Need help w/ my first lab and interface questions. Thx!

Hi, everyone!

I am a total newbie here. I have read a lot of threads here, but still have a lot of questions on setting my lab. Please point out any mistake I made here and give me some advice, I really appreciate your help.
I just decided to start my networking study 1 week ago. I have gone through the CBT Nugget once and booked the CCENT test on Jul 6.

Now I am planning to build my first basic lab.
Since my budget is tight, I only plan to get 2 routers and 1 switch now, and maybe add another router and a switch later.
For the switch, 2950 is recommended by most people here.
For routers, I am planning to get a 2650XM or 2620XM (120M/32M) and a 2501 so that I can play with the 12.4 IOS on one router and save money on the other.

I have questions about the interfaces.
Let me take the 2620XM for an example, it has 1NM, 2WIC, and 1 FE ports. The FE port must connect to my switch/computer, so I will have to buy a WIC card for WAN connection, right? Now I am using COMCAST cable fast internet and a cable modem, what kind of WIC card should I get? Will a Fast Ethernet WIC card work? If I get a router with 2 FE ports, can one of them connect to my cable modem or they are both for LAN only?

Then I will need to connect this 2620XM to my 2501 router, so I will need a WIC-1T card for 2620XM (since it does not have a serial port) and use (DB60) serial back-to-back crossfire cable.

So my total list will be:
1 2620XM/2650XM
1 2501
1 Ethernet transceiver (for 2501)
1 WIC-1T card (for 2620XM)
1 WIC-fast Ethernet card (not sure about this)
1 DB60 back-back crossfire cable
1 2950

Future list:
1 more 2950
1 more 2501 (to make Frame Relay)

Please correct any mistake I made here. Thank you so much for your help!
Andy

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Comments

mikej412

beef1218 wrote: »

The FE port must connect to my switch/computer, so I will have to buy a WIC card for WAN connection, right?

Um... right. That's the WIC-1T you mention below to connect to your 2501. You will want some WAN connections between routers in your lab to practice with.

beef1218 wrote: »

Now I am using COMCAST cable fast internet and a cable modem, what kind of WIC card should I get? Will a Fast Ethernet WIC card work? If I get a router with 2 FE ports, can one of them connect to my cable modem or they are both for LAN only?

As long as you don't have a weird USB only Cable Modem, you should have an Ethernet port. You can either go with a 2nd Ethernet port on one of your routers -- or you can do router on a stick and use a couple VLANs (and proper cables) on your switch.

The WIC-4ESW or WIC-1ENET are NOT supported in the 2600XM routers. You can check the NM/WIC/VWIC Compatibility PDF on the Cisco Portable Product Sheets web page for the NM options (NM-1E and NM-4E).

beef1218 wrote: »

Then I will need to connect this 2620XM to my 2501 router, so I will need a WIC-1T card for 2620XM (since it does not have a serial port) and use (DB60) serial back-to-back crossfire cable.

Yes.

tiersten

beef1218 wrote: »

For routers, I am planning to get a 2650XM or 2620XM (120M/32M)

A 2610XM will work just as well and is usually cheaper. The only difference between a 2610XM and a 2620XM or 2650XM is that the CPU is faster. It won't affect anything in a lab to have a router with slower performance.

26??XM - First ? = Performance, Second ? = Number of built in FE ports - 1

beef1218 wrote: »

(DB60) serial back-to-back crossfire cable.

Crossover not crossfire.

captobvious

tiersten wrote: »

A 2610XM will work just as well and is usually cheaper. The only difference between a 2610XM and a 2620XM or 2650XM is that the CPU is faster. It won't affect anything in a lab to have a router with slower performance.

26??XM - First ? = Performance, Second ? = Number of built in FE ports - 1

Crossover not crossfire.

+1 on the 2610XM for lab.

I kinda like crossfire, but it did make me wanna duck!

billscott92787

There are some 2650XM's on ebay for around $95, I was able to ask the gentleman selling them from a company the IOS version and the amount of DRAM and flash. They had the newest IOS and also had 256MB DRAM and 46MB of flash. I believe the dudes name was Brandon, you should check it out if you are looking for that series router, seems like a better deal.

beef1218

billscott92787 wrote: »

There are some 2650XM's on ebay for around $95, I was able to ask the gentleman selling them from a company the IOS version and the amount of DRAM and flash. They had the newest IOS and also had 256MB DRAM and 46MB of flash. I believe the dudes name was Brandon, you should check it out if you are looking for that series router, seems like a better deal.

billscott92787, Thank you.
Actually I really asked Brandon about that 2650XM $95 w/ free shipping, but he told me it was only 128M/32M. Maybe he made a mistake.
Anyway, I am hoping to get a 26XX XM with a WIC-1T card together because buying the WIC-1T separately will cost around $25-30.
I have been watching ebay these days, and hopefully I can find a good deal soon.

And also, I want to thank mikej412, tiersten, and captobvious very much too for giving me advice!