Networking Issues
Submitted by penneyw on September 10, 2007 - 13:49.
Not really sure where to put this but hopefully someone knows how to solve my problem. We have a 4 port dlink router in the house right now that works fine. We recently got a new roommate and don't have any ports left to set up another wired connection. I do however have a 5 port hub (4 ports plus an uplink) lying around the house. I can't for the life of me after trying all kinds of configurations get a computer to work when it's connected to the hub. If I understand this right i should be able to connect the hub to a port on the router, run two computers of the hub and 3 off of the remaining router ports, making everyone happy and getting 5 people online correct? If anyone has any advice i'm all ears. Thanks in advance
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Is it a hub or a switch
Is it a hub or a switch you're using? If its a hub, you typically need different cabling than if its a switch. On your router, you have 4 switched ports, meaning that they can talk directly with the computer. In the olden days of networking, you needed cross-over cables to talk between computers, and data was transmitted globally instead of being directed through "tubes" (yes, I just had to use tubes in this).
If it is a hub and not a switch, my recommendation would be to go buy a switch for $20-30 at your local retailer, and you'll save yourself a ton of headaches. That, or if you have any other routers lieing around the house, you could disable dchp on it, and use it as a switch.
Dave
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"The only thing more dangerous than a hardware guy with a code patch is a programmer with a soldering iron."
What I am using is a hub not
What I am using is a hub not a switch. I tried a crossover cable but that didn't seem to work either. Do you think the switch would make this easier because I probably will just find a cheap one if that's the case. Thanks for the help
I've always used switches in
I've always used switches in my networking. At home I currently have the following setup working with standard straight through cables:
WAN Internet to IPCop Firewall
IPCop to 4 port switch
4 port wireless router to 8 port switch
Gives me 10 ports in total
Dave
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"The only thing more dangerous than a hardware guy with a code patch is a programmer with a soldering iron."
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Way back when I first
Way back when I first started tinkering with networking PCs together, I had several different brands of hubs linked together via the uplink port. To the best of my recollection, in /some/ cases I had to use a crossover cable on the uplink port(s) only. I remember it being quite frustrating that one brand's uplink would be configured to use a patch cable while others required a cross-over cable (which as you can imagine, made connecting them together somewhat interesting). As I recall, I eventually introduced switching hubs and 'routers' into these configurations without problem. YMMV however ;)
Anyway, from the hubs to the PCs I always used patch cables (to the best of recollection). To troubleshoot your problem, have you been successful in using the hub in a test configuration? If so, I would investigate the requirement(s) of it's uplink port to see what kind of pin out is actually being used.
My first thought was to use the uplink port on your dlink, but as I write this it just occured to me that your `uplink' port is probably your WAN port and thus connected to your highspeed connection. In that case, you one option is to plug the hub into one of the switch ports -- which you have already stated doesn't work.
So, I guess I can only recommend trying the uplink port on the hub connected to one of input ports on the switch. Plugging any other port on the hub (other than crossover/uplink) into a port on the switch doesn't really make sense to me, even if it is just to 'split the port' -- my intuition tells me the uplink port on your hub is going to be the correct configuration, as I recall having problems trying the other configuration.
Good luck -- keep us updated.
uplink switch
most modern switches (and some hubs) autosence wether a crossover is needed. (making anyport a uplink port) older hardware (such as a hub would prob. be) often have a switch somewhere to deturmin if the uplink port is an uplink, or jest another (strate) port. If the hardware you have is working you should be able to do what you are trying to do.
when you connect the hub to the router do the port led's light up?
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Matt Englert
SOCIS System Admin