Ethernet/Switch woes

[Paul Costanza]

I've had Cat5e running from my home office to my den thru the wall to a 8 port gigabit switch to my TV, BluRay player, XBox, Appletv and 1 or 2 other devices. It's worked fine for over 3 years. It's fed from my home office with an ASUS RT-AC87R to a 16 port gigabit switch. Again, working fine for years.
Yesterday the Apple TV, TV, XBox etc were no longer getting internet (wireless works just so/so on Apple TV) and I thought it was the switch so I tried another one. Nope, same thing. Tested the cable and it tests fine but I tried another one anyway and, nada. Tried different ports in both switches, tried direct to the router and still, nada. The only light that lights up is the power light. There is no activity light showing on any of the ports on the den switch to show connection.
I've been told too many switches on the network can be problematic but as I've said, this has worked for nearly 3 years and just stopped. Nothing at all has be
Edit:
I can take the same 50 ft cable and connect it (in the office) from the router to the switch or from 1 switch to another and it works fine but only while in the office. As soon as I run that 50 ft cable (or 2 other 25 ft cables) into the multimedia room, to any of the 3 switches, it does not work. So why would it work in the office but not in another room with the same equipment? I wasn't even going thru the wall, I ran it loose like an extension chord. Is it possible something is causing severe interference? If so, how does one check ten done to any device on the network. I'm at a total loss and appreciate any direction you can send me in.

 

[boomerang]

If I understand you correctly and I may not be, what popped into my head is to test the receptacles that the switches are plugged into.

If you move the switch to a different receptacle (a receptacle in the office) and it works there but not when plugged into the receptacle you were using and you are using the same cable at both locations, I suspect that you have a problem with the current delivery to that receptacle or in this case receptacles. I would venture that they are both on the same circuit.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

It sounds on the surface that you might have a broadcast storm shutting down the ports. Can you draw a quick diagram of your Network? You don't have any any loops going on anywhere right? (anything that could form a circle in a network diagram). Are these switches all unmanaged?

Have you restarted *all* the switching equipment in case one of them is hung?

 

[Paul Costanza]

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First, my office wall is shared with the den wall so it's basically just a hole in the sheetrock into the wall and the cable is not connected to any receptacle or outlet.
If I move the switch into the office and use the same cable plugged into the it, things work just fine. All the port lights light up and it works. If I run the same cable (along the floor, loose) from the office to the den into the exact same switch, nada!

I've taken all other cables out the equation and even tried a different assortment but that doesn't work either I have the same setup going upstairs and it works fine. This setup was working until this weekend when it just stopped. Nothing that I can think of was changed and I've disconnect things and started from scratch with no luck either. My house must be haunted.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

@boomerang mentioned power earlier, and that sounds like a real suspicion. I once built my very first computer when I was a teen, and went to power it on in the Kitchen where I was building it, and it wouldn't power on. The green power light would come on, but nothing would actually happen. Mom suggested I plug it in in a different room on a different circuit and I thought she was crazy. It was a 300 watt power supply, and the kitchen just had a couple appliances plugged in, and the circuit breakers never tripped. Sure enough though, I moved it to another room, and it powered back on without a hiccup.

For craziness sake, can you take an extension cord, and put the switch exactly where it was originally, with the same cables plugged in, but power the switch with that extension cord? If that works, then you're pretty much whittled down to a power issue.

 

[Paul Costanza]

That's one thing I did not try. The outlet, like most, has 2 plugs. The power strip is on 1 and the switch on another so I'll try this when I get home. Boy do I hope it's that simple.
Thanks guys! I'll report back later.

 

[Paul Costanza]

Fixed it! It was the power supply to the 8 port switch. I have 2-8 port switches but as I tried both of them, I used the same power cable on both. DUH! Should have thought about that.
A huge thanks for the help submitted!
Cheers!

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Glad you got it figured out! Props to @boomerang for thinking about the power route.

 

[Paul Costanza]

Yes, I tried the outlet and it didn't change anything and that was when it hit me to check the power supply. And, in 2017 alone, I've had to replace power supplies on 3 different units around my home and 1 at my office. Next time that's the first thing I try.