More routers or more features with one device - which is more important

Which is more important if you have a tight budget; More routers of same/similar type to work with, or having one that has more features?

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networker050184

Well, I'd say its kind of in the middle. You want the features to learn, but you can't really set up much routing to yourself with a single router.

amtt81

basically i am trying to decide if I am going to get 2 x 2500s and 2 x 2924s or if i should get 1 x 2600xm and 1 x 2924. I mean you can really do most of what you need for the CCNA labs on 2500's right , even though they dont run the latest IOS or do frame relay?

laidbackfreak

amtt81 wrote: »

basically i am trying to decide if I am going to get 2 x 2500s and 2 x 2924s or if i should get 1 x 2600xm and 1 x 2924. I mean you can really do most of what you need for the CCNA labs on 2500's right , even though they dont run the latest IOS or do frame relay?

get the 2600xm now and add to it later... your gonna want a 2950 switch too

amtt81

so you dont think two 2500s and two 2924 are worth it for a lab

jbrad95706

What's your budget?

amtt81

like 350, and i am leaning towards buying a kit from ciscokits.com because i dont have the knowledge to piece together everything from ebay (cables/connectorsmemory/etc), and they seem to have a really reasonable price including labs and study material as an extra - and they will buy the gear back at the full market price if you upgrade to other equipment through them.
I know people probably think thats stupid cause you can get things cheaper on ebay - but what do you think?

mikej412

If you've got the money to spend, get all 2811 routers..... but most people decide it's not worth selling a kidney to build a CCNA lab.

2500 routers still do a lot of what you'd need for the CCNA -- including frame-relay. The 2520 is a popular frame-relay switch.

If you're going cheap building your CCNA Lab, you can get a 1721 router for SDM and 802.1Q trunking.

If you're going cheap building your CCNA Lab you can shop and find the cheapest router to use as a frame relay switch -- a 2520 or a 2610 with NM-4A/S.

If you're going cheap building your CCNA Lab, and got the 1721 for SDM and a frame relay switch, you still need 2 routers for the frame relay spokes -- and 2 2501 routers ( or 1 2501 and 1 2509 terminal server -- if you're not that cheap) will fill the bill.

Shop for max memory on the routers and the "latest" IOS images on the routers. The 2500s should have either the last 12.2 Enterprise or last 12.3 IP Plus IOS version -- and hopefully come with the transceivers (otherwise budget $5-10 more each and start shopping for transceiver deals).

The 2950 switch is close enough to the newer 2960 -- and has gotten dirt cheap lately (around/under $50 if you shop and hopefully getting cheaper still) that it's silly not to get one -- or two -- or three.

Three switches should be enough to lab up what you'd need for the CCNA. Two switch would "get by" -- and you can't do much switching with just one switch.

If you wanted to "be the cheapest you can be" on switches too, then get one 2950 and add 2 cheap (don't spend more than $15-20) 2924-XL-EN switches.

If you go cheap now, you may need to replace one of the routers (or two) later if you go for the CCNP -- but 2501s are $10-$20 routers so it isn't a "big loss" -- and you can still use them as "backbone routers" to inject routes into your CCNP (and beyond) lab topologies.

amtt81 wrote: »

i dont have the knowledge to piece together everything from ebay (cables/connectorsmemory/etc)

That's why you go slowly, ask questions, and learn as you go -- building a home lab is a GREAT learning experience.

shodown

I've seen 2610's go for as little as 15 bucks on ebay. I would get 3 of those and use 1 as a frame relay switch with a module. I would also get 2 2950's and get one 2924 just so you can practice STP. With all the the routers you wont' be able to do any router on stick, but you can add better router later on. 350 is very doable if you shop correctly.

thenjduke

One question on 3500xl routers.. this is good pratice stp on right?

citinerd

Cisco CCNA CCNP Lab 2610 2620 2610XM 2620XM 2900 2950 - eBay (item 280378594630 end time Aug-07-09 21:24:24 PDT)

This is a pretty good start and you could always add on later.

mikej412

thenjduke wrote: »

One question on 3500xl routers.. this is good pratice stp on right?

Yep -- good 3rd switch if the price is right.

citinerd wrote: »

This is a pretty good start and you could always add on later.

Overpriced old stuff -- price out the pieces seperately from recent auctions and it's about 2X what you could put it together for yourself if you shop and don't get caught up in the excitement of the auctions.

And there are no 2600XM routers in the kit -- so the description is misleading (unless you buy the un-priced upgrades) -- which always makes me question the vendors ethics. Remember, it's a "buyer beware" world on eBay -- so do your home, read the auctions carefully, and walk away if you can't get the information you need to make a good decision.

amtt81

has anybody heard of or used ciscokits.com?

laidbackfreak

amtt81 wrote: »

has anybody heard of or used ciscokits.com?

yep overpriced imo, you can source the kit seperately and cheaper on ebay

thenjduke

All from job

mikej412 wrote: »

Yep -- good 3rd switch if the price is right.

Overpriced old stuff -- price out the pieces seperately from recent auctions and it's about 2X what you could put it together for yourself if you shop and don't get caught up in the excitement of the auctions.

And there are no 2600XM routers in the kit -- so the description is misleading (unless you buy the un-priced upgrades) -- which always makes me question the vendors ethics. Remember, it's a "buyer beware" world on eBay -- so do your home, read the auctions carefully, and walk away if you can't get the information you need to make a good decision.

jbrad95706

3x2950
1x2520
2x2501
3xTransceiver's
3x1FT Back to Back DCE/DTE DB60 Crossover Cable
6-8x1-3ft Cat5e cables
1xAny CCNA 640-802 book.
1xUSB to DB9 male adapter
1xConsole cable. (If you don't get one with one of the routers - you may also need power cables, but they are the same ones that are used for computers - easy to get)

You should be able to do this for $350.00 or less.

You can also use GNS3/Dynamips - it's a router emu - I love this program!

amtt81

For the GNS3, is there a tutorial anywhere for that? Also where do you get the IOS images from? I loaded that on my computer here at work and I couldnt get past that - then it kept telling me that a port was locked and I couldnt delete the network i had saved. I am so green with this. Anyway I was worried it might mess up something on the network here so i uninstalled it. A tutorial would be awesome.

jbrad95706

amtt81 wrote: »

For the GNS3, is there a tutorial anywhere for that? Also where do you get the IOS images from? I loaded that on my computer here at work and I couldnt get past that - then it kept telling me that a port was locked and I couldnt delete the network i had saved. I am so green with this. Anyway I was worried it might mess up something on the network here so i uninstalled it. A tutorial would be awesome.

Here is a Video tutorial for youtube.

citinerd

mikej412 wrote: »

Yep -- good 3rd switch if the price is right.

Overpriced old stuff -- price out the pieces seperately from recent auctions and it's about 2X what you could put it together for yourself if you shop and don't get caught up in the excitement of the auctions.

And there are no 2600XM routers in the kit -- so the description is misleading (unless you buy the un-priced upgrades) -- which always makes me question the vendors ethics. Remember, it's a "buyer beware" world on eBay -- so do your home, read the auctions carefully, and walk away if you can't get the information you need to make a good decision.

Sorry just looked at the title and thought XMs were included. My bad!

apd123

I didn't read the whole thread but I would recommend getting 0 2924's. I feel strongly that they are that obsolete and that a switching module on dynamips would even be better.

apd123

Also the link to ebay was laughably overpriced. Basically the 2600 routers were usable, but should be almost free. The rest of the items were glorified paper weights.

Mark Knutson

apd123 wrote: »

Also the link to ebay was laughably overpriced. Basically the 2600 routers were usable, but should be almost free. The rest of the items were glorified paper weights.

Agreed. Did you notice the $100 for shipping?

I bought a kit before I knew anything about the gear, and I have a few paperweights myself...

One thing, I thought a 2500 could work as a frame relay switch... Am I wrong?

captobvious

Mark Knutson wrote: »

Agreed. Did you notice the $100 for shipping?

I bought a kit before I knew anything about the gear, and I have a few paperweights myself...

One thing, I thought a 2500 could work as a frame relay switch... Am I wrong?

*sighs* that has happened to most of us.

Yes you can use a 2500 series for a frame relay switch. I would suggest a 2520 as it has four serial ports.

mikej412

Mark Knutson wrote: »

I thought a 2500 could work as a frame relay switch... Am I wrong?

The 2520 can be a 4 port frame relay switch, the 2522 can be a 10 port frame relay switch.

You can configure a 2501 to be a frame relay switch -- but at some point you need 3 ports so you can have a hub router and 2 spoke routers.

You can configure 2 2501 routers to be a compound frame relay switch -- tunnel over the AUX ports or the Ethernet ports. Internetwork Expert has an example posted on their website using the AUX ports.

NM-4A/S and NM-8A/S network modules have come down in price -- so a router using a Network Module could be a better buy then a 2522 or even 2520 as a frame relay switch. You have to shop and see what's currently available on eBay.

Mark Knutson

mikej412 wrote: »

The 2520 can be a 4 port frame relay switch, the 2522 can be a 10 port frame relay switch.

You can configure a 2501 to be a frame relay switch -- but at some point you need 3 ports so you can have a hub router and 2 spoke routers.

You can configure 2 2501 routers to be a compound frame relay switch -- tunnel over the AUX ports or the Ethernet ports. Internetwork Expert has an example posted on their website using the AUX ports.

NM-4A/S and NM-8A/S network modules have come down in price -- so a router using a Network Module could be a better buy then a 2522 or even 2520 as a frame relay switch. You have to shop and see what's currently available on eBay.

Thanks for the advice. I do have a 3640 from ebay that will be here today or monday. I also bought a 2 x fastethernet adapter for it.

Ok, looking around a bit, I think the best bet for me would be to get a nm-8a/s or nm-4a/s--doing the ebay looking now. The 2520 looks to be more expensive, and for better or worse, I am not willing to pay more than $40 for a 25xx router...

For you newbs, I will note that the 'official' sellers of used cisco kit are honest and reliable, but they do typically charge quite a bit more than the best price you can find on ebay. Also look at shipping. I note a $38 nm-4 with $15 shipping, and a $55 with free shipping the latter of which is the better deal...

Update: Just put in a $40 bid on a 4a with free shipping.