Cisco 1700/1800

[csmatheng]

I am wanting to configure a small Cisco network at home so I can practice and learn the commands for my CCNA. Our company has extra 1700 and 1800 series routers. I have a cable Internet connection at home and was wondering about the module cards that are installed in our extra routers. They are all for T1 lines. Will these routers with a T1 module card installed not work with my cable Internet connection coming into my home? I have searched high and low for 10/100 cards that will mount into the 1700/1800 series routers and found none. I am sure its because most businesses use at least a T1. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Reza Sharifi]

Hi Mike,

If you just want to practice for your CCNA and are allowed to bring the routers home, use the on board Ethernet cards for each router and cable them together using Ethernet cables (copper) and play with it. Also, if you want to go further, you can get T-1 cross over cables, connect your routers back-to-back and practice.

HTH

Reza

[csmatheng]

If I actually want to set up a complete network, would I still use a T1 cross over cable? I will only be taking one router home (probably the 1800 series). The router is an 1841 and has one T1 card and the two internal network ports. Would I be using a T1 cross over cable from my cable modem to the T1 card on the router then out of one network port to my server?

[bapatsubodh]

Hi,

If you are interested in practicing the commands you can download router simulator GNS3. What you need is one IOS which is supported by GNS3. Google for GNS3 and you are good to go. You can almost do everything including routing /swithing. All the best for your examination.

There are some good videos of GNS3 are also available.

HTH

Thanks

[csmatheng]

Thanks for that suggestion as I will definitely utilize that simulation also to help learn the commands. However, I would still like to know if I can set up my home network with the 1700 or 1800 router I have access to with those T1 cards in there since I cannot find a 10/100 card for my cable Internet connection.

[Reza Sharifi]

I would not mess with cable modem and home netwok. The other option is to buy a couple of 2620 routers and connect them to your 1800 and practice. On Ebay, they go for less then $100

Reza

[csmatheng]

Thanks. I was hoping I could set up my home network to use business-quality Cisco routers since I have had bad luck with residential quality routers. Also, I wanted to use my own network to learn the IOS. Based on the responses, I have options to learn the commands, but I still was hoping to use the 1700 or 1800 in my home network.

[Richard Burts]

Mike

You should be able to use the 1841 router in your home network. But you would not connect using the T1 card. The cable modem presents an Ethernet connection and not a serial connection. The T1 card provides a serial connection and can only connect to another device with a corresponding serial interface.

But the 1841 has 2 FastEthernet interfaces. You should be able to connect one of the FastEthernet interfaces to the cable modem and the other FastEthernet interface to your home network.

Be aware that if you do this it will impact connectivity of your home network to the Internet until you have the 1841 correctly configured. Some of the things that you might need to configure (such as Network Address Translation) might be a stretch for someone who is learning commands for CCNA. I would suggest, as others have in this thread, that you start by taking the 1841 home and using it stand alone to practice commands, and after you get comfortable with it, then you might consider integrating it into your home network.

HTH

Rick

[csmatheng]

Rick, that is exactly the information I was looking for. I thought the card modules were used for the "source" of the connection and the FastEthernet ports were used to go out to the network or other ethernet devices. So, basically that T1 card will not affect anything I will be doing and as long as the router has the two FastEthernet ports, then I can configure those to integrate into my home network? Sounds like this could be a challenge for me :)

[Richard Burts]

Mike

Yes, in your situation the T1 card will not affect anything that you will be doing. The T1 card exists on the router but you will not be doing anything with it.

I have a customer who frequently deploys 1841 routers to connect to cable modems and they work quite well. (these 1841s do not have the T1 card, since they do not need them)

The 1841 is a good machine for you to use to learn the IOS commands and to practice. It is quite possible to connect the 1841 to your cable modem and to your home network. And it will probably be quite a challenge for you to do this and to get it to work correctly. Best of luck :)

HTH

Rick