Static routing is a fundamental concept in computer networking that is used to direct traffic from one network to another. In this lab, we will be using Cisco Packet Tracer and Cisco IOS to demonstrate how to configure static routes. The purpose of this lab is to demonstrate how to enable communication between two PCs on different networks by configuring static routes on routers.
The steps we will be competing in this lab are as follows:
- Configure the PCs and routers according to the network diagram, including hostnames, IP addresses, and the gateway on the PCs.
- Configure static routes on the routers to enable PC1 to successfully ping PC2.
By the end of this lab, you will have a deeper understanding of how to configure static routes and how they work to enable communication between different networks. Let’s get started!
In this lab, we will start by configuring the devices as they have no previous configurations. This will provide us with additional practice in using the command-line interface.
We will begin with PC1. Click on the Configuration tab and change the default gateway to the IP address of Router 1, which is 192.168.1.254.
Next, we will configure the IP address of PC1. Click on Fast Ethernet 0, which is PC1’s network interface card (NIC). Manually set a static IP address of 192.168.1.1. The subnet mask will automatically fill in by using the tab key
Next, we will configure Router 1 using the command-line interface (CLI). Enter privileged exec mode by using the “enable” command, then enter global configuration mode by using the “configure terminal” command. Set the hostname of Router 1 to “R1”.
For the interfaces, start with Gigabit Ethernet 0/1. Use the “IP address” command to set its IP address to 192.168.1.254 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. Use the “description” command to add a description “to SW1” for the interface. Finally, use the “no shutdown” command to enable the interface.
Note: In the image, you may notice that we use shortened versions of the commands as Cisco allows this. For example, instead of using “configure terminal”, you can simply use “conf t”.
Continuing on with Router 1, we will now configure Gigabit Ethernet 0/0 using similar commands as we did for Gigabit Ethernet 0/1. First, set the IP address to 192.168.12.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 using the “IP address” command. Then, use the “description” command to add a description “to R2” for the interface. Finally, use the “no shutdown” command to enable the interface.
Continuing with Router 2, we will now check the status of its interfaces by using the “show IP interface brief” command. Currently, Gigabit Ethernet 0/1 is up but Gigabit Ethernet 0/0 is down because it has not yet been configured on Router 2.
To configure Router 2, we will first set its hostname to “r2” using the “hostname” command. Then, we will configure Gigabit Ethernet 0/0 with the same steps we used for Router 1, using the “IP address” command to set its IP to 192.168.12.2 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and the “description” command to add the description “to R1”. Next, we will configure Gigabit Ethernet 0/1 with the same steps, giving it a description “to R3”.
Now, let’s check the interfaces again using the “show IP interface brief” command. Similar to what we saw on Router 1, the Gigabit Ethernet 0/1 interface on Router 2 is showing as “up” but with “protocol down”. This is because Router 3’s interface is still disabled, but everything else looks good.
Next, we will configure Router 3 using the same method we have been using for Router 1 and Router 2. This includes setting the hostname to “R3” and configuring both interfaces on the router.
Next, we will configure PC2. Go to the “Config” tab, set the gateway to R3’s IP address of 192.168.3.254, then click on the “Fast Ethernet 0”. Change the IP for PC2’s NIC to 192.168.3.1, then press the tab key to automatically fill in the subnet mask.
Now that all of the reconfigurations are completed, we have gotten some extra practice with the basic commands. The focus of this lab is to configure static routes for two-way reachability so that PC1’s ping can reach PC2 and PC2’s reply can reach PC1.
R1 is already connected to the 192.168.1.0/24 network and just requires a route to the 192.168.3.0/24 network. Similarly, R3 only needs a route to R1’s network since it is already connected to the 192.168.3.0/24 network through its g0/1 interface.
However, R2 is not connected to either network and will require routes to both of them. As a result, we will need a total of four routes — one for R1 and R3, and two for R2 since it is not part of either of the networks.
Let's move on to configuring the routes on R1. First, we need to exit the interface command mode and get back to the global config mode. Then, we will use the “ip route” command followed by a “?” to see the available options. The options include the destination prefix and mask, which in our case, is the IP address “192.168.3.0” with a mask of “255.255.255.0” (as it is a /24 network).
Using “?” again, we can see other options such as the next hop address which should be “192.168.12.2” in our case. If we type “?” one more time, we will see two more options — “<1/255>” for distance or “<cr>” which means the command is ready to be entered as it is.
Now we can view R1’s routing table using the command “show ip route”. As you can see, the static route we configured is indicated by the letter “S”. Additionally, you can see the “local” and “connected” routes. The local route is the IP address configured on the interface with a /32 mask, which specifies only that particular interface. The connected route is the network address of the network the interface is connected to.
Next, we will move on to configuring R2. We will start by configuring the route to the 192.168.1.0/24 network using the command: “ip route 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 g0/0”. This time, we specified the interface instead of the next hop address. To continue configuring R2, we need to add a route to the 192.168.3.0/24 network. This is done using the command “ip route 192.168.3.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.13.3”, where we specified the next hop address instead of the interface.
Finally, let’s configure R3’s static route to the 192.168.1.0/24 network using the following command:
“ip route 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 [next hop address or interface]”.
After that, move on to PC1 and try pinging. To do so, click on PC1, then the Desktop tab, and finally, the Command Prompt. The first ping may fail due to ARP, but the rest should work.
Let’s try the following command: “ping 192.168.3.1”.
As you can see, PC1 was able to successfully ping PC2, indicating that the static routing configuration on R1, R2, and R3 has been successful. This lab demonstrates the importance and functionality of static routing in a network. By configuring static routes, we were able to establish successful communication between PC1 and PC2, even though they are located on different subnets. This highlights the key role of routers in connecting different subnets and enabling communication between devices. Overall, this lab was a great learning experience and helped to reinforce the concepts of static routing and its significance in a network environment.
We have successfully completed the Static Routing Lab as outlined by Jeremy’s IT Lab. This lab was a part of his Free CCNA 200–301 course which can be accessed on his YouTube channel here — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8W9oMNSuwo&list=PLxbwE86jKRgMpuZuLBivzlM8s2Dk5lXBQ.
