Introduction

The Cisco switch lab is free and open to the entire world 24x7. No reservations or registration is required.  Just login anytime! Login to whatever you want.

To login, use a Telnet client like Unix/Linux telnet, Putty, Tera Term, or SecureCRT and telnet to TCP ports 49001, 49002, 49003, 49004, etc. Each port goes to a specific console line, and that goes to a specific switch or router.

telnet 98.163.81.48 49001
telnet 98.163.81.48 49002
telnet 98.163.81.48 49003
telnet 98.163.81.48 49004
telnet 98.163.81.48 49005
telnet 98.163.81.48 49006
telnet 98.163.81.48 49007
telnet 98.163.81.48 49008

If you're coming in from a tunnel or another site, you can telnet to 10.10.11.1 <TCP port>.

The lab has a liberal access policy. You get 80-90 minutes per session on each console line, a 1 hour waiting period, and a 2 hour reset period. Each line is timed separately. You can have many logins and sessions per day on each console, and you can login to as many devices as you want that are available. Read the FAQ below and the Lab Details page for more information.

If Windows Telnet causes problems, try "term len 0", or just use something else.


To check which devices are available, click http://98.163.81.48:8080/labstat.txt .

You can login to all 8 devices to manage the entire lab. The devices include:

Console / Device Type
----------------------
49001 = Catalyst 3750
49002 = Catalyst 3560
49003 = Catalyst 3550
49004 = Catalyst 3550
49005 = Catalyst 3550
49006 = Catalyst 3550
49007 = Catalyst 3560
49008 = Catalyst 3750

Please follow these simple rules:

1. Do not change the line console settings.
2. Do not erase the IOS image or format the flash filesystem.
3. If you need to set a password, use "cisco"
4. Do "wr erase" and "reload" when you're done (type "no" when it asks to save the config).

All switches are Layer 3 switches, and support IP routing, routed ports, SVI's and routing protocols like RIP, EIGRP, OSPF and BGP. All Cisco IOS commands are available.

Click on the Network Topology below to see the lab. Save the diagram to your computer (or choose view image) to view at maximum size, or click here.

You can also connect your switches and routers to this lab to make a larger lab. You can either tunnel directly with me, or route from another lab site like FreePeerX. To attach your devices, it is recommended that you have:

1. Router or Linux/BSD/Unix host that can GRE tunnel
2. Reliable internet connection
3. Network devices you can share

To see the Routing Tunnel Lab Topology, go to the Routing Tunnel Lab page.

Exact cabling is subject to change. Please email me if you need any cables or GBIC's moved or reseated (e.g., flaky SFP, loose cable, etc).

Always run "sh cdp ne" or "sh cdp ne det" to see all switches, and the current cabling.

The MAC address of the Linux Lab Host at 10.10.11.1/24 is 00:14:d1:23:a2:ea.

More information can be found in the Lab Details page.