Hi people! Today is what I anticipate to be the last entry of this chapter, fingers crossed it is. When you get to the end of reading the post you'll see, but for me, I'm just starting out this entry. I take notes as I go.
Firstly, we're going to cover working with routers. This should really take a jiffy, because it's probably not stuff that I haven't covered. So, how do you go about connecting a router to a network? Well, there's several methods to doing that. One ancient one is using the serial connection. However, that's unique to Cisco routers. But Cisco's massive userbase make it a must know for the Network+ test. The serial cable is known as a "rollover" or "Yost cable". Switches and routers both have a configuration interface. Although, let's be honest, what is there really to configure on a switch? Both routers and switches are known as "managed devices". When I refer to router later in the entry, it's good to note that it will work with a switch as well. So when you've made your connection with the cable and the router, you'll need a terminal program to communicate with the router. The popular ones are PuTTY and HyperTerminal. To use the programs you may need to know a bit about serial ports, these settings will get you connected though:
- 9600 baud
- 8 data bits
- 1 stop bit
- No parity
After configuring it, then it's time to connect. Cisco products will run Cisco IOS, which is their operating system. The Network+ exam won't test me on my knowledge of the terms, so I won't focus on that. Then when I've connected to the router, set up the terminal emulator, then I'll see the initiating router prompt. You can't do much without knowing the commands. Type "enable", then the prompt will change to Router# which I don't know what that means. Then it will get more complex, blah blah, who cares. It's not my problem right now, since the Network+ exam won't cover that.
Routers usually come with a built-in Web interface, which will let me do what I need, and it's easier than that Cisco nonsense command line IOS. For the interface to work properly, the router should have a built-in IP, or you must assign it one. The point is, the Router has to have one. If it has a default IP, it will tell you in the manual. One thing to never do, is plug in a new router into an existing network. It might start doing all sorts of crazy stuff. If it had DHCP, then you'd have a rouge DHCP server ruining your network. Now that I think about it, it would make for such a sinister plan haha. Connect a router to your arch nemisis' network, boom "I got internet problems". Jokes aside, most router techs will use a laptop and crossover cable to connect to the new router. To get to the web interface you would try and set your network ID to the same of the router, then connect to the router. Enter the default IP into the browser, then do "admin" for user and pass, since that's the default. When you've accessed the web interface, you can do whatever. Then there's also Network Management Software (NMS) which knows how to talk to everything in your network pretty much (i.e: routers, switches, computers) and it enables you to have an overall look at your network. Usually it's a web site, which is why you type your default IP in the browser to take a look at the NMS. Sometimes the NMS tool isn't that good, and guess what. I have personal experience, Belkin released a firmware update for my router, and the new firmware is trash! Continuing, there are other ways that your router can connect, like USB and blah, who cares?
Next, we got the basic router configuration. A router MUST have two connections at the very least. When you set up a router, every port has to be configured for the router to work with its network IDs. Therouting table must send packets to where it needs to go. Here are the steps:
Step 1: You set up the router's WAN connection, DHCP is strongly suggested. Note: ISPs will still sell you static IPs apparently. In such a case you'd need to set your router to Static IP (through the NMS.)
Step 2: Set up the LAN, you have complete control over this, unlike the WAN side. You choose a network ID, then assign the correct IP information to the LAN-side NIC. You can also see the LAN NIC on your NMS (very useful, isn't it?)
Step 3: Establish routes on your network.
Step 4 (Optional): Configure a Dynamic Protocol. I'm not even going into this, cause I probably will never be doing this (and it's irrelevant to the exam.)
When you've finish configuring routes, document what you did. I should do that with a lot of things, but I'm too lazy. Let me tell you my memory is not the best, so yes document things! Also backing up your configuration is probably a good idea just in case you forget or something goes wrong.
Finally, router problems! Fun stuff, right? Well the Network+ exam is great at giving you problems so I'll need to be solving them. The questions are straightforward as long as I know this:
- Consider other issues first because routers don't fail very often.
- Keep in mind what your router is supposed to do.
- Know how to use a few basic tools that can help you check the router.
Router problems begin with someone not being able to connect ot someone else. Even a small network has several NICs, computers, switches, and routers. These are a lot of devices, so it could be a lot problems. The last thing you should look at as the culprit is the router, since it's robust. With that said, it's a good idea to mention that there could be some serious, but rare, problems with the router. Just look at your routing table first, to determine why packets aren't being transferred properly. I'll end it here, because the last pages of this chapter 270 and forward give specific examples, LOOK AT IT! It gives good examples. With that said, thanks for reading, and have a good weekend.
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