Configuring cisco routers

I just bought a few cisco routers from ebay (a 2524 and 3620). I'm having a hard time connecting to them so i can configure them. The 3620 has 2 ethernet looking ports on the front, they are not labeled i'm guessing one is the console and the other is aux, can anyone confirm this?

I bought a rolled cable with an serial adapter and connected it to the com1 port on my computer and to the console port on the 2524 (and both ports on the 3620) but cant get it to connect. Here are the settings i'm using in hyperterminal:
Bits per second: 9600
data bits: 8
parity: none
stop bits: 1
flow control: none

I've also tried changing it to com2 to see if that was it. Anyone know why i cant connect? I guess the routers could be dead but i was guaranteed that they would not be.

This should help:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/rout...de/boaovr.html
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/...0800a5b29.html

Have a look around the cisco site. There's plenty of documentation and configuration samples to be found.

I found a few things on cisco's website, the only thing i found was to change stop bits to 2 but i still cant get into either router

Not sure which program your using to access your routers, try setting the flow control to XON/XOFF, it works for me this way at work. hopefully that works for you :)

I'm using hyper terminal and that didnt do anything.

It's weird, when i'm in hyperterminal it get a flashing cursor, but i cant do anything. If i type something it should show up in hyperterminal even though i'm not connected, correct?

What other program could i use?

you can try using putty, its one of the better free utilities

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/

and I just tested hyperterminal and you can't type anything if its not connected.

you could use putty, but hyperterminal should do it for you. It's possible that someone changed the baud settings to the highest one, useful when you have to transfer an IOS through the serial connection, try to change the baud speed. Also try local echoing (or something along those lines), it's a longshot but maybe.

I agree with n00bius on a few things. HyperTerminal should work fine. I've connected to multiple Cisco routers/switches with it. Also, as n00bius said, change the baud rate. In most of my cases, changing the baud rate enabled a connection.

Just so you know, navigating Cisco menus & making changes via HyperTerminal can take some getting used to. Be patient with it.

Also change the settings and then turn it on while your connected, there's a whole lot of information that the router spews out when it first boots up, so you can be sure if you have the right settings or not. You should also see the IOS loading, a bunch of #####'s.

This is a stupid question, and probably an easy one but i have 2 com ports on my computer. How do i know which one i'm using when i configure hyper terminal?

Look in the board's manual to see which one is Com1 and which is 2.
Or simply try them both.. 9600-8-N-1 should be the standard setting for consoles.

If you haven't already found an answer to your question:

The easiest way to connect to a Cisco router is to go and purchase a USB to Serial converter cable,
http://www.cablesandkits.com/usb-ser...ble-p-534.html
and connect that to a serial to RJ45 converter cable( one of those usually ships with the router)http://www.cablesandkits.com/cisco-d...8301-p-30.html

Connect the two converter cables, plug the USB into your laptop, plug the RJ45 into the console port of the router. Load your USB to serial drivers. Connect to the router using hyperterminal settings:
Com 4 or 6
9600 baud
bits 8
parity none
flow control off

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JAZZMAN

The easiest way to connect to a Cisco router is to go and purchase a USB to Serial converter cable,

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You don't need one if your computer already has a serial port.