Plugging into a switch disables my entire network

[shadowjin]

Hello friends, I am having a strange problem with my home network.

I have a my HTPC plugged into a 5-port switch along with my Xbox 360, PS3, and U-Verse TV box. Naturally, all 5 ports are being used with line 1 going into my router. There are 3 other computers in my house plugged directly into my router.

My problem is that my network ceases to work whenever I plug in the switch. I am neither able to access the internet or view any other computer on my network for file/printer sharing. Running ipconfig shows that I have no LAN/internet connection. If I unplug the switch and plug in the components individually, then everything works normally.

I have tried 3 different switches but I am getting the same result. It is very inconvenient to have to manually unplug and plug in my various game consoles and TV box in order to enable them to access the internet.

Any ideas?

 

[ickymay]

make and model could help , Is it a managed switch ?

I use an 8 port switch and I much prefer the speeds I get with everything plugged into the switch and the switch as the only thing plugged into the router.

 

[sordid]

We definitely need more details about the switch.
Manufacturer, model name and the like. And what kind of twisted pair do you use, straight or crossed?

If it's an older cheapo model, the fifth port normally would be a so-called uplink port which means it needs a crossed cable to be connected to another switch; you can't use this port to connect to another device.

 

[kegobeer]

So, if you plug the switch into the router, it causes everything to stop working? Does this happen even if the switch has nothing plugged into it?

@sordid - switches, AFAIK, never had an uplink port.

 

[sordid]

@sordid - switches, AFAIK, never had an uplink port.

You can trust me on that one, mate - my CCNA was expensive enough.

 

[shadowjin]

I currently have 2 switches. One is a generic no-name model from a local Fry's electronic store. The other is this:

Newegg.com - Rosewill RC-406X 10/100Mbps 8-Port Switch 8 x RJ45

I will try plugging in just the switch to the router and see what happens.

 

[sordid]

Yeah. Only use the 8 port switch and connect it to the router plus one other device and let us know what happens.

 

[shadowjin]

I plugged the switch into my router via port 1 with nothing else connected to the switch. No problems so far, everything appears to be fine.

 

[sordid]

Perfect. Now add the other devices one after the other and look if things remain stable.

 

[shadowjin]

So far, my PS3 appears to be ok. I started downloading a demo just to be sure. I will go through each device to see which one is causing the problem. My guess is it's going to be the HTPC which I just put together last week.

 

[sordid]

That's hard to imagine as your switch supports STP.

 

[shadowjin]

Alright so it appears that my ATT U-Verse box is the root of the problem. My Xbox, PS3, and HTPC are all connected to the switch and the network is running without issue. The moment I plug in the U-Verse box however, the network takes a poop and all devices on the network become blind like a bat.

I'm going to have to give U-Verse tech support a call on Monday to see if they can help me. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[sordid]

Unfortunately, I don't even know what a U-Verse is.
But be prepared to have the tech support people tell you it's definitely not their device causing the fuzz. :shock:

 

[ickymay]

Is this a set top box ?

has it got a firewall ?

 

[acurasd]

Which one of these devices do you have for the Uverse

Intelligent Network Interface Device
Optical Network Terminal
Residential Gateway


because it depends on how we can set it up...

You may have to do a direct cable to the device first... to configure it then once its properly configure, you can connect it back into the switch where it will take on an IP address from the DHCP from your router.

Pulling information from this site:
https://www.att.com/esupport/articl...235&title=Equipment+overview#fbid=vaKbUOehxZ0

 

[Jaime74656]

Unfortunately, I don't even know what a U-Verse is.
But be prepared to have the tech support people tell you it's definitely not their device causing the fuzz. :shock:

generally its a modem/router combo, most likely whats going on is the uverse box is trying to handle DHCP at the same time the main router is doing the same thing, essentially turning off DHCP on the uverse box and all should be good to go, i would suggest that so that router would more or less be a wireless ready switch (if the thing has wi-fi abilities)

 

[acurasd]

Unfortunately, I don't even know what a U-Verse is.
But be prepared to have the tech support people tell you it's definitely not their device causing the fuzz. :shock:

generally its a modem/router combo, most likely whats going on is the uverse box is trying to handle DHCP at the same time the main router is doing the same thing, essentially turning off DHCP on the uverse box and all should be good to go, i would suggest that so that router would more or less be a wireless ready switch (if the thing has wi-fi abilities)

If you would like the Uverse device to work. You can always give it a static IP address... and turn on the DMZ to that IP alone so the device will handle all the firewall settings for your ATT stuff.


For Instance:

Your Router:
IP: 192.168.1.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: Of course your router...

Uverse Device: Static IP setup

IP: 192.168.2.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.1.1

DNS & 2nd DNS: same numbers coming off your router.. just make sure you grab all your settings from the STATUS page of your router.

Just plug a network cable from your computer directly to the Uverse box first to set it up correctly.

If you give us your router DNS and IP configuration. We can give you all the numbers needed to set it up.

=======================
I have the same setup but I am using a router/dsl box

My DSL routes:
192.168.1.1
255.255.255.0

DNS are pulled from company

===============
My router: DMZ to 192.168.2.1
Static: 192.168.2.1
255.255.255.0
192.168.1.1

Static DNS: comes from the status page of my DSL router.

 

[shadowjin]

Which one of these devices do you have for the Uverse

Intelligent Network Interface Device
Optical Network Terminal
Residential Gateway


because it depends on how we can set it up...

You may have to do a direct cable to the device first... to configure it then once its properly configure, you can connect it back into the switch where it will take on an IP address from the DHCP from your router.

Pulling information from this site:
https://www.att.com/esupport/articl...235&title=Equipment+overview#fbid=vaKbUOehxZ0

I am using a 2Wire router that was provided to me from AT&T. This is the U-Verse box that I am trying to get to work:

Total Home DVR - AT&T U-verse Digital TV

 

[WebMattR]

What did AT&T have to say about the problem?

And is there any configuration you can do to the U-Verse box? Maybe it has an incorrect setting that's causing it to spam the network until the switch overloads?

 

[acurasd]

What did AT&T have to say about the problem?

And is there any configuration you can do to the U-Verse box? Maybe it has an incorrect setting that's causing it to spam the network until the switch overloads?

can you plug directly into the Uverse box and pull the status page up from the webUI and give us a screen shot of that.