Advice Needed for office relocation

[guyinpasadena]

Hello,
We are moving our small business network to a new office and looking for advice to ensure a seamless transition (the movers come Sunday morning and I need to have the network up and running by Monday morning).
Our business network is wired and consists of 1 desktop PC and 2 laptop PC's that are networked running Windows7 Pro. Essentially the desktop PC acts as our "server" (it stores files that the laptops need to access on the wired network). After the move, our ISP will be Charter Communications with Static IP cable broadband. We currently use a Linksys E2000 wireless router at work, but after the move we will use an Edgewater 4550 Series router (for VOIP) with a Linksys E4200 Wireless Router (connected in bridge mode to the Edgewater router) and Linksys EZXS55W 5 port switch (connected to Linksys E4200).
I guess I am looking for any documentation, potential pitfalls, and time saving tips that would help facilitate the move from my friends at Windows Seven Forums. I am not technical but follow directions well and don't give up easily.
Thank you very much for your help!

 

[unsecur3d]

Honestly you have a pretty simple network setup, there is nothing to worry about other than making sure the networking equipment is connected and tested properly before you let the Charter techs walk away (I had charter before, verify their service works 100%, no lag before they leave). Other than this the only thing i could think of you have to do is probably re-set the ip settings either on the workstations or the router to match the network so computers are reachable within the network and can communicate.

Are u using AD or Workgroup ?

 

[guyinpasadena]

We are using a Workgroup. I just want to be sure that the networked PC and laptops remain in the Workgroup after we move physical location and change routers from current Linksys E2000 to the VOIP router (Edgewater 4550) with the bridged Linksys E4200 and 5 port switch. My concern is limited time to get the network up and running. If there is a good reference guide along these lines I would appreciate it. Thanks for your help!

 

[Luponius]

As long as you just want communication between the network, and mean to use just any workgroup setup, the Windows Help comes in handy: Join or create a workgroup - Windows Help

That's applicable for Windows 7. Frankly just ensure all the hardware has separate PC Names, which I'm assuming they do since you won't be formatting them, simply moving them. And as described above make sure their workgroup is the same.

Simply plug your server into the switch and connect your Laptops to your router, or whichever you intend to do this. As long as the hardware is setup to all fall within the same local network, they should communicate with one another without a hitch

 

[Shadowjk]

The only thing I would check is whether your IP subnet will stay the same. Is the "server" running a static IP address?

If so you will need to make sure that the new router will have the same DHCP scope as before so you can reach the server. Other than that I don't see any issues with this. Besides, its a small transition... there are companies that expect full racks of equipment to be moved overnight and working in the morning...

Josh

 

[guyinpasadena]

Hi there,

Well, the transition is nearly complete except for one issue -- there is a software program that worked fine prior to the move and now it is not. The program resides on the server -- when I go to run it on a client laptop, I get error message "unable to connect to remote server". I bet it has something to do with fact that the active networks for server and client laptop have different names (i.e., server is Network 3, client is Linksys12860). Wondering if the software program issue would be resolved if I could get the active network names to be the same. Or as Shadowjk said maybe it is IP related -- to my knowledge the "server" is not running static ip address (but I could be mistaken -- Charter is supplying static IP becuase the VOIP router demands this to function properly). The server and client are on same 5 port switch that connects the bridged Linksys router. Other than that, I can "see" files on the server from the laptop and vice versa. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[UsernameIssues]

If you sit at the server, will the software in question run?
Or do you get the same error?

 

[guyinpasadena]

If I sit at the server the software works fine. The error occurs when I attempt to run the software from a networked client laptop. Very frustrating as it worked prior to moving physical location and changing router, ISP, etc. Thanks again!

 

[UsernameIssues]

Can you tell us what the software is?

On the client, does the software load and then give that error about not being able to connect to remote server? Or do you only see the error? Perhaps a screenshot would save us some words. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

Also, on the client:
Do you start this software via a shortcut?
If so, does that shortcut point to an EXE file on the server?
Or does it point to an EXE file on the client that in turn loads an EXE file from the server?

You mentioned that you can see files on the server while sitting at the laptop/client. What happens if you use Windows (file) Explorer to navigate to the server based EXE for this problematic software and attempt to start that software via double click?

 

[guyinpasadena]

I found a FAQ from the software publisher and turns out I had to open a windows firewall port on the server in order for the client machines to run the program. This is strange -- I did not have to mess with firewall settings previously in order for the clients to work. Now my concern is not connectivity but security. Any suggestions as to how to limit access to the port to just the two client laptops?

Thank you very much!

 

[UsernameIssues]

I've asked other forum members to stop by this thread and help you do that

 

[Slartybart]

The Linksys router has four ports - I'm not sure why you need the 5 port switch...

Charter -> Edgewater 4550 <- Bridge -> Linksys E4200 -> Linksys EZXS55W -> Desktop
I'm not sure that you really want a bridge, but you have to make sure the two devices are different addresses (both cannot be the default if the default is 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1)

The software lives on the Desktop acting as a server - right?
The laptops connect to the 4200 and go through the switch to the Desktop server - there's no Internet required for the software?

An easy test would be to connect the Desktop directly to a port on the 4200 (you'd have to undo the firewall change to test). Most routers have port forwarding and that might be something to look into (if you can boot up the old Linksys E2000 router, you could compare the configuration to your new router. Time makes us forget the little changes)

Another easy test would be to connect the old Linksys E2000 in place of the new 4200 - basically mimicking the old network with a new ISP.

Easy, but can be frustrating. You might have to restart the Edgewater device and that's not fun when your phone system is on the device.

If you decide to test the old configuration (edgewater -> 2000 -> desktop) do it off hours and have Charter's number handy and a cell phone. These are precautions, hopefully you won't have any issues testing - but.....)

Without details (port #s, software affected, network addresses, router configuration) I won't be much help, but I thought I drop in and offer some suggestions for you to test.

 

[guyinpasadena]

Thanks for the very helpful advice Slartybart. I spoke with tech support at the software publisher today and they told me the software does not function correctly on client machines unless a particular port is open. They went on to explain that prior to the move the port would have been open, otherwise no connectivity for the client laptops. The odd thing is prior to the move I did not have to fiddle with windows firewall, after the move I had to open the port. I'm sure this is a user error on my part when I set up the server and client machines on the network. The software tech said not to be concerned about the open port on the server -- it has been open all along (not a logical way to reassure someone). So I will go with it -- unless someone in the sevenforums community thinks this is a mistake (the open port that is).

Many thanks again -- very much enjoy the support and advice!

 

[andrew129260]

You can also test your ports for security, there are many sites out there that will help you do that. There are also windows programs you can download to test what ports are showing as active, stealth, or blocked.

 

[guyinpasadena]

So all is well with the network so I want to see if I can push the limits.

Currently configured as follows:
Charter -> Edgewater 4550 <- Bridge -> Linksys E4200 -> Linksys EZXS55W -> Desktop
Can I add a Linksys E2000 into the equation to extend wireless network range?
I have an extra ethernet jack located on the opposite end of the house from the E4200.
It would be very cool to extend the range to that side of the house.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Slartybart]

Sure, you can try using the same SSID so that you don't need to configure anything new on a device (laptop that is carried around)
--> The problem with range extenders is you lose 1/2 of the bandwidth

-- OR --

Configure a new access point with a new SSID on the E2000
--> If you have your laptop or tablet to automatically connect, it should connect to the SSID with the strongest signal.

You'll also have to configure the E2000 with a new subnet (ie. 192.168.2.1)

Charter -> Edgewater 4550 <- Bridge -> Linksys E4200 -> Linksys EZXS55W -> Desktop
+ Charter -> Edgewater 4550 <- Bridge -> Linksys E4200 <- Linksys E2000

If you could post the IP addresses for each device, something like this, it would be helpful.
192.168.0.1 - Edgewater 4550 (guessing)
192.168.1.1 - Linksys E4200 (guessing)
192.168.2.1 - Linksys E2000 (proposed)