Free CCNA Labs in Packet Tracer: 12 Practice Labs in the Order to Do Them
Searches for "CCNA labs free" and "CCNA labs Packet Tracer" are constant for a reason: labs are where the CCNA stops being trivia and starts being a skill. You do not need to buy equipment to start. Cisco Packet Tracer is free with a Cisco Networking Academy account and handles nearly every lab you need for the CCNA 200-301.
Below are twelve labs in the order we recommend. Each one builds on the last. For each lab, build the topology yourself rather than downloading a finished file, because building is half the learning.
Before you start
- Install Packet Tracer from Cisco Networking Academy (free account).
- Keep a lab notebook: topology, commands used, what broke and why. That notebook becomes your revision guide and, later, proof of skills for job interviews.
- After each lab, save the file, delete the config, and rebuild it from memory a few days later.
The 12 labs
1. Basic switch and router setup
Goal: hostname, enable secret, console and VTY passwords, a banner, and saving the config. Key commands: hostname, enable secret, line vty 0 4, copy running-config startup-config. Check: reload the device and confirm your settings survived.
2. SSH instead of Telnet
Goal: reach a switch by SSH only. Key commands: ip domain-name, crypto key generate rsa, transport input ssh, a local user. Check: Telnet should fail and SSH should work from a PC.
3. VLANs and access ports
Goal: three VLANs on one switch with two PCs each. Check: PCs in the same VLAN ping each other; PCs in different VLANs do not. show vlan brief matches your plan.
4. Trunks between switches
Goal: extend those VLANs across two switches with an 802.1Q trunk and a non-default native VLAN. Check: show interfaces trunk lists the allowed VLANs, and cross-switch pings work within each VLAN.
5. Inter-VLAN routing (router on a stick)
Goal: subinterfaces on one router port, one per VLAN. Check: every PC can ping every other PC. Then repeat the lab with a Layer 3 switch and SVIs, and compare.
6. Static and default routes
Goal: three routers in a line, connected with static routes, plus a default route to an "internet" router. Check: show ip route shows S and S* entries, and end-to-end pings work. Break one route on purpose and trace the failure.
7. Single-area OSPF
Goal: replace the static routes with OSPF area 0. Check: show ip ospf neighbor shows FULL adjacencies; change a cost and watch the path move.
8. DHCP and DHCP relay
Goal: a router as DHCP server for two VLANs, with ip helper-address for the remote one. Check: PCs get the right gateway and DNS. show ip dhcp binding lists them.
9. Standard and extended ACLs
Goal: block one VLAN from reaching a server while allowing everything else; then allow web traffic only. Check: test both permitted and denied traffic. Remember the implicit deny at the end.
10. NAT and PAT
Goal: inside hosts reach an outside server through one public address. Check: show ip nat translations shows entries while traffic flows.
11. Port security and basic hardening
Goal: limit a port to one learned MAC address, set a violation mode, and shut unused ports. Check: plug in a second PC and confirm the violation behaviour you chose.
12. Troubleshooting challenge
Goal: have a friend (or your future self) introduce three faults into a finished lab: a wrong VLAN, a missing route and a bad ACL line. Find them using only show commands. Check: time yourself. Under 15 minutes is a good sign you are exam-ready on fundamentals.
Extra labs for the updated blueprint
Cisco's updated CCNA 200-301 v2.0 (first test date February 3, 2027) changes some topics. If you are sitting that version, check the official list and add labs for anything new on it, such as first-hop redundancy, IPv6 routing and AAA. Our free one-page CCNA v1.1 vs v2.0 cheat sheet lists what moved, and it is a direct download with no email required.
How labs fit into your study time
Aim for at least a third of your total study hours in labs. If you are wondering how many hours that adds up to, see how long it takes to study for the CCNA, and use our 12-week study plan to schedule these twelve labs across the weeks. If you later want physical gear, the home lab guide covers what is worth buying.
When Packet Tracer is not enough
Packet Tracer simulates a subset of IOS. A few commands and features behave differently or are missing. For most CCNA work that does not matter. If you want real IOS images, Cisco Modeling Labs is the official paid option, and used switches and routers are another route, but neither is required to pass.