal. But most of the time they'll start around $60 each. Someone may value a 2611XM router more than a a 2620XM routers because of the dual LAN ports versus the single LAN port on the 2620XM.

I paid between $125-$140 for my 2651XM routers and got some of the 2650XM routers for between $60-80 -- but for a while it seems prices shot back up (because the company dumping pallets of them on the market finally ran out). I think I actually saw the 2651XM selling under $100 for a bit. But again -- prices change with time (up and down) so if you do your own research and bid patiently (and only buy from sellers who list the output of a show version command and have a good return policy and fair shipping -- and are recommended by members here with more than 1 or 2 posts ) then you'll score some good deals.

---

The 4 routers are basically a router you can use as a frame relay switch, 1 hub router and 2 spoke routers.

A 2600XM series with an NM-4A/S is a good frame relay switch option. The NM-8A/S gives you a bigger frame relay switch if you plan to build a bigger (CCIE) lab later. A 2610 router with an NM-4A/S is a CHEAP option. There are 252x models with 4 or 10 serial ports that are nice frame relay switches.

I've used my first 252x series router as a frame relay switch and still used it as a "another router" in my lab via the AUI Ethernet -- but I never tried hooking up one serial port to another serial port and using it as both the frame relay switch and one of the hub or spoke routers at the same time.... but I don't see a reason you can't do it. You can try having one router pull double duty and save the cost of the 4th router -- but since I've always had a dedicated router to use as a frame switch you'd want someone else to confirm they've done this.

Chose your frame relay switch solution, make sure you have a router that does SDM and ROAS, and make sure you have 1 hub router and 3 spoke routers for frame relay.

Toss in 2 $25-50 2950 switches, and a 3rd if you can't find a cheaper $10 2924XL-EN switch.

Then don't forget to figure in the shipping. I've had 5 routers show up in one box for $20 shipping -- so now I'll usually avoid any auction where the shipping cost is greater than $20 (unless it's a really big router) or factor in if I think I can "steal the auction." But I tend not to trust eBay seller who overcharge on shipping. I've bought a $185 3745 router with FREE Shipping.

While you're watching the bidding and vendors on eBay, make sure you check out the Buy-It-Now deals -- and look for free shipping. It's funny when people bid up auction prices beyond what's available Buy-It-Now.

Everyone here has there favorite vendors on eBay -- and some of us will agree on the ones you can trust for reasonable deals (and sometimes great deals) -- so at some point you might want to ask about favorite eBay vendors.

That covers the CCNA.

To start the CCENT -- if you're trying for cheap -- pick up a 1721 router and 2950 switch to get you started on the CCENT. Then page ahead in the books and try to figure out when you'll need more routers (or GNS3) and the rest of the switches.

When I did the CCNA, the INTRO exam portion of the CCNA topics didn't even touch a switch. If trunking (and ROAS) is in ICND2, then you may only need the one switch for the CCENT. You do create a small network in ICND1, so you may need at least 2 routers and some WAN interfaces (or GNS3).

Remember the cheap 2501s have the 2 serial WAN interfaces built in (DB60 connectors). The 1721 router would need a WIC-1T (DB60 connector) or WIC-2T or WIC-2A/S. I think both of those may be Smart Serial Connectors. For each WAN connection, for lab use, it's just easiest a back-to-back cable. There are various combinations of DB60-DB60 and DB60-SmartSerial cables. The DTE/DCE ends don't matter for the DB60-DB60 cable since the connectors are the same -- and probably don't for the DB60-SmartSerial cables in a CCNA lab. But you will have to pick which connector you want to be the DCE end -- and that's the router you set the clock rate on in your lab because you're using a back-to-back cable.

and you can always opt for simulation to try out commands by using net sims such as cisco's Packet Tracer and/or GNS3.

seekrit

I don't think the 851 supports OSPF and EIGRP like the 871 does.

Greenmet29

I'd like a 851, I think it's a good router, but you need more than one router if you don't have any others. You could use the 851, which is an integrated services router with 4 lan ports, one wan port pre-configured, and wireless (possibly if it's an 851w). There are no serial ports to emulate a WAN, but you can get that with a few cheap 2500/2600 series routers. I'd probably get a few switches too. You can pick 2950s up for 30-50 on ebay.

alan2308

seekrit wrote: »

I don't think the 851 supports OSPF and EIGRP like the 871 does.

I just checked the feature navigator, you're right. The only routing protocol it does is RIP/RIPv2. No IPv6, no serial ports so no Frame Relay and no inter-VLAN routing that I see from a quick glance.

There's a lot of cool things that it can do (CCNA and beyond), but I wouldn't maker it your primary study router. As was already said, team it up with a couple cheap 2500/2600 routers (at least one 2600 ideally) and it'll be great.

Heero

I know that nothing is quite as good as having a physical router in front of you, but you can get a lot of good experience using dynamips to emulate a router running a real, up to date, IOS image. Also great for labs. Because it is actual emulation, it has all the commands and acts the same as a real router, you just don't get the physical hands on.

I've been using it more frequently and it is amazing to run a 15 router BGP lab all on one computer.

steve2012

Thanks for the responses.