Serial WAN Link

For the Cisco CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) exam you are expected to know about
WAN (Wide Area Network) links, the protocols used and how to configure a serial WAN link on
a router. This tutorial will discuss these topics and end with a simple WAN lab which can be
setup with minimal equipment and cost.

WAN Connection through an ISP

A serial WAN link is a dedicated Point to Point link, mainly used to connect two sites through an
Telco ISP. A serial link would appear to the routers at each end to be always on. The way in
which the data gets between the two routers may be very different depending on the protocol and
encapsulation methods (e.g. it may be Packet-switched or Leased Line).

As can be seen in the diagram above in a serial WAN setup there are a few bits of equipment
with different terminologies; DCE and DTE, these terms relate to where in the end to end setup
the equipment is. A DTE (Data Terminating Equipment) is the start and end points in the serial
setup, this is the Cisco routers at each end. A DCE (Data Communications Equipment) is the
equipment which the router connects to, usually provided by the ISP, and provides the main link
out of an office to the ISP (in the example above, BT, these are equipment also known as
CSU/DSU's or Modem's). A DTE can only talk to a DCE, but a DCE can talk to other DCE's.

The speed at which a serial WAN link runs is determined by the 'clock rate', this rate governs the
number of bits that can be transferred per second, for example, a clock rate of 64000 would give
an overall serial link bandwidth of 64k. This clock rate cannot be set at the DTE's (routers) at
either end but is controlled by the telco ISP via the DCE's. If you require more bandwidth you
must contact your ISP and request the clock rate to be increased and pay more money for the
privilege! There is NOTHING you can add to the Cisco router configuration to increase the
bandwidth above the clock rate!

Cables

There are different types of cables used when setting up a serial WAN link. As discussed
previously, the DTE (router) can only talk to a DCE, a cable called a DTE/DCE cable should be
used for such a link. There are a variety of different flavor of plug that can be used at each end of
a serial DTE/DCE cable but they all conform to the same standard which governs the Physical
(OSI Layer 1) details, electrical signaling, voltages etc. A X.21 cable can be seen in the diagram
above linked to s0/0 of the routers at each end. The following image shows some of the different
types of serial cable connectors:
There are different ways in which a serial cable can be wired up, depending on which pins are
connected to which and the gender of plug each end could either be a DTE or DCE connection,
this is very important when setting up a serial link, if the wrong plug is connected at one end or
the other you will not get a link, because transmit pins at one end will be sending data to transmit
pins at the other. When you connect a serial cable to a Cisco router you can use the "show
controller s 0/0" command which will tell you the hardware (OSI Layer 1) specifications
including what type of cable you have plugged into the router, including the plug type.

router1#sh cont s 0/0

HD unit 0, ibd = 0xCE160, driver structure at 0xD2EE0
buffer size 1524 HD unit 0, X.21 DTE cable

The router can detect the cable type because particular pins are joined, this command will work
even if the cable is not plugged in at the other end.

WAN Connection without an ISP (The cheap way to do a lab!)

When studying for a CCNA you hardly want to pay for a leased line from your ISP, or purchase
expensive DSU/CSU's. You can connect two routers using a DTE serial cable and a DCE serial
cable connected back-to-back. One additional configuration command must be entered onto one
of the routers serial interfaces to enable it it to provide a clock-rate for the link, simulating a
DCE.

The first thing to do is to ascertain which is the DTE and which is the DCE interface. This can be
done by physically looking at the cable connector type. If you are using X21 then the female
connector is the DCE end. The other (and CCNA exam preferred!) way of achieving this is to
issue the "show controller s 0/0" command as discussed earlier.

Once you have found the DCE end you next need to add the clock rate to this interface. DCE
devices provide the clock rate and because you are emulating this you have to manually get the
router to provide the clocking source. All you need to do is use the "clock rate" interface
configuration command, which tells the router to supply clocking (synchronization) on the link
which in normal conditions the CSU/DSU would provide.
IMAGES of Ethernet wire
Coaxial Cable

Twisted Pair Cable

Fiber-Optic Cable