VLAN Practice Lab Setup in Packet Tracer

Packet Tracer is network simulator software. It allows you to create and test network topology in a simulated environment. You can use it to practice VLAN-related topics.

VLAN is a switch feature. To practice VLAN-related topics, you need to set up a practice Lab. The minimum requirement for a practice lab is one switch, one router, and two PCs. Routers and switches are costly. Purchasing routers and switches to set up a practice lab is not possible for everyone.

Network simulator software solves this problem by simulating networking devices. They allow us to create a practice in a simulated environment. Packet Tracer is network simulator software. It allows you to simulate essential networking devices.

Setting up a VLAN practice LAB on Packet Tracer

Start Packet Tracer. The following image shows Packet Tracer's interface.

Drag a router to the workspace. We need a router to provide inter-VLAN connectivity. All routers provide this facility. You can choose any router. I chose an 1841 router.

Drag and add three switches to the workspace. We will configure VLANs on these switches. Although you need only one switch to configure and test the basic features of VLANs, three switches allow us to configure and test extended features of VLANs.

Drag and add six PCs to the workspace. We will connect two PCs to each switch. As we know, a VLAN is a logical group of devices. We can add any device connected to the switch to any VLAN. For example, we can create two VLANs. We can keep three PCs in each VLAN, one from each switch.

After adding the necessary devices, we need to connect them. We use a straight-through cable to connect a router to a switch and a switch to a PC. We use a cross-over cable to connect a switch to another switch.

Connect Router to S1's GigabitEthernet0/1.

Connect S1's GigabitEthernet0/2 to S2's GigabitEthernet0/2 and S2's GigabitEthernet0/1 to S3's GigabitEthernet0/1.

Connect S1's FastEthernet 0/1 to PC0 and FastEthernet 0/2 to PC1, PC2, and PC3 to S2's FastEthernet 0/1 and 0/2, and PC4 and PC5 to S3's FastEthernet 0/1 and 0/2.

Finally, we need to assign an IP configuration to each end device. Each VLAN belongs to a separate IP subnet. In this lab, we will configure two VLANs. For two VLANs, we need two IP subnets. I will use the network 10.0.0.0/8 and 20.0.0.0/8 to assign IP configurations to end devices.

To assign an IP configuration, click PC, click Desktop, and click IP configuration.

Assign an IP configuration from the first IP subnet.

Repeat the same process and assign an IP configuration from the second IP subnet to the second PC connected to S1.

The following image shows the IP configuration on all PCs.

Use the same gateway IP address on PCs belonging to the same VLAN. That's all configuration we need on this LAB. You can use it to practice VLAN topics.

That's all for this tutorial. In this tutorial, we learned how to set up a practice lab for VLAN on Packet Tracer.