I have 3ea 1720's and 2ea 2950's as a starter lab?
2 of the 1720''s have 1ea 1DSU T1 in them on the left side. The other has a cover plate. the 3rd 1720 Router has 2ea 1DSU T1 in it.
1ea 2950 is a 24 port the other is a 12 port.

I have all the cables.

1st I don't have much money to buy books etc.
2nd I don't know how to connect them together or to what?

My ISP is a cable modem.

TIA
 

DougP
 

If your doing basic stuff just to learn or practice you may try cisco packet tracer.  Free and pretty good starter for all types of setups.  Pretty easy to use as well.

CCNA, BCNE, Security+, Network +

I guess I am after learning it maybe not enough to get certified but more to fix our network. At it times grinds to a halt. no one can get on the internet or save files to the server. there is too much traffic.
So I want to know how to physically connect the hardware I have to each other, to a computer for monitoring, to the internet etc. then so hopefully I can see where the bottle necks occur?

I suppose by using managed switches you can troubleshoot network problems?
are the above model numbers simply just connected like you would at home?   internet -> router -> switch(s)-> pc's
Out of the box do they work or do they need to be configured first?

I'm probably asking questions that you would get sitting in a class?
I see a lot of theory on-line but no real practical info. wiring diagrams etc. Or am I making it harder than it is?

DougP
 

There is a lot you can do with that gear.  I would recommend possibly trying to get 1 more switch if you can.  Just to get a good feel for all the spanning-tree things.

Here is a quick over view of what I'd try and setup.  Especially if you are just learning.
1.  2 routers, cross connect via fast ethernet interfaces.
-setup static routing between
-setup RIP between
-setup OSPF between
-setup EIGRP between
2. "Router on a stick."  Connect the router to one of the switches, and connect a PC/Laptop (or 2) to the switch.
-configure DHCP on the router and hand out address to your client device.
-setup dot1q trunking from the router to the switch with multiple vlans
-enable routing between both vlans using same methods as outlined in point 1.
3.  Multiple router on a stick.
-same as number 2, only with 2 routers connected to the switch, using the switch for L2 separation, and cross connect the routers so that if vlan2 and vlan3 are on router 2, they get to vlan4 and vlan 5 via a cross connection between the routers.

Hope that makes some sense, and helps get you going in the right direction.