Simple Guide to Setting Up a Cisco 877 Router Please

[Chris_Molland]

Hello, and thanks for taking the time to look at my question.

Following several recommendations I purchased an 877 router for my company. We have a simple setup: a single Mac Pro server running OS X Snow Leopard Server with 4 iMac clients and 1 PC client on the local network connected using a ProCurve switch. At home I have a single iMac.

My Mac Pro server hosts our email server software (Kerio Connect). Email in the office is always fine. Connecting from home to send/receive email is intermittent to say the least. Some mornings I launch Apple Mail and collect my messages fine. Other mornings the Mail application cannot connect to the mail server.

If I drive in to the office I can access my messages on the local network fine. If I then switch off and switch back on the router and drive home the email works fine again. This is not very convenient!

So to my question. How can I check if my router is setup correctly please. I can look up all the port, IP address information on my email server but have no idea how to ensure the correct ports are open etc on the router.

Thank you very much.

Chris

[Federico Coto Fajardo]

Hi,

If the router has no ACLs configured it should be allowing all traffic to pass through, however if it's doing NAT, something could be wrong in the configuration.

If you can post the configuration ''sh run'' we can help you take a look at the configuration of the router.

Federico.

[Chris_Molland]

Thanks Federico,

Sorry for the beginner's question here: how do I obtain the configuration please. I know I can access the basic settings through the web interface but I don't know how to access the configuration.

Thank you.

Chris

[Jernej Vodopivec]

You can telnet or ssh to the router CLI and run "sh run" (actual configuration) as mentioned before or "sh startup" for startup configuration.

You can also connect to serial port of router and run the same command.

If you're new to Cisco IOS I would recommend you to read Cisco: A Beginner's Guide if I may. The book answers all your question and much more.

Edit:

Maybe this pdf would be also useful: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/fundamentals/configuration/guide/12_4/cf_12_4_book.pdf

[Chris_Molland]

Thank you Jernej

Can I access the config using SDM? I notice that I can install SDM (2.5) onto a PC or use the Web browser to access/setup a router. I tried to use the web interface from my MacBook running Windows 7 and although the SDM initial screen appeared the pop-up window didn't. It may be the version of Java causing the problem. Perhaps I have to connect directly to the router?

I've never used Telnet so I have no idea how to proceed there. I will take a look at the documents you recommend.

Regards

Chris

[Jernej Vodopivec]

There shouldn't be any problem if you connect directly with Mac (Safari or FF). Although You must disable blocking pop-up windows.

You can also give a try to Cisco Configuration Professional.