internet dies at switch

[Jacknet]

I'm running internet off router provided by att (internet service provider). If I connect my computer directly to the router it goes out to the internet fine.
When I hook up my other devices (wireless access point, dvd box, etc) to the switch and then hook the switch to the router I can't go out to the internet.
Everything worked the other day.
What happened is this: My old router was flaky so I called ATT and ordered a new one. Hooked up the new one and only one device would work and after investigating realized they sent me a modem, not router. So I put the old router back in and the switch started flaking out. 2 devices would work for awhile then only one then none. Just bought a brand new in the box Linksys 5 port switch and put it in and nothing can go out to the internet. I can only go out one device at a time by going directly to the router. Any ideas where to trouble shoot next. Thanks

 

[kornphlake]

It sounds like you need a broadband router and the new modem, not a switch and whatever flaky router you're using.

 

[MtnMan]

Sounds like you just have a dsl modem, not a router. You must have a router to perform NAT/PAT so multiple devices can connect through the single IP your ISP is providing.

 

[Jacknet]

I guess I'm not explaining it correctly. I'll try again. I received a Westell model A90-210030-A4 DSL Router about 3 years or more ago. Hooked it up to the phone line, then to a switch, from the switch to a computer by ethernet cable, to a wireless access point and to a dvd internet movie box with Netflix etc. Everything was working good for about 3 years or more and then the Westell router started crashing and needed to be rebooted about twice a day. After the reboot everything would work fine again but since we had it for so long I figured Att should give us a new one. We received a new "router" the day after ordering a new one (not free, $100) and put it in service according to instructions, which included going to Att.net/activate. Ran the activation program online to input the user id and password etc. Everything worked fine as far as one computer and the internet and "router" were concerned only the "router" was not a router but just a modem because when I hooked up the switch to the other devices none of them would work properly. Att sent us a Netgear a90-620025-20 DSL modem. As you networking people know a modem doesn't distribute random ip address's to the other components for unique access to the internet. So I put the old one back in service hooked it all up re-running the activate program again and things just didn't work right after that, even though all equipment is the same. The switch was real flaky and then finally just crashed so I went out and bought a new one and it didn't work either. So I figure it's software but don't know enough to know how to troubleshoot. That's why I came here hoping someone could give me some things to check. I'm just running my desktop straight into the old DSL router to get on the internet. If I plug the dvd into the router it works fine. If I plug the wireless access point into the router none of the laptops can connect. I don't know if that might be a clue or not. I hope I explained everything accurately. Any questions please ask. I just know enough to be dangerous, which is probably why it doesn't work. I ordered a new DSL router from Att which comes with a built in wireless access point but it won't be here until after Xmas because of the holiday. Thanks for any help.

 

[kornphlake]

My google-fu is week this evening, but it looks like the Westell A90-210030-A4 is a modem with a built in router, or a router with a built in modem depending on how you want to look at it, so you can connect more than one device to the Westell and get a private IP for each device. If this modem/router is working correctly you can connect a switch and/or access point to the router and it will distribute private IPs to devices connected through the switch or access point; the router can assign many more private IPs than the number of physical ports on the router. A modem can only pass a single public IP, which is why a single device connected directly to the modem will work, it's assigning the public IP to that device and giving access to the internet. A switch doesn't have any routing capability, there is no way a switch can split a single public IP, which is why connecting the switch to the modem isn't working, when multiple devices are connected to the switch the modem doesn't know which device should get the single public IP it can serve. A router can assign private IPs to multiple devices and combine traffic from multiple private IPs to a single public IP, which is what your old modem/router did when it was still working reliably. The new modem doesn't have the capability to assign multiple private IPs, the switch doesn't have the hardware or firmware to perform this function either, what you need is a router, rather it's a standalone router connected directly to the modem, or a router/modem/access point like you had previously.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I guess I'm not explaining it correctly. I'll try again. I received a Westell model A90-210030-A4 DSL Router about 3 years or more ago. Hooked it up to the phone line, then to a switch, from the switch to a computer by ethernet cable, to a wireless access point and to a dvd internet movie box with Netflix etc. Everything was working good for about 3 years or more and then the Westell router started crashing and needed to be rebooted about twice a day. After the reboot everything would work fine again but since we had it for so long I figured Att should give us a new one. We received a new "router" the day after ordering a new one (not free, $100) and put it in service according to instructions, which included going to Att.net/activate. Ran the activation program online to input the user id and password etc. Everything worked fine as far as one computer and the internet and "router" were concerned only the "router" was not a router but just a modem because when I hooked up the switch to the other devices none of them would work properly. Att sent us a Netgear a90-620025-20 DSL modem. As you networking people know a modem doesn't distribute random ip address's to the other components for unique access to the internet. So I put the old one back in service hooked it all up re-running the activate program again and things just didn't work right after that, even though all equipment is the same. The switch was real flaky and then finally just crashed so I went out and bought a new one and it didn't work either. So I figure it's software but don't know enough to know how to troubleshoot. That's why I came here hoping someone could give me some things to check. I'm just running my desktop straight into the old DSL router to get on the internet. If I plug the dvd into the router it works fine. If I plug the wireless access point into the router none of the laptops can connect. I don't know if that might be a clue or not. I hope I explained everything accurately. Any questions please ask. I just know enough to be dangerous, which is probably why it doesn't work. I ordered a new DSL router from Att which comes with a built in wireless access point but it won't be here until after Xmas because of the holiday. Thanks for any help.

Hope I'm understanding this correctly, Need some information.

Plug the new modem in, since the old one is dying anyways. plug the desktop into the modem. I'm going to assume you're running windows, so after you get that set up, open a command prompt like this:

1. click start>Run, type cmd a command prompt will open.
2. at the command prompt, type ipconfig /all

Copy and paste the output here.

If the new device is indeed a modem only, then you'll need a router between the modem and your internal network.

 

[Fardringle]

What MtnMan said is the correct answer to your big explanation. In order to use more than one device on your home network, you need a router. Right now, you only have a modem and a switch/access point. Get a router, connect it to the DSL modem, then connect everything else to the router, and all of your devices will be able to access the Internet.

 

[Jacknet]

Ok, one more time: I'm a retired AS400 programmer and assistant IT administrator for a Public Library. Like I said I know enough to be dangerous and screw things up. I have 3 (Three) network devices. A dsl router/modem (supplied by dsl provider ATT) a Roswill RC 405X 5-port switch, and a Edimax 11b/g access point. I had my desktop hooked to the switch by ethernet cable and my internal ethernet card. I had the switch connected to the dsl router/modem via ethernet cable. The Edimax was plugged in to the switch via ethernet cable. The DVD was plugged into the switch via ethernet cable. Everything worked fine until I went through the scenario described above. Now I have everything plugged up as described here, now. and nothing works. Can't get on the internet unless I unplug from the switch and go directly with one device into the dsl router/modem alone, then that device alone will work. I was hoping some knowledgeable networking geek on here could give me some ideas on trouble shooting, other that what I have already tried and described above. Thanks
PS: The ATT router with a wireless access point will be here Wen. and this will all be moot. But I would like to know why it crashed just to learn something.

 

[Jacknet]

[/url] ipcnfig by Jacknet1, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[AnonymouseUser]

The modem that flaked out on you is a combination modem and router (Westell 2100). The new modem (Westell/Netgear 6200) is a modem only. You cannot use multiple devices on a modem without a router. A switch requires a router as well. You need to connect the modem directly to a router (WAN port) if you wish to use more than one device (connect to router LAN port).

 

[kornphlake]

Ok, one more time: I'm a retired AS400 programmer and assistant IT administrator for a Public Library. Like I said I know enough to be dangerous and screw things up. I have 3 (Three) network devices. A dsl router/modem (supplied by dsl provider ATT) a Roswill RC 405X 5-port switch, and a Edimax 11b/g access point. I had my desktop hooked to the switch by ethernet cable and my internal ethernet card. I had the switch connected to the dsl router/modem via ethernet cable. The Edimax was plugged in to the switch via ethernet cable. The DVD was plugged into the switch via ethernet cable. Everything worked fine until I went through the scenario described above. Now I have everything plugged up as described here, now. and nothing works. Can't get on the internet unless I unplug from the switch and go directly with one device into the dsl router/modem alone, then that device alone will work. I was hoping some knowledgeable networking geek on here could give me some ideas on trouble shooting, other that what I have already tried and described above. Thanks
PS: The ATT router with a wireless access point will be here Wen. and this will all be moot. But I would like to know why it crashed just to learn something.

Ok, one more time: the old modem had routing capabilities, you could connect a switch and the modem (with routing capabilities) would assign private IPs to the devices connected to the switch. The new modem does not have routing capabilities, it is only assigning one public IP to one device. When you connect the modem to the switch it doesn't know which device should get the single public IP it can provide so it appears to not work. The problem is you no longer have a device that can do the routing, without a router you can only connect one device.

 

[ch33zw1z]

[/url] ipcnfig by Jacknet1, on Flickr[/IMG]

So what was the configuration durig this IPCONFIG?

192.168.1.97 is an internal IP given to you by a SOHO (small office/home office) router. This IP is not from your ISP's modem device, but from a router.

The config (what modem/router/pc setup) that you had at the time of this output is key.

 

[NesuD]

I guess I'm not explaining it correctly. I'll try again. I received a Westell model A90-210030-A4 DSL Router about 3 years or more ago. Hooked it up to the phone line, then to a switch, from the switch to a computer by ethernet cable, to a wireless access point and to a dvd internet movie box with Netflix etc. Everything was working good for about 3 years or more and then the Westell router started crashing and needed to be rebooted about twice a day. After the reboot everything would work fine again but since we had it for so long I figured Att should give us a new one. We received a new "router" the day after ordering a new one (not free, $100) and put it in service according to instructions, which included going to Att.net/activate. Ran the activation program online to input the user id and password etc. Everything worked fine as far as one computer and the internet and "router" were concerned only the "router" was not a router but just a modem because when I hooked up the switch to the other devices none of them would work properly. Att sent us a Netgear a90-620025-20 DSL modem. As you networking people know a modem doesn't distribute random ip address's to the other components for unique access to the internet. So I put the old one back in service hooked it all up re-running the activate program again and things just didn't work right after that, even though all equipment is the same. The switch was real flaky and then finally just crashed so I went out and bought a new one and it didn't work either. So I figure it's software but don't know enough to know how to troubleshoot. That's why I came here hoping someone could give me some things to check. I'm just running my desktop straight into the old DSL router to get on the internet. If I plug the dvd into the router it works fine. If I plug the wireless access point into the router none of the laptops can connect. I don't know if that might be a clue or not. I hope I explained everything accurately. Any questions please ask. I just know enough to be dangerous, which is probably why it doesn't work. I ordered a new DSL router from Att which comes with a built in wireless access point but it won't be here until after Xmas because of the holiday. Thanks for any help.

Your old Westell Modem/router was having issues. You ordered a replacement but they only sent you a modem instead of a modem/router combo. You Reactivate the Westell modem/router unit that was having issues. Seems pretty obvious to me. The Westell is dying. Not surprising you are having problems. You are using a defective router. Activate the new modem again and go get yourself a standalone router and plug it in between the modem and your switch. You are trying to get a dying router to work correctly and it just isn't going to happen. The router is your problem. The switch is basically agnostic on the network. The router controls everything. Basic troubleshooting says to check for the most obvious cause first. You put a defective router back into your network. That would automatically go to the top of my list of possible causes.