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Use Putty (free) or NetTerm (by InterSoft). I have both and both work on Windows 7 and Windows 10.
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Use Putty (free) or NetTerm (by InterSoft). I have both and both work on Windows 7 and Windows 10.

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Putty needs to know the IP address first right? How to connect? Can I connect to a device using Putty with the console cable?
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Putty needs to know the IP address first right? How to connect? Can I connect to a device using Putty with the console cable?

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@Castlewood &nbsp;- Thanks and I was happy to help.
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@Castlewood  - Thanks and I was happy to help.

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I still keep an XP laptop with Hyper Terminal for connecting to the console port on network devices since there is no Hyper Terminal on Win7 and later Win versions. Is there an alternative to Hyper Terminal in the later Windows? Is the USB-to-Com port working without a problem? <br />
<br />
Also, how come some network devices have no console port? How can a higher-end network devices come without a console port?<br />
<br />
Thank you for your help.
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I still keep an XP laptop with Hyper Terminal for connecting to the console port on network devices since there is no Hyper Terminal on Win7 and later Win versions. Is there an alternative to Hyper Terminal in the later Windows? Is the USB-to-Com port working without a problem? 

Also, how come some network devices have no console port? How can a higher-end network devices come without a console port?

Thank you for your help.

Future of hyper terminal and console port ?

A router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks. Routers perform the "traffic directing" functions on the Internet. The most familiar type of routers are home and small office cable or DSL routers that simply pass data, such as web pages, email, IM, and videos between computers and the Internet. More sophisticated routers, such as enterprise routers, connect large business or ISP networks up to the powerful core routers that forward data at high speed along the optical fiber lines of the Internet backbone. Though routers are typically dedicated hardware devices, use of software-based routers has grown increasingly common.

Routers

A switch is a device that filters and forwards packets of data between LAN segments. Switches operate at the data link layer or the network layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model and therefore support any packet protocol. LANs that use switches to join segments are called switched LANs or, in the case of Ethernet networks, switched Ethernet LANs. A hub is a connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports; when a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets.

Switches / Hubs

Networking hardware includes the physical devices facilitating the use of a computer network. Typically, networking hardware includes gateways, routers, network bridges, modems, wireless access points, networking cables, line drivers, switches, hubs, and repeaters. But it also includes hybrid network devices such as multilayer switches, protocol converters, bridge routers, proxy servers, firewalls, network address translators, multiplexers, network interface controllers, wireless network interface controllers, ISDN terminal adapters and other related hardware.