NETWORK FUNDAMENTALS

SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING, SINGAPORE POLYTECHNIC

LABORATORY 1: CISCO PACKET TRACER

_________________________________________________________________________________
Objectives

By the end of the laboratory, students will be

• familiar with the Cisco Packet Tracer software.
• able to set up a simple computer network.
• able to test connectivity between devices in a network.
• aware of the key difference between hubs and switches in the way data packets
are forwarded.

Introduction:

Throughout this module you will be using the Cisco Packet Tracer for simulating
networks. This approach provides widest range of features and the most realistic
experience. It eliminates the restriction imposed by physical equipments that are only
available in the labs. You can do the lab experiments as many times as you like, at any
place, at any time. You may even explore whatever network configurations that you
are curious about, without the worry of damaging the equipment.

Although the Cisco Packet Tracer provides a rich set of protocols, equipment, and
features, it only represents a fraction of what is possible with real networking devices.
Hence, Packet Tracer is a supplement, not a replacement for experience with real
networking equipment. Depending on the course you are doing, you may have chance
to deal with real networking equipment in year-2 and year-3 of your course.

You may learn to use the Cisco’s Packet Tracer through the Help files built into
Packet Tracer, which include an extensive "My First PT Lab" and tutorials. These
materials provide step-by-step guidance to use the Packet Tracer to model networks.

Packet Tracer supports two file formats: “.pkt” files (network simulation model files)
and “.pka” files (activity files for practice). Your lab experiments are based on “.pkt”
files. You can create new or modify existing “.pkt” files. Another format, the “.pka”
files (Packet Tracer activity file format), is meant for lab skills assessment activities
(e.g. assignment or lab test). When you launch a “.pka” file, the Packet Tracer will
provide two buttons at the bottom of the user interface: “Check Results” and “Reset
Activity”. The “Check Results” button gives you feedback on how much (%) of the
activity you have completed. For example, in a Lab Test, this can be considered as
your “score”. The “Reset Activity” will allow you to start the activity over (i.e. you
want to clear your work).

The Cisco Packet Tracer and textbooks published by Cisco Press (as well as other
publishers too, very often) use s set of network topology symbols consistently to
represent various networking devices. It is convenient to be able to recognise these
symbols because many course materials you will come across (either from this
module or from the Internet) will assume that you understand what the symbols
represent.

___________________________________________________________________________________
Lab1_Packet Tracer Page 1 of 11 ET0730/Version 3.1
Network Fundamentals
___________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 1.1 shows a small collection of the symbols use by Cisco software and Cisco
Press publications. For a complete set of network topology symbols in various
formats (PDF, Visio, JPG), visit the Cisco web-page:

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac50/ac47/2.html

Figure 1.1 - A small collection of the symbols use by Cisco software and
Cisco Press publications.

Equipment:

Windows OS laptops
Internet connection
User account and password with Cisco Network Academy

Lab1_Packet Tracer Page 2 of 11 ET0730/Version 3.1

Network Fundamentals
___________________________________________________________________________________

Procedures:

1. Downloading and installation of the Cisco Packet Tracer software

1.1 Make sure that your notebook is connected to the internet.

1.2 Refer to Blackboard to register an account in Cisco Networking Academy
(NetAcad) by enrolling into the self-paced course “Introduction to Packet
Tracer”. Remember to use your SPICE email account (ichat) to register
for the account. Check your email for confirmation of the NetAcad
account.

1.3 Login to the Cisco Network Academy Programme’s web-site at

www.netacad.com using your NetAcad account. You are highly
encouraged to go through the Introduction to Packet Tracer course at your
own time.

1.4 Refer to BlackBoard to download the Packet Tracer software.

1.5 Once downloaded, double-click on the .exe file to install Packet Tracer.
Choose the default setting recommended.

1.6 After installation, the Packet Tracer software will be launched

automatically. You are required to login using your NetAcad account
when using Packet Tracer software. Note that all the lab activities for this
module will be using the Packet Tracer software. The graphical user
interface shown in the lab instruction may differ due to the different
versions of Packet Tracer software.

Lab1_Packet Tracer Page 3 of 11 ET0730/Version 3.1

Network Fundamentals
___________________________________________________________________________________

2. Building a Simple Network

2.1 The diagram below shows the first network simulation you are going to
carry out. It consists of two computers, PC0 and PC1.

Figure 1.2 - Cisco Packet Tracer software, showing a simple two-computer

network.
2.2 The large area that occupies majority of the Packet Tracer software is the
Logical Workplace. This is the area where devices are placed and
connected.
2.3 The lower left portion of the Packet Tracer interface, below the yellow
bar, is the interface that you use to select and place devices into the
logical workplace. The first box in the lower left contains symbols that
represent groups of devices (e.g. Network devices, End devices,
Components, Connections,…etc). Move the mouse pointer over these
symbols, and observer the name of the group appearing in the text box in
the centre.
Question:
Click on the first device-group “Network devices”. What is the name of
the devices with the symbol (second row, 4th symbol)?
Wireless devices

2.4 If you click on one of these device-group symbols, the specific devices in
the group will appear in the box to the right (second box). As you point to
the specific devices, a description of the device appears in the text box
below the specific devices. There are more devices than the small box
area can show, hence there is a horizontal scroll bar above the text box.

Lab1_Packet Tracer Page 4 of 11 ET0730/Version 3.1

Network Fundamentals
___________________________________________________________________________________

Click on each of the groups and study the various devices that are
available and their symbols.
Question:
How many devices (symbols) can you find in the group of “Routers”
(“Network devices”, 1st symbol)?

15

2.5 You are now ready to construct your first Packet Tracer simulated
network, comprising of just two computers as depicted in Figure 1.2. You
will start by clicking on the device-group symbol (End Devices).
Click the symbol to select “Generic PC” and drag your mouse to the
Logical Workplace. This will place a “Generic PC” in the Logical
Workspace, and it will be automatically named as “PC0” (“PC-PT” is the
model of the device).

If you have picked and placed a wrong device onto the Logical
Workspace, you can delete the symbol by clicking on the (Delete)
button on the right-hand side of Packet Tracer interface, and then click
on the symbol you want to delete.

2.6 Insert the second “Generic PC” to your Logical Workspace. The software
will name it as “PC1”.
2.7 To link up the two computers, you need a cable (of course, a “virtual”
cable in Packet Tracer). Click on the device-group symbol of
(Connections), you will find that Packet Tracer provides many different
cables. Mouse your mouse over the first few symbols, and record down
the name of the cables of 2nd, 3rd and 4th symbols ( ):
Console, Copper Straight Through , Copper Crossover

2.8 If you know which cable to be used to link up the two computers, go
ahead to select it. If you don’t know, just click on the symbol
(“Automatically choose connection type”) and the Packet Tracer will
make the right choice for you. After selecting the cable symbol, click on
PC0, then PC1 to connect the two computers. Packet Tracer will add a
cable between the two computers.
Question:
Which type of cable has been selected by Packet Tracer (i.e. what type of
cable is represented by the dotted-line link)?
Copper Crossover

Lab1_Packet Tracer Page 5 of 11 ET0730/Version 3.1

Network Fundamentals
___________________________________________________________________________________

2.9 Place your mouse over PC0 and wait for a short while, a window will
pop-up, showing the network configuration of that computer. Under
“Port”, it will show the type of network interface that the cable is
connected to.
Question:
Which interface of PC0 has been selected by Packet Tracer to connect the
cable to?
Fast Ethernet0

Question:
Do you think your laptop also has an interface equivalent to that of PC0?
If “Yes”, identify that port on your laptop. If “No”, how do you connect
your laptop to the network?

Yes the ethernet port where normally the laptop connects to

the broadband router at home (if not using wifi)

2.10 Physically, the two computers are now connected but the network
configuration has not been set up, and hence the two computers cannot
communicate with one another at the moment.
Question:
What “network configuration” do you think that needs to be done in order
to allow the two computers to communicate?
Need to set IP address for both computers

2.11 To start the network configuration for PC0, click on it and a new device
configuration Window will pop-up. Select “Config → FastEthernet0”. In
the “IP Address” box, enter “192.168.1.100”. In the “Subnet Mask” box,
enter “255.255.255.0” (in fact, Packet Tracer is so helpful that when you
click on the “Subnet Mask”, it is automatically entered for you).
2.12 Click on the ‘cross button” ( ) at the top of the device
configuration window bar to close the window. Move your mouse over
PC0 and stay there for a short while. A window will pop-up, showing the
network configuration of PC0. Observe the text under “IP Address”
column and record down what you see.
192.168.1.100/24

2.13 Repeat Step 2.11 for PC1, but this time enter “192.168.1.101” for the IP
Address.

Lab1_Packet Tracer Page 6 of 11 ET0730/Version 3.1

Network Fundamentals
___________________________________________________________________________________

2.14 You are now done with necessary network configuration for the two
computers to communicate. To verify that the communication channel is
working (we call this “Verify the connectivity”), click on PC0, and select
“Desktop → Command Prompt”. A “black” (DOS prompt) window will
appear. Click inside the DOS prompt window, your cursor will start
blinking next to the “PC>” prompt. This is where you enter the DOS
commands.
2.15 Enter “ping 192.168.1.101” and press “ENTER”. This command will
make PC0 “ping” PC1. The process of “pinging” sends out four short
messages from PC0 to PC1 (i.e. from 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.101).
When PC1 receives each message from PC0, it replies with a short
message. When PC0 receives the reply from PC1, it shows it as “Reply
from 192.168.1.101: bytes=32 time=…..”.
2.16 PC0 should receive four replies from PC1. If it does, then the
connectivity between the two computers is verified as “working”.
2.17 From PC1, try to ping PC0 and observe what message shown by PC1.
Record down the first message.
Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

2.18 So far what you have been using the Packet Tracer in “Realtime” mode.
You will now switch to “Simulation” mode to see how data packets are
sent between the two computers. On the right-hand side of the Packet
Tracer interface, find the pair of symbols as shown below:

Figure 1.3 – Two symbols (buttons) used for switching the Packet Tracer
between “Realtime” mode (left) and “Simulation” mode (right).
2.19 Click on the symbol on the right to switch to “Simulation” mode. An
additional window will appear in Packet Tracer interface. Click on the
“Auto Capture / Play” button.
2.20 Click on PC0. The DOS prompt window will pop up again. Move it away
from the Logical Workspace so that it does not block the two computers
(you are going to observe some animation there).
2.21 In the DOS prompt window, enter “ping 192.168.1.101”. As soon as you
press “ENTER”, observe the animation in the Logical Workspace area.
You should see PC0 sending a “letter” (message) to PC1, and PC1 replies
with another message. This is the “Simulation” mode of Packet Tracer.
2.22 Switch back to “Realtime” mode.
2.23 You can save your network simulation file by clicking on “File → Save
As …”. Pick a location in your hard-disk and save the file as
“Lab1_network1.pkt”.

Lab1_Packet Tracer Page 7 of 11 ET0730/Version 3.1

Network Fundamentals
___________________________________________________________________________________

3. Using Switch in Computer Networks

3.1 In Step 2, you learnt to construct a simple network with only two
computers. If your network has more than two computers, you may need
to use a hub or switch to link up the computers.
3.2 Figure 1.4 shows the next network you are going to simulate. The device
linking the three computers is a Cisco 2950-24 Switch.

Figure 1.4 - A three-computer network with a switch.

3.3 In the Packet Tracer, Press “Ctrl-N” to create a new network simulation.
Insert the devices as shown in Figure 1.4. Link up the devices with the
help of Packet Tracer to select the correct type of cables.
Question:
Which type of cable has been selected by Packet Tracer (i.e. what type of
cable is represented by the solid-line link)?
Copper Straight through

3.4 Move the mouse over the switch and remains there. A window will pop
up, showing a list of ports available on the switch.
Question:
How many physical ports does this switch have (excluding the
“VLAN1”)?

24

Lab1_Packet Tracer Page 8 of 11 ET0730/Version 3.1

Network Fundamentals
___________________________________________________________________________________

Question:
Which physical ports have been automatically chosen by Packet Tracer to
be used for connections to the three computers?
FastEthernet0/1 FastEthernet0/2 and FastEthernet0/3

3.5 Configure the three computers with parameters as shown in Table 1.1
below:
Computer IP Address Subnet Mask
PC0 192.168.1.100 255.255.255.0
PC1 192.168.1.101 255.255.255.0
PC2 192.168.1.102 255.255.255.0

Table 1.1 – Network configuration parameters for the three computers in

Figure 1.4.

3.6 Test the connectivity among the computers using the “ping” utility.
3.7 Switch from “Realtime” mode to “Simulation” mode and repeating the
pinging. Observe how the data packets are forwarded.
Question:
When pinging from PC0 to PC1, is there any pinging message being sent
from PC0 to PC2?
No

3.8 Switch back to “Realtime” mode and save your network simulation as
“Lab1_network2.pkt”.

Lab1_Packet Tracer Page 9 of 11 ET0730/Version 3.1

Network Fundamentals
___________________________________________________________________________________

4. Difference between Hubs and Switches

4.1 Construct the network shown in Figure 1.5. Take note that a new network
device of type “Hub-PT” has been introduced.

Figure 1.5 - A network for comparing hubs and switches.

4.2 Configure the nine computers with parameters as shown in Table 1.2
below:
Computer IP Address Subnet Mask
PC0 192.168.1.100 255.255.255.0
PC1 192.168.1.101 255.255.255.0
PC2 192.168.1.102 255.255.255.0
PC3 192.168.1.103 255.255.255.0
PC4 192.168.1.104 255.255.255.0
PC5 192.168.1.105 255.255.255.0
PC6 192.168.1.106 255.255.255.0
PC7 192.168.1.107 255.255.255.0
PC8 192.168.1.108 255.255.255.0

Table 1.2 – Network configuration parameters for Figure 1.5.

4.3 Test the connectivity between the pairs of computers listed in Table 1.3
using the “ping” utility. Make sure that each connectivity test is
successful.

Lab1_Packet Tracer Page 10 of 11 ET0730/Version 3.1

Network Fundamentals
___________________________________________________________________________________

Computer 1 Computer 2 “Ping” successful?

PC0 PC3 Yes / No
PC0 PC6 Yes / No

PC3 PC0 Yes / No

PC3 PC6 Yes / No

PC6 PC0 Yes / No

PC6 PC3 Yes / No

Table 1.3 – Connectivity tests to be conducted.

4.4 Switch from “Realtime” mode to “Simulation” mode.

4.5 Ping from PC0 to PC3 and observe the data packet forwarding animation.
Question:
When pinging from PC0 to PC3, is there any pinging message being sent
from PC0 to PC4 and PC5?
No

4.6 Ping from PC0 to PC6 and observe the data packet forwarding animation.
Question:
When pinging from PC0 to PC6, is there any pinging message being sent
from PC0 to PC7 and PC8?
Yes

Question:
Comparing what you observe in Step 4.5 and Step 4.6, what can you say
about the data packet forwarding behaviour of hubs and switches? What
is the key difference?

Switches only forward the data packet to the intended recipient while
Hubs forward data packets to all of the connected computers
4.7 Ping from PC6 to PC0 and observe the data packet forwarding animation.
Question:
When pinging from PC6 to PC0, is there any pinging message being sent
from PC6 to PC7 and PC8?
YES (Hub sends data to all connected devices except source)

4.8 Switch back to “Realtime” mode and save your network simulation as
“Lab1_network3.pkt”.

Lab1_Packet Tracer Page 11 of 11 ET0730/Version 3.1