Labs you can actually open.
Packet Tracer™ and Cisco Modeling Labs™ topologies for the CCNA® and CCNP® topics that show up on the exam and in real production networks. Free. No email required.
Need the simulator? Packet Tracer is free from Cisco Networking Academy. For larger CCNP labs, use Cisco Modeling Labs or EVE-NG.
Free downloadable labs
VLAN + Trunk Basics (Lab 4)
Two switches, four PCs, two VLANs. Build the trunk, test inter-VLAN isolation, then add an SVI router.
Standard ACL Walk-through
Build a small network and lock down access with a numbered standard ACL. Watch implicit deny in action.
Extended ACL Walk-through
Permit HTTP, deny ICMP, log unmatched. Move the ACL between in/out to feel the direction difference.
OSPF Multi-Area Lab
Multi-area OSPF — area 0 backbone, ABRs, LSA flooding. Verify neighbor formation and area boundaries.
EIGRP + OSPF — Same Topology
One topology running both EIGRP and OSPF. Compare convergence, metric, and design trade-offs side by side.
Port Security + DHCP Snooping + DAI (Lab 32)
Defend an access switch from MAC flooding, a rogue DHCP server, and ARP spoofing in one lab. Trust ports, untrust ports, and the show commands that prove it works.
Static + Default Routing
Build a small enterprise with two branches. Configure static routes, a default route to the ISP, and verify the routing table.
Don't see what you need? Tell us which lab you'd like — we add labs in the order most students ask for them.
How to use these labs
- Download the file matching your simulator (Packet Tracer for CCNA, CML for CCNP).
- Open it in the simulator without reading our notes. Try to make it work first.
- Compare your config to the included README — the gaps are what's worth studying.
- Break it on purpose. Change one thing. Predict what happens. Verify.
Important — about Cisco assets
These topology files are original works built by PacketMentor for educational use with Cisco's free simulators. They contain no Cisco IOS code, no Cisco exam content, and no copyrighted Cisco curriculum. Cisco®, Packet Tracer™, and Cisco Modeling Labs™ are trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. — referenced here only to describe the simulators the files run on.
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