Static Routing Configuration Guide with

Examples
This tutorial explains how to configure static routing step by step in detail including
advantage of static routing and disadvantage of static routing. Learn how to enable,
configure, manage and delete static route in Cisco router with practical example in packet
tracer.

Lab Activity

Download and open the configure-static-route-practice-topology-blank.pkt file in Cisco Packet Tracer

create the follow network:

Assign IP address to PCs

Assign IP address 10.0.0.2/8 to PC0.

Repeat same process for PC1 and assign IP address 20.0.0.2/8.

Assign IP address to interfaces of routers

Double click Router0 and click CLI and press Enter key to access the command prompt of
Router0.

Two interfaces FastEthernet0/0 and Serial0/0/0 of Router0 are used in this topology. By
default interfaces on router are remain administratively down during the start up.

We need to configure IP address and other parameters on interfaces before we could

actually use them for routing. Interface mode is used to assign IP address and other
parameters. Interface mode can be accessed from global configuration mode. Following
commands are used to access the global configuration mode.

Router>enable
Router#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#
From global configuration mode we can enter in interface mode. From there we can
configure the interface. Following commands will assign IP address on FastEthernet0/0.

Router(config)#interface fastEthernet 0/0

Router(config-if)#ip address 10.0.0.1 255.0.0.0
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Router(config)#
interface fastEthernet 0/0 command is used to enter in interface mode.

ip address 10.0.0.1 255.0.0.0 command will assign IP address to interface.

no shutdown command will bring the interface up.

exit command is used to return in global configuration mode.

Serial interface needs two additional parameters clock rate and bandwidth. Every serial
cable has two ends DTE and DCE. These parameters are always configured at DCE end.
We can use show controllers interface command from privilege mode to check the
cable’s end.

Router#show controllers serial 0/0/0

Interface Serial0/0/0
Hardware is PowerQUICC MPC860
DCE V.35, clock rate 2000000
[Output omitted]
Fourth line of output confirms that DCE end of serial cable is attached. If you see DTE here
instead of DCE skip these parameters.

Now we have necessary information let’s assign IP address to serial interface.

Router#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#interface serial 0/0/0
Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.253 255.255.255.252
Router(config-if)#clock rate 64000
Router(config-if)#bandwidth 64
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Router(config)#
Router#configure terminal Command is used to enter in global configuration mode.

Router(config)#interface serial 0/0/0 Command is used to enter in interface mode.

Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.253 255.255.255.252 Command assigns IP

address to interface. For serial link we usually use IP address from /30 subnet.

Router(config-if)#clock rate 64000 And Router(config-if)#bandwidth 64 In real life

environment these parameters control the data flow between serial links and need to be
set at service providers end. In lab environment we need not to worry about these values.
We can use these values.

Router(config-if)#no shutdown Command brings interface up.

Router(config-if)#exit Command is used to return in global configuration mode.

We will use same commands to assign IP addresses on interfaces of remaining routers.
We need to provided clock rate and bandwidth only on DCE side of serial interface.
Following command will assign IP addresses on interface of Router1.

Router1

Router>enable
Router#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#interface serial 0/0/0
Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.254 255.255.255.252
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Router(config)#interface serial 0/0/1
Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.249 255.255.255.252
Router(config-if)#clock rate 64000
Router(config-if)#bandwidth 64
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Now we know how to assign IP addresses on interfaces. We will use same commands to
assign IP addresses on interfaces of Router2.

Router2
Router>enable
Router#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#interface serial 0/0/0
Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.250 255.255.255.252
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Router(config)#interface serial 0/0/1
Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.245 255.255.255.252
Router(config-if)#clock rate 64000
Router(config-if)#bandwidth 64
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Repeat same process for Router3

Router3
Router>enable
Router#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#interface fastEthernet 0/0
Router(config-if)#ip address 20.0.0.1 255.0.0.0
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Router(config)#interface serial 0/0/0
Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.246 255.255.255.252
Router(config-if)#no shutdown
Router(config-if)#exit
Great job we have finished our half journey. Now routers have information about the
networks that they have on their own interfaces. Routers do not exchange network
information between them on their own. We need to implement a mechanism that insists
them to share this information. This mechanism is called routing.

There are two types of routing static and dynamic. In this article we will use static method
of routing.

Command to configure the static route

We have two commands to configure the static route.

Router(config)# ip route destination_network_# [subnet_mask]

IP_address_of_next_hop_neighbor [administrative_distance] [permanent]
Or

Router(config)# ip route destination_network_# [subnet_mask]

interface_to_exit [administrative_distance] [permanent]
ip route
This is the base command that adds new routes in routing table.

destination_network_#[subnet_mask]
This is the first parameter. It specifies the destination network address. We need to provide
subnet mask if we are using sub-network. Sub-networks are the smaller network created
from one large network in subnetting. If we are not using sub-network then we can omit
the subnet mask value. It will parse automatically.

IP_address_of_next_hop_neighbor / interface_to_exit
This parameter provides a way to reach the destination network. Both commands use
separate way to assign this value. First command provides the IP address of next hop
neighbor. It tells router that if it receives a packet for destination [that we set in previous
parameter], forward that packet to this next hop neighbor IP address.

Second command also do the same job but in different way. It specifies exit interface
instead of next hop IP address. It tells router that if it receives a packet for the destination
specified by previous parameter then exits that packet from this interface. Device attached
on other end of this interface will take care of the packet.

administrative_distance
Administrative distance is the trustworthiness of route. Route with the lowest AD value
will be chosen while forwarding the packet. By default static route has two AD values
depending on the previous parameter. If you have used next hop neighbor IP address,
then the default AD value will be 1. If you have used exit interface, then the default AD
value will be 0. This parameter allows us to create multiple static routes for the same
destination. For example we can create primary and backup path for the destination
network. To create backup path, we need to set AD value to higher than default, such as
2 or 3. With this configuration router will use primary path. Due to some reason if primary
route fails, the router will start using backup route automatically.
permanent
When a route goes down router will remove that from routing table. Permanent
parameter will keep this route in routing table even if it goes down. Its optional parameter
we can omit it. If we omit it, router will remove this route from routing table if it goes
down. You might use this parameter for security reason if you never want packets to take
another path.

Now we are familiar with IP route command and its parameters lets implement it in our
network.

Configure Static Route

By default when a packet arrives in interface, router checks destination filed in packet and
compare it with routing table. If it finds a match for destination network then it will forward
that packet from related interface. If it does not find a match in routing table then it will
discard that packet. This is the default behavior of router. We do not need to configure
directly connected networks.

Run following command from global configuration mode in routers.

Router0
Router(config)#ip route 20.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 192.168.0.254
This command instructs router that when you receive a packet for 20.0.0.0 network give
it to 192.168.0.254. Network 10.0.0.0 is directly connected so we do not need to configure
it here.

Router1
Router(config)#ip route 10.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 192.168.0.253
Router(config)#ip route 20.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 192.168.0.250
On this router both networks are reachable via other routers so we need to configure
route for both networks 10.0.0.0 and 20.0.0.0.

Router2
Router(config)#ip route 10.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 192.168.0.249
Router(config)#ip route 20.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 192.168.0.246
Same as Router1 again we need configure route for both networks on this router.

Router3
Router(config)#ip route 10.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 192.168.0.245
Network 20.0.0.0 is directly connected so we only need to configure network 10.0.0.0 on
this router.

That’s all we need to switch packet from one network to another. To verify the result we
can use ping command. Access the command prompt of PC1 and use ping command to
test the connectivity from PC0.
Good going we have successfully implemented static routing in our network.