Lab 7‐1: VLSM - sthompson2752/Network-Fundamentals GitHub Wiki

This lab used Packet Tracer to build a large network that holds five separate subnetworks instead of one in total to increase network speed.

Useful Instructions The increment is useful in determining the broadcast address. I like to find the broadcast address with the increment first then go back one to determine the last usable host address. Determine the CIDR by choosing the number of available hosts that is just above the amount of hosts in the network. When making a chart, start with the lowest CIDR. The first usable address can be used as the default gateway. If packets are failing to send across routers: remove IP from RIP, run version 2 command, add IP back to RIP (in this case 172.16.0.0), save NVRAM, reboot power, try pinging again. Use red clock wire when connecting routers. Find increment by using last digit in net id (ex. /23 uses 2 as last digit so increment is 2)

This lab took me a good portion of time to complete since it was self-paced. I found distributing the IP addresses in the chart the most difficult. With subnetting, I tend to start out confused then get into a phase of understanding and complete the entire chart in five minutes. When sending packets to the devices, I had to remind myself that it can take up to three tries before a successful transfer occurs. Seeing the first transfer as a fail does not mean the configurations are necessarily incorrect, the network just needs a few tries the first time around since the devices have never communicated before.