A Professor Wingman Class 404
NetMgmt.Lab

Week 6

Cisco Packet Tracer Introduction and LAN Design Practice

Use Cisco Packet Tracer to design and test a small virtual LAN.

Lesson recap

Packet Tracer is the flight simulator for networks. You can wire up routers and switches that would cost thousands of dollars in real life, break them on purpose, and watch packets crawl across the topology in slow motion. This week you'll build your first switched LAN — two PCs, a switch, and ping. It feels trivial, but the click sequence (right device, right cable, right interface, right IP) is the same one you'll repeat for every CCNA lab on Earth. Get the muscle memory now.

Learning goals

  • Open Packet Tracer and identify the workspace
  • Add PCs, switches, and a router
  • Connect devices with the correct cables
  • Assign IP addresses to devices
  • Test connectivity between devices
  • Save and document the LAN file

Key terms

Packet Tracer

Cisco's free network simulation tool.

End Device

PCs, servers, phones — anything that originates or consumes traffic.

Intermediary Device

Switches, routers, access points — they forward traffic.

Topology

How devices are connected.

Static IP

Manually-set IP on a device.

Straight-through cable

Connects unlike devices (PC ↔ switch).

Crossover cable

Connects like devices (PC ↔ PC, switch ↔ switch — though modern auto-MDIX often makes this irrelevant).

Curated videos

How to Set Up a Simple Network in Cisco Packet Tracer

Breezy Codes

FREE CCNA 200-301 Course (Packet Tracer intro)

David Bombal

Commands

Click PC → Desktop tab → Command Prompt
ipconfig 192.168.1.10 255.255.255.0
ping 192.168.1.20

Checkpoint checklist

Sign in to save your progress across devices.
  • Install and open Packet Tracer
  • Add devices to workspace
  • Connect devices with proper cables
  • Assign static IP addresses
  • Test ping between devices
  • Save .pkt file correctly named
  • Saved required evidence
  • Answered the reflection questions

Pro tips from the instructor

  • ★If link lights stay red, you usually picked the wrong cable type or the wrong interface. Delete the cable and try again.
  • ★Use Simulation Mode (bottom-right) and watch a ping packet hop frame-by-frame — it makes the OSI model click.
  • ★Save (Ctrl+S) constantly. Packet Tracer does not auto-save, and it can crash.

Try this — stretch exercises

Optional hands-on practice that goes beyond the workbook. Check items off as you complete them — progress saves in this browser.

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  • Add a third PC and a second switch trunked to the first. Can all three PCs ping each other?
  • Try setting two PCs in different subnets (192.168.1.x and 192.168.2.x) — observe the ping fail and explain why.

Files to save this week

  • 📁 Week06_PacketTracerLAN_YourLastName.pkt
  • 📁 Week06_LANTopology_YourLastName.png