University of Management and Technology

Lab Manual
Working with Packet Tracer Simulator
(Basics)

Lab Instructor: Muhammad Abdul Jabbar

Computer Networks Lab

Fall 2021

Department of Computer Science

UMT, Lahore, Pakistan
Contents
Objectives ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Basic Knowledge and Theory ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Objectives
• Learn how to use Packet Tracer and become familiar with building topologies in Packet Tracer. This activity
will provide an opportunity to explore the standard lab setup using Packet Tracer simulator.
Basic Knowledge and Theory

What is Packet Tracer?

Packet Tracer is a protocol simulator developed by Dennis Frezzo and his team at Cisco Systems.
Packet Tracer (PT) is a powerful and dynamic tool that displays the various protocols used in
networking, in either Real Time or Simulation mode. This includes layer 2 protocols such as Ethernet
and PPP, layer 3 protocols such as IP, ICMP, and ARP, and layer 4 protocols such as TCP and UDP.
Routing protocols can also be traced. Cisco Packet tracer helps to create the virtual area networks with
graphical representation.

Cisco Packet Tracer might be used in some variety of ways like:

• Class Work, Home Work and distance learning

• Hands-on lab reinforcement o Lecture demonstration
• Modeling and Visualization of networking device algorithms and networking protocols
• Multi-user cooperative and competitive activities
• Competitions
• Problem-Solving Activities in concept-building, Skill-building, Design and
Troubleshooting.
Step 1: Start Packet Tracer

Figure 1: Packet Tracer

1 Menu Bar This bar provides the File, Edit, Options, View, Tools,
Extensions, and Help menus. You will find basic commands such
as Open, Save, Print, and Preferences in these menus. You will
also be ableto access the Activity Wizard from the Extensions
menu.
2 Main Tool Bar This bar provides shortcut icons to the File and Edit menu
commands. This bar also provides buttons for Zoom, the drawing
Palette, and the Device Template Manager. On the right, you
will also find the Network Information button, which you can
use to enter a description for the current network (or any text you
wish to include).
 3 Common This bar provides access to these commonly used workspace tools:
Tools Bar Select, Move Layout, Place Note, Delete, Inspect, Add Simple
PDU, and Add Complex PDU. See "Workspace Basics" for
more information.
4 Logical/Physic You can toggle between the Physical Workspace and the Logical
al Workspace Workspace with the tabs on this bar. In Logical Workspace, this
and Navigation bar also allows you to navigate through levels of a cluster, create a
Bar new New Cluster, Move Object, Set Tiled Background, and
Viewport. In Physical Workspace, this bar allows you to navigate
through physical locations, create a New City, create a New
Building, create a New Closet, Move Object, apply Grid to the
background, Set Background, and go to the Working Closet.
5 Workspace This area is where you will create your network, watch
simulations, and view many kinds of information and statistics.
6 Realtime/Simu You can toggle between Realtime Mode and Simulation Mode
l ation Bar with the tabs on this bar. This bar also provides buttons to Power
Cycle Devices as well as the Play Control buttons and the Event
List toggle button in Simulation Mode. Also, it contains a clock
that displays the relative Time in Realtime Mode and Simulation
Mode.
7 Network This box is where you choose devices and connections to put into
Component the workspace. It contains the Device-Type Selection Box and the
Box Device-Specific Selection Box.
8 Device-Type This box contains the type of devices and connections available in
Selection Box Packet Tracer 5.1. The Device-Specific Selection Box will change
depending on which type of device you choose.
9 Device- This box is where you choose specifically which devices you want
Specific to put in your network and which connections to make.
Selection Box
10 User Created This window manages the packets you put in the network during
Packet simulation scenarios. See the "Simulation Mode" section formore
Window details.
*

Step 2: Choosing Devices and Connections

We will begin building our network topology by selecting devices and the media in which to
connect them. Several types of devices and network connections can be used. For this lab we will
keep it simple by using End Devices, Switches, Hubs, and Connections.

Single click on each group of devices and connections to display the various choices. The devices
you see may differ slightly.
Step 3: Building the Topology – Adding Hosts
Single click on the End Devices.

Single click on the Generic host.

Move the cursor into topology area. You will notice it turns into a plus “+” sign.

Single click in the topology area and it copies the device.

Add three more hosts.

Step 4: Building the Topology – Connecting the Hosts to Hubs and

Switches Adding a Hub

Select a hub, by clicking once on Hubs and once on a Generic hub.

Add the hub by moving the plus sign “+” below PC0 and PC1 and click once.

Connect PC0 to Hub0 by first choosing Connections.

Click once on the Copper Straight-through cable.

Perform the following steps to connect PC0 to Hub0:
1. Click once on PC0
2. Choose FastEthernet
3. Drag the cursor to Hub0
4. Click once on Hub0 and choose Port 0
5. Notice the green link lights on both the PC0 Ethernet NIC and the Hub0 Port 0
showing that the link is active.
1 2 3 4 5

Repeat the steps above for PC1 connecting it to Port 1 on Hub0. (The actual hub port you choose
does not matter.)
Adding a Switch

Select a switch, by clicking once on Switches and once on a 2950-24 switch.

Add the switch by moving the plus sign “+” below PC2 and PC3 and click once.

Connect PC2 to Hub0 by first choosing Connections.

Click once on the Copper Straight-through cable.

Perform the following steps to connect PC2 to Switch0:
1. Click once on PC2
2. Choose FastEthernet
3. Drag the cursor to Switch0
4. Click once on Switch0 and choose FastEthernet0/1
5. Notice the green link lights on PC2 Ethernet NIC and amber light Switch0
FastEthernet0/1 port. The switch port is temporarily not forwarding frames, while it goes
through the stages for the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) process.
6. After a about 30 seconds the amber light will change to green indicating that the port has
entered the forwarding stage. Frames can now forwarded out the switch port.

Note: Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is discussed later.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Repeat the steps above for PC3 connecting it to Port 3 on Switch0 on port FastEtherent0/2. (The
actual switch port you choose does not matter.)

Move the cursor over the link light to view the port number. Fa means Fast
Ethernet, 100 Mbps Ethernet.
Step 5: Configuring IP Addresses and Subnet Masks on the Hosts
Before we can communicate between the hosts we need to configure IP Addresses and Subnet
Masks on the devices.

Click once on PC0.

Choose the Config tab and click on Settings. It is here that you can change the name of PC0. It is
also here where you would enter a Gateway IP Address, also known as the default gateway and the
DNS Server IP Address. We will discuss this later, but this would be the IP address of the local
router. If you want, you can enter the Gateway IP Address 172.16.1.1 and DNS Server IP Address
172.16.1.100, although it will not be used in this lab.
 Click on Interface and then FastEthernet. Although we have not yet discussed IP Addresses, add
the IP Address to 172.16.1.10. Click once in the Subnet Mask field to enter the default Subnet
Mask. You can leave this at 255.255.0.0. We will discuss this later.

Also, notice this is where you can change the Bandwidth (speed) and Duplex of the Ethernet NIC
(Network Interface Card). The default is Auto (auto negotiation), which means the NIC will
negotiate with the hub or switch. The bandwidth and/or duplex can be manually set by removing the
check from the Auto box and choosing the specific option.

Bandwidth - Auto

If the host is connected to a hub or switch port which can do 100 Mbps, then the Ethernet NIC on
the host will choose 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet). Otherwise, if the hub or switch port can only do 10
Mbps, then the Ethernet NIC on the host will choose 10 Mbps (Ethernet).

Duplex - Auto

Hub: If the host is connected to a hub, then the Ethernet NIC on the host will choose Half Duplex.

Switch: If the host is connected to a switch, and the switch port is configured as Full Duplex (or
Auto negotiation), then the Ethernet NIC on the host will choose Full Duplex. If the switch port is
configured as Half Duplex, then the Ethernet NIC on the host will choose Half Duplex. (Full
Duplex is a much more efficient option.)
 The information is automatically saved when entered.

To close this dialog box, click the “X” in the upper right.

Repeat these steps for the other hosts. Use the information below for IP Addresses and Subnet
Masks.
Host IP Address Subnet Mask
PC0 172.16.1.10 255.255.0.0
PC1 172.16.1.11 255.255.0.0
PC2 172.16.1.12 255.255.0.0
PC3 172.16.1.13 255.255.0.0

Verify the information

To verify the information that you entered, move the Select tool (arrow) over each host.

Deleting a Device or Link

To delete a device or link, choose the Delete tool and click on the item you wish to delete.
Step 6: Connecting Hub0 to Switch0

To connect like-devices, like a Hub and a Switch, we will use a Cross-over cable. Click once the
Cross-over Cable from the Connections options.

Move the Connections cursor over Hub0 and click once.

Select Port 5 (actual port does not matter).

Move the Connections cursor to Switch0.

Click once on Switch0 and choose FastEthernet0/4 (actual port does not matter).

The link light for switch port FastEthernet0/4 will begin as amber and eventually change to green
as the Spanning Tree Protocol transitions the port to forwarding.