Having learned what a router is and its connections in the previous section, we now learn how to access a router and how to start configuring a router. Router configuration is mainly done using CLI (Command Line Interface) and the software that we use in Windows for this purpose is called Hyper Terminal.
How to access a Hyper Terminal?
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| Type anything inside the Name field and select any Icon, then hit OK |
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| Here, make sure Connect Using says 'COM1' using the drop down list, then hit OK. |
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| On this screen click on Restore Defaults always and then click APPLY and then OK. |
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| Finally, this your Hyper Terminal window. |
Once you have opened your Hyper Terminal window by following the steps mentioned above you can then turn ON the router.
The initial screens that you see will be as shown below;
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| This screen shows that the router is loading the programs. |
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| This screen shows the router loading. Here you can see the router series and the version of the router. |
Once the router has completed loading this is the screen that you will see. On this screen where you see the cursor blinking, press [CTRL]+C on your keyboard to proceed to the next screen.
WELCOME !!! This is your screen where you begin your work. The prompt that you see on the screen 'Router>' is called the "User Mode".
There are three basic modes in Cisco routers -
User mode, denoted by the prompt '>'
Enable mode, denoted by the prompt ' # '
Configuration mode, denoted by the prompt '<config> # '
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| This figure shows the different modes. |
