LAN help

killerkebab · 05-12-2006, 22:35

With a few friends of mine we occasionally get together at one of our houses and set up a LAN. The problem is there are always four or less of us because a standard router usually only has a four-port switch to connect us all with wires.

Now we want to set up another LAN with a couple more friends (anywhere between four and eight). This would sound great, only last time we tried with eight of us we had bought a cheap-o 16 port switch and we were lucky to have any more than three of us successfully connected. The rest of us had IP setup problems which a whole night of attemps didn't fix

Now I am about to purchase a Netgear FS608 switch. I want to know if our problems were more to do with the crappy switch, rather than a real configuration issue. All configuration I did was the windows network wizard, told it how the computers were connected (the questionnaire that pops up) and let it go. The first three computers connect and setup fine, but any after that report IP problems, no matter which ports I plug them in or what order or anything, and that was without trying to plug a router in to use the internet.

So to end the thread before I babble... what I mean to ask is how you would go about setting this up. If I tell you I have:

Anywhere between one to seven PCs.
One FS608 Switch.
One router (not sure on make, its one of those modem/switch/modem jobs a friend has).

Is it as simple as plug everything in, start all the computers up, start the network config wizard and let it do its thing, or was there something blindingly obvious I missed?

Will · 05-12-2006, 22:41

A switch plugged into the LAN port of a router should be all you need. certainly if DHCP is enabled on the router and you've got DHCP enabled on your network cards. Bob should be your uncle...

Tu es dans Kent non? Je peux venir t'aider si tu veux

Dymetrie · 05-12-2006, 23:12

I've come across this before on a (can't remember the name of it but it was a bloody good/expensive managed switch) we realised that the problem was that NAT wasn't turned on on the switch and the modem/router would only allow 4 active internet connections (which impacted on the network as well).

Was fixed by turning on NAT on the switch so the router only recognised it as a single device despite the fact that there were eight machines connected to it.

This could just have been due to the fact that my ex-flatmate was a nob and may have nothing to do with your predicament

Burble · 05-12-2006, 23:33

Check the size of your DHCP scope.

Garp · 05-12-2006, 23:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by dymetrie

I've come across this before on a (can't remember the name of it but it was a bloody good/expensive managed switch) we realised that the problem was that NAT wasn't turned on on the switch and the modem/router would only allow 4 active internet connections (which impacted on the network as well).

Was fixed by turning on NAT on the switch so the router only recognised it as a single device despite the fact that there were eight machines connected to it.

This could just have been due to the fact that my ex-flatmate was a nob and may have nothing to do with your predicament

Thats some switch if it can cope with NAT. Of the top of my head I can't think of a single switch that would do NATting at all!

Switches operate at layer 2 in network terms, i.e. MAC addresses only, they care not about IP addresses. NAT occurs at layer 3, which is what a router is designed to handle.
Some of the more expensive switches combine some layer 3 functionality in them, mainly for the purposes of better handling VLANs, but I wouldn't expect it from the kinds of switch your average home-joe would buy.

I would be more inclined to believe the hassles came as much down to DHCP as NATing.
Under those circumstances I would suggest assigning addresses manually to each box. Check the normal IP of your router (usually tend to be 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1, using a /24 subnet: 255.255.255.0)

Use the same address range as your router, just changing the last digit on each machine, and keeping the subnet the same. Point the gateway setting on the workstation to the same address as the router.

Eg, assuming router is 192.168.1.1:

192.168.1.2, subnet mask 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.1.1
192.168.1.3, subnet mask 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.1.1

etc. etc.

Jobs a good'un hopefully.

Mark · 05-12-2006, 23:41

DHCP scope be my guess too. Cheapo switch shouldn't make a difference like that.

Daz · 05-12-2006, 23:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Indecisive

DHCP scope be my guess too. Cheapo switch shouldn't make a difference like that.

Thirded. Possibly some artificial limitation on Windows if it was one of those boxes doing the DHCP.

Get a decent DHCP server with an adequate scope, or static IP everything (ball ache).

killerkebab · 06-12-2006, 00:13

DHCP server? DHCP scope? NAT? I'm lost...
Setting up a LAN at home is easy enough with the router and its four ports, just we need something for more than four PCs

Is there no way to have all this done for us automatically on the day we decide to go to the guy's house and LAN up? As in plug PCs into switch, plug router into switch, and it to all work from there?

Garp · 06-12-2006, 00:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by killerkebab

DHCP server? DHCP scope? NAT? I'm lost...
Setting up a LAN at home is easy enough with the router and its four ports, just we need something for more than four PCs

Is there no way to have all this done for us automatically on the day we decide to go to the guy's house and LAN up? As in plug PCs into switch, plug router into switch, and it to all work from there?

DHCP automatically assigns IP addresses to the computers.

I'd personally suggest just allocating and putting in a number yourself, if you can. It'll save a lot of hassles.

Haly · 06-12-2006, 00:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garp

I'd personally suggest just allocating and putting in a number yourself, if you can. It'll save a lot of hassles.

That's what we do at small LANs.

*doesn't actually understand half the previous terminology* I just get it working by accident half the time

05-12-2006, 22:35	#1
killerkebab Vodka Martini Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bristol/Reading Posts: 656	LAN help With a few friends of mine we occasionally get together at one of our houses and set up a LAN. The problem is there are always four or less of us because a standard router usually only has a four-port switch to connect us all with wires. Now we want to set up another LAN with a couple more friends (anywhere between four and eight). This would sound great, only last time we tried with eight of us we had bought a cheap-o 16 port switch and we were lucky to have any more than three of us successfully connected. The rest of us had IP setup problems which a whole night of attemps didn't fix Now I am about to purchase a Netgear FS608 switch. I want to know if our problems were more to do with the crappy switch, rather than a real configuration issue. All configuration I did was the windows network wizard, told it how the computers were connected (the questionnaire that pops up) and let it go. The first three computers connect and setup fine, but any after that report IP problems, no matter which ports I plug them in or what order or anything, and that was without trying to plug a router in to use the internet. So to end the thread before I babble... what I mean to ask is how you would go about setting this up. If I tell you I have: Anywhere between one to seven PCs. One FS608 Switch. One router (not sure on make, its one of those modem/switch/modem jobs a friend has). Is it as simple as plug everything in, start all the computers up, start the network config wizard and let it do its thing, or was there something blindingly obvious I missed? __________________

05-12-2006, 22:41	#2
Will BBx woz 'ere :P Join Date: Jan 1970 Posts: 2,147,487,208	A switch plugged into the LAN port of a router should be all you need. certainly if DHCP is enabled on the router and you've got DHCP enabled on your network cards. Bob should be your uncle... Tu es dans Kent non? Je peux venir t'aider si tu veux __________________ *No No!*

05-12-2006, 23:12	#3
Dymetrie A large glass of Merlot Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Letchworth with a Lightsaber Posts: 5,819	I've come across this before on a (can't remember the name of it but it was a bloody good/expensive managed switch) we realised that the problem was that NAT wasn't turned on on the switch and the modem/router would only allow 4 active internet connections (which impacted on the network as well). Was fixed by turning on NAT on the switch so the router only recognised it as a single device despite the fact that there were eight machines connected to it. This could just have been due to the fact that my ex-flatmate was a nob and may have nothing to do with your predicament __________________ Khef, Ka and Ka-Tet....

06-12-2006, 00:13	#8
killerkebab Vodka Martini Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bristol/Reading Posts: 656	DHCP server? DHCP scope? NAT? I'm lost... Setting up a LAN at home is easy enough with the router and its four ports, just we need something for more than four PCs Is there no way to have all this done for us automatically on the day we decide to go to the guy's house and LAN up? As in plug PCs into switch, plug router into switch, and it to all work from there? __________________

05-12-2006, 23:33	#4
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	Check the size of your DHCP scope.

05-12-2006, 23:41	#6
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	DHCP scope be my guess too. Cheapo switch shouldn't make a difference like that.