# Workgroup switch problem



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

I just recently bought a workgroup switch for me and my sister to have internet on our computers. It works fine except it wont allo me to use certain websites while it lets me go on others.

The error i get when i view those sites is

Network Timeout













The server at whatever is taking too long to respond.







The requested site did not respond to a connection request and the browser has stopped waiting for a reply.

* Could the server be experiencing high demand or a temporary outage? Try again later.
* Are you unable to browse other sites? Check the computer's network connection.
* Is your computer or network protected by a firewall or proxy? Incorrect settings can interfere with Web browsing.
* Still having trouble? Consult your network administrator or Internet provider for assistance.


How do i fix this?


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 18, 2008)

What switch is it (make/model)? If it was some low-grade switch it may not be able to handle too much traffic. I assume you could connect to said sites just fine before the switch.


----------



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

ya i could see the sites before the switch. The switch is a linksys 5 port 10/100


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 18, 2008)

What is your setup? Is just straight  Modem -> switch -> computers. I experienced this before, and I had a netgear switch. Ended up the POS switch couldn't handle the traffic because multiple computers splitting the same connection. Switches don't work the same way as routers. Routers actually route the traffic, switches just throw the same data to everything connected to it.


----------



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

to the switch i have connected is modem and 2 computers thats it.

now i only have the modem only connected directly to my pc and it gets the error message  too but alot fewer


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 18, 2008)

Make sure nothing is in the uplink port, what exact model do you have?


----------



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

ya nothing is in the uplink port, the model i have is umm EZXS55W


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 18, 2008)

Try setting your computers to different IP addresses. If you need instruction to do so let me know, it gets weird without a dhcp server, if not making it impossible. Are you on DSL or cable? Also does your ISP use dynamic addressing or static?


----------



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

ya i will need help plz with the ip addresses and such.

my internet is dsl


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 18, 2008)

Ok, first, go onto one computer, and click start -> run... -> type in cmd, hit enter -> type in ipconfig, hit enter.

Keep that window open, and right click your network icon on the bottom right of the screen. Select status, then hit the properties button. Select internet protocol from the list and again hit properties. Change to use the following... and enter your information from the ipconfig window.

Now go to the second computer, and do the same thing, except for the IP address, add 1 to the last number, for example if the first computer was 66.189.10.24 -> make the second computer 66.189.10.25.

I've done the same thing with a switch with someone on dsl, I hope it works. Post back with results, I'll be back at 1:00 EST.

Leave thanks if it works


----------



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

this was the ip address i added  2002:4cdb:5b90::4cdb:5b90

so the second computer should i had 1 to 5b90 once at the end or twice in the middle and end


----------



## aharvey (Jul 18, 2008)

Kongol> 
what you are using are MAC addresses, not the same thing as IP address.


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 18, 2008)

Is that an IPv6 address? IPv4, the standard is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, decimal, not hexadecimal. MACs are pairs of two hexadecimal.


----------



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

hmm i have vista not mac


----------



## aharvey (Jul 18, 2008)

Josh>
right you are sir, my bad


----------



## aharvey (Jul 18, 2008)

kongol>

start.control panel.network and internet.network and sharing center.manage network connections (on the left panel)

right click your 'local area connection' and go to properties. make sure you are adjusting internet protocol version 4 (ipv4)  

dont mess with the ipv6 stuff.


----------



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

alright i changed it to the ipv4 and the ip is 76.248.155.157 and i changed the ip. Do i have to do anything with the dns too?


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 18, 2008)

dns should be fine, is everything working correctly?


----------



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

when i changed the ip on my sisters pc it said i needed a submask?


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 18, 2008)

should be the same as what ipconfig gave you.


----------



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

everything works except my sister cant connect to the internet


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 18, 2008)

lol, thats the problem without a dhcp server to hand out addresses. Did you make sure you have the same subnets on both computers? Try making her address one less than yours. I experimented with the network I set up until I had 3 working IPs.


----------



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

omg i just had a meltdown, shit wasnt working, only one of ours worked at a time i changed the ip numbers and still sucked. I hate my life, i hate internet.

i have to go to work now all stessed, thancks alot guys anyways, i appreciate it.


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 18, 2008)

just set the IPs back to auto, but you still have those problems. If you want a permanent fix, go buy a router.


----------



## Kongol (Jul 18, 2008)

are the switches that bad? i mean i only need shared connection for 2 computers


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 18, 2008)

IMO they are useless, anyone else have a solution / other ideas?


----------



## mrhuggles (Jul 18, 2008)

try out openDNS for a while and see if that fixes it


----------



## IggSter (Jul 19, 2008)

Just a quick question:

How is your new switch connected to your ADSL?

Is it switch - router - adsl

or

switch - adsl?


----------



## Kreij (Jul 19, 2008)

There is nothing wrong with switches. Routers that have multiple LAN ports are also switches.
Switches do not send data to everything connected to them (that's what a hub does).
A switch opens a dedicated full speed connection between the source and destination addresses.


----------



## IggSter (Jul 19, 2008)

I've just had time to read the whole thread so appologies for asking a question that you had already explained.


Most ISPs only allocate one IP address per broadband connection, therefore you will only be able to directly connect one device (that needs an IP address) to your adsl.

If you wish to share your connection you must have a router connected to your adsl modem, and then connect your PCs to that (or connect switch to router).

You could also connect the second PC to your PC (using 2nd ethernet port if your PC has one) and then use Windows internet connection sharing
Linky


----------



## Kreij (Jul 19, 2008)

Not necessarily. Most ADSL modem route also. They have the ISP address on one side, and the LAN address on the other. Not all ADSL modems do DHCP though. 

I currently have an ADLS modem (router, firewall) directly connected into my main switched network at work without having to use an additional router.

You will definitely want to use a non-routable ip addess block on your LAN for additional protect.
Most people use 192.168.xxx.xxx (which is non-routable). The entire class A block of 10.xxx.xxx.xxx is also non-routable. I use a section of the "10" block as it's easier to type 
(ie. 10.11.11.11)


----------



## Kreij (Jul 19, 2008)

Kongol said:


> hmm i have vista not mac



Kongol, just for your information a MAC address is a Media Access Control number and has nothing to do with the type of computer or Operating System.
Every networking device (ie. NIC card) has a MAC address.
It is a (somewhat) unique number to specifically identify the device.
They are issued by vendor, so you will see similaritites in MAC address on different devices from a single vendor (ie the higher order numbers for 3Com will be the same, the lower order numbers will distingush the device itself).
You can determine the manufacturer of a device via the MAC address.


----------



## IggSter (Jul 19, 2008)

Kreij said:


> Not necessarily. Most ADSL modem route also. They have the ISP address on one side, and the LAN address on the other. Not all ADSL modems do DHCP though.
> 
> I currently have an ADLS modem (router, firewall) directly connected into my main switched network at work without having to use an additional router.
> 
> ...



ADSL modems never route, ADSL modem/routers route.

Also the OP has said his IP address is not in the private range which strongly suggests he has no routing functionality on his lan.

The OP needs a router


----------



## Kongol (Jul 19, 2008)

heya, i have been havig problems, i already had a router before but it didnt work well, basicaly i couldnt install it because it couldnt connect to the internet, so i got the switch and the switch gave me problems as well if you noticed. 

So basically I just want to have internet on both computers no file sharing or any of that. so using the switch i need the same ip and subnet for both pcs?


----------



## IggSter (Jul 19, 2008)

Kongol said:


> heya, i have been havig problems, i already had a router before but it didnt work well, basicaly i couldnt install it because it couldnt connect to the internet, so i got the switch and the switch gave me problems as well if you noticed.
> 
> So basically I just want to have internet on both computers no file sharing or any of that. so using the switch i need the same ip and subnet for both pcs?



No that wont work, all your PCs need to have diff IP addresses.

If your PC has 2 ethernet ports try the Internet Connection sharing guide I posted link to.


adsl------your pc------sisters pc


----------



## Kongol (Jul 19, 2008)

both our pcs only have 1 ethernet port


----------



## IggSter (Jul 19, 2008)

Kongol said:


> both our pcs only have 1 ethernet port



Do you still have the router your tried before?

If so please post make/model and we can see if that will work for you.


----------



## Kongol (Jul 19, 2008)

the make is linksys, model is WRT54G


----------



## IggSter (Jul 19, 2008)

Kongol said:


> the make is linksys, model is WRT54G




That router should work fine, although you may need to update the routers firmware to latest version.

Can you post which version of the WRT54G you have...it should be on the sticker beside serial number.

Possible versions are:
1, 1.1, 2, 2.1, 2.2, 3, etc  etc up to v 8.2


----------



## Kreij (Jul 19, 2008)

IggSter said:


> ADSL modems never route, ADSL modem/routers route.



LOL ... true, my point was that many of the newer ADSL modems also include routers and firewalls in them.



> Also the OP has said his IP address is not in the private range which strongly suggests he has no routing functionality on his lan. The OP needs a router



Yes, it would suggest that. What I was eluding to, and not making myself very clear (sorry), was that his ADSL modem may have router capabilities but is not being used that way. For instance, on the network at work my router failed. I called my ISP and low and behold, the modem they supply is also a router and contains a firewall, they just shut it off by default as most customers use a seperate router. The modem is passworded and they insist on managing it, so I just had them turn on the router, set the local IP and turn on the firewall.

I will be putting my own router back in for the added level of security I can get by managing it myself, but it's nice to know that I can fall back on their equipment in the case of an emergency.

The other thing is that if the ISP issued him a single IP and he is trying to use a public address within that block that was not assigned to him, he should be bouncing against someone elses address (duplicate IP errors). I'm not sure how that would play out as I always use private, non-routable addresses as I do not want my internal systems visible remotely.


----------



## Kongol (Jul 19, 2008)

its a v.3


----------



## IggSter (Jul 19, 2008)

You will get the latest firmware HERE


Once you have downloaded that, grab the latest user manual (pdf) from the same page, then look at page 60 for instructions for upgrading. (your routers default IP address will be 192.168.1.1...this is the address to use to connect to router to manage/upgrade)

adsl modem
|
|
|
router (192.168.1.1 / 255.255.255.0)----your pc (192.168.1.2 / 255.255.255.0)
                            |
                            |
                         sisters pc (192.168.1.3 / 255.255.255.0)

If you get stuck etc, please post back and we can hopefully help you out


----------



## Kongol (Jul 19, 2008)

i cant get the link to the firmware, its not a valid link


----------



## IggSter (Jul 19, 2008)

Kongol said:


> i cant get the link to the firmware, its not a valid link



Stupid linksys site 


Ok go to www.linksys.com

At the top of page in Search box type *WRT54G* 

on search results page click the link *WRT54G Download Details* (3rd link on page)

Then select the version from the pulldown list (Version 3.0)

You should now see links for user guide and firmware

.


----------



## Kongol (Jul 19, 2008)

ya it wont work, i upgraded it then my pc couldnt connect to the router. I just want to throw out the router out the window.

could there possibly be a more simple way to do this?


----------



## IggSter (Jul 19, 2008)

If your PC can't connect try the following:

On the back of the Router there is a reset button. Press and hold this for at least 30 seconds.
This will reset the router to factory default config.

Now set the IP address of your PC to 192.168.1.2

Connect your PC to one of the 4 ports on router.

Open a web browser and type *http://192.168.1.1* in the address bar

You should get your routers login window.

For the login, leave a blank ID and enter *admin* as the password

If this does not work can you give details of any errors?


----------



## Kongol (Jul 19, 2008)

yep more errors, i was thinking its my internet provider because when i had cable i didnt have a problem withthe router, its only with this dsl.

but thanks alot iggster, im out to work, i appreciate your help greatly


----------



## IggSter (Jul 19, 2008)

Kongol said:


> yep more errors, i was thinking its my internet provider because when i had cable i didnt have a problem withthe router, its only with this dsl.
> 
> but thanks alot iggster, im out to work, i appreciate your help greatly



No probs at all. Stick with the router and it will work.

If you can please post the errors you get when you have time.


----------



## Kongol (Jul 20, 2008)

Hey, so i bought another router and this time it conencted and works for my pc, but my sisters doesnt.
But on my sisters pc it says the internet is connected, she just cant do anything.

whats the roblem?


----------



## mrhuggles (Jul 20, 2008)

some[almost all] modems that come from ISPs are extremely weak and worthless piles of junk.
they have alot of silly problems like failure to handle DHCP well, or failing to handle DNS request forwarding all the time or properly, things like that....

also some isp's dns servers suck.

so sometimes openDNS can be a good thing for some people, i use it cuz its a little faster than qwests dns servers

oh btw, sonic.net sent me a zoom modem, its so great i still use it even tho i moved and qwest gave me a modem, actually im really glad i have that zoom modem, they charged me 50 bux for it... i hope it lasts my whole life cuz i havnt seen any other isp give a good modem. zoom 5615


----------



## JoshBrunelle (Jul 21, 2008)

Kongol said:


> Hey, so i bought another router and this time it conencted and works for my pc, but my sisters doesnt.
> But on my sisters pc it says the internet is connected, she just cant do anything.
> 
> whats the roblem?



Make sure that you enabled automatic ip settings after trying static IPs. Otherwise, set the static IP to 192.168.1.102 (that SHOULD work).


----------



## Kongol (Jul 21, 2008)

now whose pc do i change mine , hers, or both?


----------

