Building a Lab, What do you think? (For ICND1 and ICND2)

ciscoman2012

OK, so I originally sent this seller payment for this kit listed here on eBay:
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

It comes with: 4x 2501 Routers 2x 2924 Switches After reading a bit, I've realized that the 2924 switches won't cut it and use different older commands. That being said, I emailed the seller and asked him if he could upgrade me to the 2950s. He said he would do so at no cost. He then also stated that I should upgrade 2 of the routers to 2620 series. He said these will have Fast Ethernet and one with 4 serial interfaces for Frame Relay. Stated that it will be an additional $80 to upgrade to these 2620 series routers.

Originally, I paid $215 + $30.xx shipping. So I am looking at $245 + $80.

Is this worth it or should I just stick with the 4 2501 Routers?

Thanks for your help Cisco guys!

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Comments

jude56g

Personally I would stay away from the 2500s at all costs, they are super slow and all of the Ethernet interfaces are AUI based. To upgrade all 4 would be 160, and that seams really steep. I would keep looking. You don't really need a lab for ICND1 so you may just want to save up until you complete that exam. Also, I would say go with 4 routers and 2 switches..

So I just found a 2611 for $10, and T1 WICs for $25. The WICs are RJ based instead of serial which I prefer (cabling is easier & cheaper)

Cisco 2600 Series 2611 Router | eBay

Cisco WIC-1DSU-T1 DSU/CSU 2600 3600 1700 1600 | eBay

Good Luck

ciscoman2012

jude56g wrote: »

Personally I would stay away from the 2500s at all costs, they are super slow and all of the Ethernet interfaces are AUI based. To upgrade all 4 would be 160, and that seams really steep. I would keep looking. You don't really need a lab for ICND1 so you may just want to save up until you complete that exam. Also, I would say go with 4 routers and 2 switches..

So you're saying I should just cancel the order with him? I ordered another 2950 24port switch last night as I couldn't resist I won it for $29 shipped.

ciscoman2012

What do you think of this package instead?

CISCO COMPLETE CCNA LAB PACKAGE 16/64 WIC-1DSU-T1 2950 2610 2611 XM WIC-1T 2620 (746320089614) | eBay

jude56g

ciscoman2012 wrote: »

What do you think of this package instead?

CISCO COMPLETE CCNA LAB PACKAGE 16/64 WIC-1DSU-T1 2950 2610 2611 XM WIC-1T 2620 (746320089614) | eBay

meh, I think they screw you with these packages..

advanex1

Don't buy packages, buy them separately. Look at what you require and buy them.

I pieced my CCNP set together (1 switch, I already had 3.) Which included, 2511 AS, 2611, 2621XM, 2x1760's, 3 WIC-1T's, and 1 WIC2T for under 300. The AS was the most expensive part.

Just piece it together, it will save you in the long run. The 2611 came with 1 WIC1T, 1WIC2T and a BRI4U module and it was just under 38$ shipping included.

ciscoman2012

Ok sounds great. Personally, I don't mind piecing together my own package but I am not sure what is needed. I currently have one 24port 2950 switch and that is all.

Could anyone put me together a "To Buy" list and I will just shop around on eBay for each component individually. The biggest part of me wanting to buy a package set was because it seemed less confusing to me. I am unsure of all the different WIC modules that I need and which routers I should be looking at, what their DRAM and Flash should be, etc.

advanex1

For a ccent/ccna lab? You don't even need to buy the equipment to obtain your CCNA. You could use a combination of GNS3 and Packet Tracer.

However, atleast 3 routers with 1 to act as a frame relay switch. You could buy 1720's, 1721's, and 1760's for the outlying routers, but you'd need a 2600 series router with a frame relay module in order to do the frame relay portion.

And 3 switches, these could be 2950's. That would be enough to complete your studies for this. An access router would make this easier to switch back and forth between the equipment.

You could just get WIC1T's for every router and connect them to your frame relay switch that way. The switches will feed off of fast ethernet. When looking at hardware, why not max out the DRAM/Flash if you can? Just do some research to find the maximums for them. I know stubarea.net has a page for this somewhere, but I'm at work and their website is blocked here.

jude56g

Take your time. Make the shopping experience a learning experience too. I would look for 3 more 2950s & 2-3 routers. The routers should have at least 1 Eth interface and 1 Serial interface. I still think you can't go wrong with that 2611 for 10 bucks!

ciscoman2012

Ah, thanks for clearing some of this up. I was confused looking at the WICs because I saw RJ45 ports instead of serial ports. That was confusing the hell out of me. So I can set the clock rate using these ports instead of the ones with the DCE/DTE cables?

jude56g

The WICs I am using are WIC-1DSU-T1-V2 which have an integrated CSU/DSU so on need to set clocking.

So the config on these is just an ip address & no shut.

ciscoman2012

Ok awesome.

So I know you guys want me to buy all the components individually but I did the math and I'm not really worried about saving $30-40.

Wouldn't this eBay package work perfect for me to achieve the CCNA, as well contribute to working towards the CCNP? Both routers are 2610s and have the latest IOS. Version 12.4 on one and 12.3 on another. I also believe from the description that Router 1 has upgraded memory. It says, 16Flash and 64Dram. The second Router says 8Flash and 32Dram. The kit also comes with 2 WIC T1 modules. And a bunch of various cables needed to hook everything up.

My father is actually footing most of the bill as he works for Cisco (non-networking field though) and realizes the importance of these certifications. He's agreeing to contribute $200 or so towards a lab setup. I am also willing to shell out an additional $150-200 if necessary so $239 is well within my budget.

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

Just tell me if my math is wrong or if I am missing something major here.

ciscoman2012

Any more thoughts?

jude56g

ciscoman2012 wrote: »

Any more thoughts?

That gear looks ok. I would just look for an additional switch.

ciscoman2012

Awesome, thanks for the reply.

I already ordered a 2950 24port switch so if I bought that package off eBay I would have 3 switches total.

Somnipotent

holy cow man, $50 for a 2610?? those things can be found for $10!

ciscoman2012

I'm literally about to pull the plug on this setup right now.

2 - 2610XMs one with 32F/128DRAM and the second one with 16F/64DRAM. Both have IOS 12.4 installed.
2 - 2950 Switchs
2 - WIC-T1-DSUs
Various cables

^Is that not worth the price of $289? It seems like all the time I'd waste sourcing the various components, additional memory, latest IOS versions, WIC modules, etc. wouldn't save me that much money to begin with.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130608400989?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Somnipotent wrote: »

holy cow man, $50 for a 2610?? those things can be found for $10!

I added $10 more because the memory was upgraded. There is no way you can find one for $10 without including shipping and handling. A lot of the people that have found items so cheap haven't factored in shipping / handling fees, or the fact that the auction(s) haven't ended yet.

alxx

I think he was referring to 2600's not 2600xm's - stick with 2600xm's as the others don't have enough ram or flash for the new ios images

Its a bit pricey and buying premade lab packages is usually a bad idea (premium prices for older equipment)

Just depends on you priorities and how much of a rush you are in and budget vs time etc

But usually for $300 you should be able to get 3 routers and 3 switches + wics and cables(serial ,console and ethernet)
To me its at least $100 to much (if not more)

routers - 1721's ,1751's , 1760's, 2600xm
switches - 2950's and 3550's or better , you'll want at least 1 L3 switch if your budget will cover it.

A few of my purchases this month (it pays to take your time and wait)

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

Cisco 2610 Router, (for CCNA,CCNP Lab) | eBay

Though I am selling the 2600s and a couple of switches and using the money to get another 1841.

alxx

You can find things like this every so often

Cisco WS-C2950T-24 Switch x 10 | eBay

One thing I didn't say is if you have a decent pc , you could run gsn3 to emulate the routers and just buy 3 switches and a dual/quad nic card for your pc. Good way to get started for not to much money.

gsn3 can only emulate (it runs the ios images) routers not switches.

http://www.gns3.net/

http://www.gns3.net/content/free-gns3-video-cbt-nuggets-and-established-partnership

http://www.cbtnuggets.com/standalone?video=/freevideo/csco_642_902_02.mp4

Should be able to get 2950's for between $25 to 40 depending on model.
12 port's do fine. Just avoid the sx and fx models (unless you want optical interconnects).

ciscoman2012

Awesome, thanks for the advice Alxx. Looks like you scored some good deals for .99 without having to pay for shipping (assuming you're doing local pickup). That is def. the best way to go about it. Sadly, I don't have those same options as none of the sellers I've found are close to my location.

Currently I will have 3 2950 switches and 2 2610XM routers. That should be enough to get me thru CCNA and then hopefully I can just add a few more routers for the CCNP and a L3 switch.

I have a pretty decent computer with i5 2500k and 8GB Ram so I'm hoping that will do the trick with GNS3. Also have ordered 2 extra NIC cards to slide into the computer when I get back to the states. All in all, I will have 3 NIC cards in the computer. One NIC built into the motherboard and then two external PCI card slot types.

Since I've been in Germany I've been playing around with GNS3 on my laptop here, i3 basic processor with 8gb ram, and it seems to be quite CPU intensive. Even with the idle settings turned on each router it still seems to run the fans at full blast.

Hopefully this won't be a problem on my i5 but we'll see when I get back.

As always, thanks for the advice and I appreciate your reply.