[NFBCS] Accessibility of PacketTracer

[Richard Barron]

 Packet Tracer is, in essence, simulating real equipment. 

So the short answer is to skip Packet Tracer and have the student run the same setups in a real environment. 

>From what I remember, the instructions are already in PT, so you may be able to just copy and paste them into a more accessible format and run a real or other simulated lab.
    On Tuesday, September 15, 2026 at 11:25:15 AM PDT, Robert Jaquiss via NFBCS <nfbcs at nfbnet.org> wrote:  
 
 Hello Brian:

    Thank you for your note. My question about accessing equipment is
academic at this point. At age 73, I am not about to try for a CCNA.
Packet Tracer is a program used to simulate networks. Students can create a
simulated network of PCs, routers, switches etc. and then test their
network. This is done so schools don't have to equip labs with racks of
hardware.
I nearly failed a test because I was handed a cable and asked to identify
which connector was attached to it. The connector shell had markings which
were in print. I ended unscrewing the connection in order to find out if I
had a DTE or DCE cable. It was a good thing that I had good mechanical
skills. Those were long pins.
More later.

Regards,
Robert


-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Buhrow <buhrow at nfbcal.org> 
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2026 11:47 AM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Cc: rjaquiss at earthlink.net; buhrow at nfbcal.org
Subject: Re: [NFBCS] Accessibility of PacketTracer

    hello Robert.  Yes, in general, routers and switches can be
controlled via a terminal interface, either via a serial port or via an ssh
terminal connection.  Some of the lower end equipment, i.e. Net Gear, D-link
etc. must be configured through a browser, but all of the enterprise
equipment I'm aware of can be fully controlled through a terminal.

I'm not familiar with packet tracer, but I wonder if tcpdump, a command line
packet capture tool, can be used instead of packet tracer to complete the
course work?  Tcpdump is fully accessible via command line.

-thanks
-Brian


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