On Jan 4, 2010, at 9:58 AM, ===( )8> wrote:
>
> The Quicksilver, the Mini, the Farallon and the DSL modem are all
> plugged into the Ethernet port (Asante 10T/8).
I think your problem is pretty simple. It sounds like you've connected
a DSL router to a switched network directly, and it doesn't work this
way.
[NOTE: this only holds of the DSL box you have has only one Ethernet
port on it, if it's got 4 then it's broken; get a new one]
DSL and Cable "modems" are actually routers in that they connect a
SINGLE ethernet device to an external network. Most will only
recognize a single MAC address until restarted.
What your DSL modem 'sees' now is a collection of several computers
all connecting to it at once instead of the one device it's supposed to.
The solution is to use a router in the middle, so that your DSL modem
sees a single device (the router) which then takes care of keeping all
your computers sorted.
ASCIIGraphically (switch to a monospaced font to see this):
What you have:
{Internet}----[DSL]------Mac1
|--------Mac2
|--------Mac3
...etc.
The DSL modem cannot do the local area networking properly, it'll only
assign an IP address to one Mac at a time, and that address is likely
in a different range than your Appletalk network is, so what happens
is that the Mac you access the internet loses track of the rest of
your LAN. The DSL router wants to make a LAN of only one of the
computers it connects to. The switch is actually invisible to the
network; it does not have an IP or Ethernet Address, it's merely a
wiring solution in this sense.
What you need:
{Internet}----[DSL]---[Router]---Mac1
|--------Mac2
|--------Mac3
So now the DSL modem is happy, it has only one device to ever talk to,
and your Macs are happy, they get fed IPm addresses by the router and
all is golden.
The router can either be a wired one like this: <http://tinyurl.com/yhydkmg
>, or a wireless one like this <http://tinyurl.com/yfnfcz6>
The key to understanding this is the difference between routers and
switches (or hubs).
A router handles traffic going between network segments: between two
LANS or between your LAN and the Internet. A switch (or hub though
they're much rarer now) handles traffic on a single network segment
(your LAN)
Cable and DSL routers are special case routers...they'll only talk to
ONE device, whether it's a single computer or another router.
--
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group
Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs
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