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# 26 Project: Packet Tracer: Using a Switch

It’s not typical to wire two PCs directly together. Usually they’re connected through a switch.

Let’s set that up in the lab.

## 26.1 Add Some PCs

Choose “End Devices” in the lower left, and drag three PCs onto the workspace.

Click on each in turn, going to their “Config” tabs for their `FastEthernet0` devices and giving them IP addresses:

- PC0: `192.168.0.2`
- PC1: `192.168.0.3`
- PC2: `192.168.0.4`

They should all use subnet mask `255.255.255.0`.

## 26.2 Add a Switch

Click on “Network Devices” in the lower left. The bottom left row of icons will change.

Select “Switches”, second left on bottom row. The middle panel will change.

Drag a `2960` switch onto the workspace.

If you click on the switch and look under the “Physical” tab, you’ll see the switch is a device with a lot of Ethernet ports on it. (This is a pretty high-end switch. Home switches typically have 4 or 8 ports. The back of your WiFi router at home probably has 4 ports like this–that’s a switch built into it!)

We can connect PCs to these ports and they’ll be able to talk to one another.

## 26.3 Wire It Up

None of the PCs will be directly connected. They’ll all connect directly to the switch.

We don’t use crossover cables here; the switch knows what it’s doing.

> Note that when you first wire up the LAN, you might not have two green up arrows shown on the connection. One or both of them might be orange circles indicating the link is in the process of coming up. You can hit the `>>` fast-forward button in the lower left to jump ahead in time until you get two green up arrows.

Choose the “Connections” selector in the lower left.

Choose the “Copper Straight-Through” cable. (The icon will change to an “anti” symbol.)

Click on PC0, then select `FastEthernet0`.

Click on the switch, then select any `FastEthernet0` port.

Do the same for the other 2 PCs.

## 26.4 Test Pings!

Click on one of the PCs and go to the “Desktop” tab and run a Command Prompt. Make sure you can `ping` the other two PCs.

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