Hi Rene’
I just bought the following hw per your advice. Is that good for CCNA lab.
2x Cisco Catalyst 2950 switch (or Cisco Catalyst 2960)
1x Cisco Catalyst 3550 switch (or Cisco Catalyst 3560 or 3750)
3x Cisco 1841 router
Do you have detail about hw connection? Do I need to update the firmware/not?
Thanks,
Hello Quang
That looks like a pretty good CCNA lab setup. I suggest you find the most recent IOS images and practice doing some upgrades to the latest version. It’s most likely not necessary but it’s always good practice to be able to further understand the inner workings of the devices themselves, including flash, nvram, configuration files and IOS files and where they reside on the equipment.
I wish you success in the creation of your lab and in your studies!
Laz
Hi Laz,
I just upgraded my flash memory from 64MB to 128MB for my routers so that I need to flash an OSI image for those. Can you show me how?
Thanks,
Quang
Hello Quang,
Here is a quick example to copy images to your routers:
Rene
Hi Rene’
I couldn’t download ISO image from Cisco website. Please check out an attached image.
I did register with my correct info. have you ever seen this issue?
I did get into Service Contract Center from Cisco but the page showed as “NOTE: All Cisco Service Contract Center (CSCC) access has been removed to prepare for CSCC retirement.”
Can you upload your ISO image here so that people can dowload?
Quang
Hello Quang,
You can’t download any IOS images unless you have a valid service contract with Cisco for your device. I’m afraid we can’t share any IOS images here because Cisco IOS is protected by copyright. That’s a one way ticket to get into this website in trouble 
Rene
Hi Rene,
I just like to add that GNS3 now support switching through cisco iosV images. Can u please check and update it accordingly
Hi Sathish,
You are correct, you can use the Cisco IOSv-L2 multilayer switch image in GNS3. Updated this lesson.
Rene
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Is the Cisco1921 512MB Dram /256MB Flash IOS 15.7 good for lab
Hello Marcus
The 1921 is a good router to implement labs. The base model has two routed Ethernet ports so some topologies where you need at least three connections cannot be made unless you have installed additional modules that provide you with more routed ports. Otherwise, for CCNA, its capabilities are more than enough for creating labs.
It’s a good idea to have at least two routers, along with an L3 switch, so that you can create routing topologies with three routing devices.
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz
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Hi Team,
I am a juniper specialist engineer and I am beginning to study Cisco, I already have experience managing physical equipment due to projects in which I have worked, one of their recommendations is to get physical routers and switches, I would like to understand if there is any advantage or added value in this or on the other hand you believe that it is enough to do virtual laboratories. I use EVE NG to simulate.
Building a physical laboratory has some added value or facilities of some kind, can you help me understand more please, I am willing to buy the suggested equipment if necessary
Hello Alex
Strictly speaking, in order to pass the exams for certification, it is not necessary to purchase physical equipment. Having said that, having and working with physical equipment is always beneficial compared to working in a virtual environment.
The first reason is because there are some features that you can’t simulate, such as VSS, Stackwise, IGMP snooping, and Cisco DNA center to name a few. Secondly, real equipment will behave as expected whereas simulated topologies will always have the possibility of a different behaviour as shown in this post.
But the most important advantage of using real equipment is simply the fact that in your career, you will be dealing with real equipment, and no matter how good a simulator gets, there are some nuances and aspects that can never be simulated. I’ve had the good fortune of working at a large university and a large municipality, both of which had extensive Cisco-based networks, and the experience gained on real life equipment and setups is incomparable to that obtained on simulators.
Don’t get me wrong, simulators are more than enough to build and hone your skills, but nothing beats real equipment to gain real-world experience.
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz
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Hi Rene,
I recently passed my CCNA exams and new on this platform .It has been informative (thumbs up).
I have been building my home labs with real cisco equipment. However, I find it hard to get version 15 of the 28xx series router (currently version 12) . Please any advise or link will help. I can’t find any on cisco websites.
Also, I configured my router (2800) to ping my L3 switch (3750) while connected to a PC with the intention of ACLs hands-on. But until I do ROAS sub-int config. The L3 Switch would not ping the router. I have tried all I can do but I think I am about to go crazy.
I appreciate any sort of assistance. Thanks.
Hello Tobiloba
Congratulations on passing your CCNA!! I wish you success in even greater things! Glad to hear that the site has been helpful to you in your certification journey.
Concerning your home lab, that’s a great thing to do. Unfortunately, the only way to legally get your hands on newer versions of IOS is to actually purchase it. It’s not available for free, unfortunately. You may need to purchase the IOS itself or ensure that whatever new hardware you buy is already using the required IOS version. Alternatively, if you team up with a company (maybe your employer or university?) that may have a support contract with Cisco, you may be able to obtain something through them. Just make sure it’s legal 
.
As for the difficulty you are facing in your topology, I’m not sure I can help you without more information. If you are interested in the router on a stick configuration, take a look at the following lesson:
Keep in mind that such a configuration is typically applied for L2 switches since L3 switches have interVLAN routing as a feature. Maybe this is the source of your difficulties? Let us know more info and we can further help you in your troubleshooting processes.
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz
Hello hi all,
Is it smarter( less expensive) to purchase a whole lab kit together(1200-1500usd) or purchase the devices separately from like a ebay?
Hello Shahid
Hmm, there’s no definitive answer to your question. It depends on what deals you will find at the time, and because these always change, the answer may be different every day. 
The truth is that you can find second-hand individual devices quite cheaply on various online platforms like eBay, and it is likely that you will be able to get a better deal than purchasing a ready-made lab. However, the convenience of the lab kit is that you buy it and it has everything you need. It really depends upon if you need that convenience (to save time) or would you prefer to hunt for the deal of the individual purchases (to save money). You’ll have to weight the pros and cons in each case.
Alternatively, you could consider the use of emulators such as GNS3 and EVE-NG which are free, but take time to set up and to learn how to use. It also depends upon what certification you are studying for. For CCNA/CCNP these emulators are more than enough, but if you’re going for CCIE, then you will need to supplement emulators with real devices.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a definitive answer for you, but hopefully, this has given you a better idea in general.
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz
What would be an “upgraded” version of this setup in 2024? I’d like to know so I can purchase.
Hello Watson
For the purposes of the CCNA certification, the UC520 is still a valid option. Its use will primarily be to configure routing (static, OSPF, EIGRP, etc) and the related CCNA-level configurations. Of course, Cisco has retired the UC520 and has replaced it with the BE4000 series, but this is only for production networks where voice services (i.e. VoIP, IP telephony, etc) are being employed. The equipment listed by Rene in his post is still valid for CCNA today.
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz
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Hello,
I ordered a cisco 1841 router off ebay but the seller sent a 1921. Would that work?
Hello Priyadarshan
The lab equipment that you bought to create your CCNA lab sounds very good! You have a good mix of various devices for use with your labs.
Concerning the error message you are getting on the 2950, it looks like there’s another process on your computer that’s already using the serial port you’re trying to access. This can happen if you have another terminal session open or if there’s some other software running that’s using the port.
Now based on the error message the issue seems to be on your local computer side, specifically related to accessing the serial port via your USB-to-Serial adapter and not on the 2950 side. The fact that you can console into the Cisco Catalyst 3550 but not the 2950 switches suggests that your Cisco devices are likely configured correctly for console access, but there is a problem with how your computer is handling the serial port for the 2950 switches.
The error messages indicate that the operating system on your computer is unable to allocate the necessary resources to establish a connection to the serial port. What are you doing differently when connecting to the 3550 or the 2950? Are you using a different cable? Are you using a different USB/Serial adaptor? Let us know so that we can help you further.
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz