Connecting PC to different types of devices in Cisco packet tracer
While setting up a basic network in packet tracer, we must know the basics of networking and how to use the packet tracer to create a network.
Packet tracer is fairly easy-to-use software with lots of endpoints including PC so to connect the PC to switch in packet tracer, we have to click on the endpoint section in the packet tracer and select the PC endpoint. Either we can drag the PC from below to the main screen or we can click on the endpoint and then click on the screen to place the PC in the network.
To connect the PC to the switch, we have to select the appropriate cable as selecting the wrong cable will not work. The connection will not turn green if we will select the wrong cable while connecting the devices.
We must choose straight through the cable while connecting the PC with the switch.
PC usually has one Ethernet port to which we have to connect the cable while the switch usually has 24 ports so we can connect the cable to any one of those 24 ports. We will see the connection will immediately turn green when the cable is connected to both devices.
Connecting a PC to the router
There are two ways in which we can connect the PC to the router. One way is to include the switch between the PC and router and another way is to directly connect the PC with the router.
Most of the time in the real world, we will have a switch sitting in between the PC and router however if the network is small and there are fewer endpoints then the PC can also be connected directly to the router.
Connecting the PC with the router through the switch
Ideally switch sits between the PC and router as this type of design is easily scalable because if we need any other endpoint like a server or PC in the future then the endpoint can be easily added to the network through the switch. Many endpoints can be connected to the switch as it depends upon the number of available ports on the switch.
Connecting PC to router directly
PC can also be connected with the router directly however we must select a crossover cable while connecting directly as this is the correct cable when connecting directly.
To connect the PC directly to the router, we will connect the wire with the Ethernet port on the PC and the other part of the wire can be connected to the available Ethernet, fast Ethernet, or gigabit Ethernet port on the router.
Once we have the proper wire connectivity then we can start the configuration of the devices to make that network live.
