Member Avatar for christina>you

Hey everyone,

I have been offered a full-time job over the summer at my workplace. They told me I could work full-time if I thought I could set up a WAN from our main office to the 6 satelite offices via T1 lines.

I am very comfortable doing this on a LAN; that is, connecting numerous networks/routers not using internet.

I am in semester 2 of the cisco networking academy and will be taking all 8.

Is setting up a WAN a whole lot different than setting up numerous LANs? I have ~1.5 years experience as the network administrator at my work, though I'm not sure if I'm prepared for a project of this scale. Could someone honestly let me know if I would be getting in over my head?

Thanks. ;)

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A one-month build to link a headquarters and six branches over dedicated WAN circuits is a realistic, contained project for someone with hands-on LAN experience plus current Cisco coursework. Early focus on scope and carrier coordination is critical: collect site circuit demarc details, baseline application and voice bandwidth needs, and an inventory of existing equipment and access methods. That clears the path for a minimal design that satisfies policies and SLAs.

Design checklist (priorities): IP addressing and summarization strategy to keep routing tables small; choice of routing approach (static for very small deployments, dynamic protocol for growth - choose a single well-supported protocol for consistency); QoS policy for latency-sensitive traffic; security model (where firewalls, ACLs, or encrypted tunnels live) and NAT placement; monitoring and alerting; rollback and configuration backups. As observed, the transport option (dedicated circuit versus overlay) drives cost, management overhead, and what must be configured on the routers. 's mention of alternate WAN technologies is a reminder to validate what services the carrier actually offers before committing to a design.

Implementation and test workflow: build a tested configuration template in a lab or emulator, stage firmware and configs, schedule per-site cutovers with a defined maintenance window, maintain console access during cutover, and verify in this order - physical link, link/encapsulation, IP reachability, routing convergence, application throughput and QoS. Use simple performance tools and scripted checks so every site is validated the same way. Keep a documented rollback plan and contact list for carrier escalation.

Given the OP's coursework and recent hands-on LAN work, the project is manageable with careful planning, incremental rollout, and vendor/carrier coordination. Peer suggestions from and on pre-testing and lab practice align well with a staged approach that minimizes operational surprises.

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Member Avatar for Duki

Hey everyone,

I have been offered a full-time job over the summer at my workplace. They told me I could work full-time if I thought I could set up a WAN from our main office to the 6 satelite offices via T1 lines.

I am very comfortable doing this on a LAN; that is, connecting numerous networks/routers not using internet.

I am in semester 2 of the cisco networking academy and will be taking all 8.

Is setting up a WAN a whole lot different than setting up numerous LANs? I have ~1.5 years experience as the network administrator at my work, though I'm not sure if I'm prepared for a project of this scale. Could someone honestly let me know if I would be getting in over my head?

Thanks. ;)

bah, that was me... she had logged on to her account on my computer :p

Member Avatar for jbennet

shouldnt be that hard. i linked me and my friends home networks together across the net once using VPN in order to play an xbox lan game against eachother.

Member Avatar for tialoc

Depends on how you go about it. (i'm no expert by the way). Do they want to use a leased line or more of a VPN solution. I don't know what kind of traffic will be going through this WAN (data type, number of users...). Leased line seems easy, pay the phone co. and have a CSU/DSU router at each end... I haven't played with VPN a lot but I would imagine you would need some serious hardware at each end depending on how may users...

Have you talked to your instructor in class?

Member Avatar for Duki

I have spoken with both of the networking teachers... one seems a little hesitant to tell me it's not going to be overwhelming, while the other is telling me to go for it and try my best. The later prof is very proactive about putting your mind to something and getting it done it seems like.

The setup they are wanting to go with is something similar to the following:

Every branch (6) will tie into the Main Office via T1 PTP lines using cisco routers at each end.

I have a lot of lab experience in setting up multiple subnets and routers to communicate, though I'm not sure how the CSU/DSU modems will play a part. I will have approximately a month to complete the entire project.

Is going through an ISP more confusing and complex than simply connecting multiple vlans?

Member Avatar for jimlaver

I'm not an expert on this matter, but i used to work on Project Management for a mexican networking company a couple of years ago.

Maybe this is not what you wanna do and it's an old technology, but have you thought of Frame Relay?

I remember engineers doing this all the time with old 721, 751 and 3620 cisco routers. Even enabling FXS and E&M voice channels.

Oh, wait... I remember now... they used their own network to do that... it's called Uninet.

Well, good luck.

Member Avatar for Duki

yeah, what I'm really wondering is how difficult is it to configure the IOS on the cisco routers to make the offices talk?

Member Avatar for joshSCH

oh, are you planning on taking the ccna certification exam? I'm in Cisco I, but I really hate it. Everything in their curriculum is so biased.. they are simply using education to reach out to more potential buyers... Do you think it's worth it to become ccna certified? Or do employers look at other certifications (Net+) similarly?

Member Avatar for Duki

well, cisco controlls 95%+ of the internet backbones which is why I would strongly suggest Cisco certifications. Any serious company will go with cisco equipment.

Net+ is only the simple foundations of networking. I haven't taken my Net+ yet, though I plan on it this summer... the only studying I've done is cisco netacad semesters 1 and 2, and my instructor said it shouldn't be a problem to pass. What that tells me is Net+ is only 1/6 the knowledge of a CCNP.

Personally, I prefer CompTIA exams because it's a once passed always passed... but I guess the vendor specific certs are the ones that really make a difference in pay.. which is why it makes since that it's manditory to take update tests.

Member Avatar for iam

Go for it!

We had to set up a similar scenario in a lab a couple of months back using Cisco 2611 Routers, and it was no problem at all.

Use Cisco's Configmaker GUI if you're not sure, will let you test your scenario before you ever upload it on to the router.

Worst case scenario, you buy all the kit, try to do it but get stuck. Then you have a month to do the necessary research on Google and on here. Do it! :)

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