I have since installed Smoothwall onto the box which doesn't have nearly as much functionality as Clarkconnect 2.1 but it's functional enough for my needs.
-j-
Michael Petch wrote:
Based on all that then I will assume that the signal is being degraded just enough with an extra switch for things to fail.
The fact it works without one switch (And you've tried replacing one of them) suggests to me that the signal without the extra switch is just good enough not to be a problem, and the extra switch puts it over the threshold.
Ultimately you have to find a way to improve the signal quality between the 2 switches. Either with changing the switches (or trying hubs), or worst case placing repeaters between the 2 switches on both sides of the home wiring (or replace the switches with repeater hubs).
Mike
On Fri, 2004-03-19 at 20:07, Jon Copeland wrote:
Same problem :|
The thing is, up until 2 days ago when I moved everything, everything was working fine, but back then 2 days ago I was running all the machines through one switch so there was no cascading, so in essence what I'm saying is, all the NIC's in all the PC's and all the network wiring, was working back then. All I simply did was move 2 computers to the top floor and move the server / cable modem into the basement by the electrical panel.
-j-
Michael Petch wrote:
Just to verify, and taking a cue from another email. I'd like to try something.
On switch 2 disconnect all connections to the switch except for the server and the connection that goes though your home wiring.
On switch 1 Disconnect all devices except PC1 (And the connection to the household wiring). Do your test. Does it work.
Then connect PC2 to Switch 1 and disconnect PC1 and do yuor test. does it work?
On Fri, 2004-03-19 at 19:20, Jon Copeland wrote:
That is absolutely correct, as long as Switch2 isn't in the picture everything works fine, as soon as I add Switch2 I get these intermittent connection problems. And what's weird on top of this is that the wiring going down into the basement is perfect and everything works perfectly as long as the cable modem is attached directly to it, as soon as I plug Switch2 into it, everythong stops.
I've now tried a Dlink 714p+ Router in place of Switch2 and I get the same problem. Very odd indeed.
This problem would be perfectly understandable if I were getting a 'no ping' response from the server but because of the intermittent behaviour of this network it must be something else.
-j-
Michael Petch wrote:
Hmm, if I had half a brain I'd realize that you'd probably have to try hubs on both sides (Since its rather unlikely the noise is one direction lol).
I would not be suggetsing this alternative at all if you had not successfully used the home wiring to hook switch 1 directly to the cable modem.
On Fri, 2004-03-19 at 18:41, Michael Petch wrote:
Upon reading your original email I see that you have successfully connected the distant (switch1 to the cable modem using your twisted pair cat5) - correct me if I am wrong (So it works as long as switch 2 isn't in the chain). I am assuming there are PC's/devices connected to switch 2 (besides the server).
If there isn't any other device connected directly to switch 2 you could try and hook the server right into the home made cat5 cable (Does that work? (I know you hooked it up directly to the cable modem).
If you plan on having other devices on switch 2 it becomes problematic (And maybe people here can suggest other things).
It sounds like that either the length of the cable in the wall is an issue and/or there is interference. Just the added switch and cable exceed the threshold for a good signal.
I would see if you can borrow another switch (from another manufacturer) and try to replace one of your existing ones. Its possible that a different brand *might* be able to fix the problem.
Secondly you might want to try replacing one of your switches with a hub. Hubs regenerate the originating signal and broadcast it on all the ports. A hub on one side might improve the signal enough to work in your situation.
The more expensive proposition if all else fails is to place repeaters between the switches (or buy ethernet repeater hubs). This could be a costly proposition compared to what you have spent already and I would exhaust all other alternatives first.
I would bet you a beer that if you replace one of the switches with a
hub that it might just work for you.
Mike
On Fri, 2004-03-19 at 17:39, Jon Copeland wrote:
Hi Michael,
Well this is making strides. Firstly, thanks for replying I appreciate it, Secondly, I tried what you suggested, connecting the two switches to each other with a very short (5m) CAT5 cable and the PC's could see each other and ping each other without packet loss. AKA no problem.
Let me further explain the network setup. My house here in Cranston SE was built without networking in every room, there is also no tube from the top floor to the basement so I couldn't run a cable. The basement is where the firewall/server and the cable modem sits. The only other solution was to use the existing phone line in the one room upstairs, which is rated at CAT5, I simply re-wired it to 568B standards* to cascade (daisy-chain) two switches because there are two PC's upstairs but only one wire (the old telephone wire) So the switch was needed for this activity. Since each port on both switches supports auto-mdi/x there was no reason to make the cable a crossover cable.
So the answer to your question is, the length of the cable between the two switches is about 35ft. The SMC-EZ6505TX-CA switch was purchased
from london drugs and the Eusso was purchased from techtronics, both
switches operate perfectly when used standalone, IE no cascading.
-j-
*568B = from left to right - orange-white / orange / green-white / blue / blue-white / green / brown-white / brown
Michael Petch wrote:
Hooking up 2 switches together generally is not a problem.
But I have to ask. What is the length of cable between switch 1 and 2? I'm thinking that if one of the switches is not boosting the signal that the intermittent problems might be related to the length of one of the cables. Would be curious to know what types of lengths we are talking about. And whether it is possible to connect the 2 switches up (As a test) sitting next to one another with a very short cat5 cable.
Mike
On Fri, 2004-03-19 at 15:36, Jon Copeland wrote:
I'm having some difficulty finding out what could be the problem in the following scenario.
http://members.shaw.ca/jonno/Images/misc/lan_diagram.jpg
Switch1 is attached to Switch2 via a straight CAT5 cable, the Switches each have Auto mdi/mdix capability and are both different brands (SMC 5 Port and Eusso 5 port). Any PC attached to Switch1 that tries to ping the server will receive intermittent replies.
http://members.shaw.ca/jonno/Images/misc/the_ping_results.JPG
From the server you can ping anything on the internet. It has 2 NICs
in it, one connected to the cable modem and the other connected to Switch2 (eth0 and eth1 respectively) (NOTE: The server is *NOT* where the problem lies, my suspicions lie with the communication between the two switches.) <-- The reason for these suspicions is because when I plug the CAT5 cable that connects these two switches directly into the cable modem I can get an IP address from my ISP and browse the internet normally. This is how I'm able to send this message. (The cabling is fine, all the wiring has been crimped according to the 568B wiring standard. And since I can see the internet when Switch1 is directly attached to the cable modem it can't be a wiring problem between Switch1 and the Cable Modem or Server)
Since both Switches support auto-crossover (mdi/x) on each port they should be able to be daisy-chained together using a normal cable (I've also tried a crossover cable). So in essence any PC's connected to Switch1 *should* be able to talk to any PC's connected to Switch2. And this is not what is happening, well, the ping replies shown above tell us that communication between Switch1 and the server is happening intermittently for some obscure reason. This is where the problem is.
I have swopped the two Switches around and I get the same problem. My conclusions lead me to believe that the problem arises when the two switches are connected with each other, IE, any PC on Switch1 cannot *fully* talk with any PC on Switch2.
Previous to this the network was working fine as all the PC'S including the server were attached to one Switch so there was no 'daisy-chaining' involved.
Is there something that I'm missing out or something that I'm not doing?
-j-
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