added switch to my network but cant see other computers?

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koven

Limp Gawd
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Sep 29, 2009
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so i started with two computers connected to a router, i then added a gigabit switch to the router and connected one of the computers to it

now the computers cant see each other in the network, was working fine without the switch..

i'm a networking noob so sorry if its a silly question, but what am i missing here?
 
Did you get operational link lights on the interfaces between the router and switch?

Make and model of the switch and router are needed as well.
 
How did you connect the switch to the router?

EDIT: Like, which port did you hook into?
 
what do you mean they can't see each other?
they don't know up in Network Neighborhood?

can they ping each other?
can you do a Start -> Run -> \\otherpcname ?
 
what model is this switch you added? If it is a managed switch with some settings that were already set for a previous setup you will definately run into some issues.

Did you connect the switch to one of the LAN ports on the router? Make sure its connected via a LAN port and not the WAN port.

Disconnect all the computers from the router and connect them all to the switch with only one cable going from the switch to the router.
 
oops wrong thread lol sorry, meant to post that in the Rift thread

i just sketched a crappy pic in mspaint of my issue -
http://i56.tinypic.com/2s12hy0.jpg

so before, i had 2 pc's on my modem/router and when i share folders in w7, i can see each pc fine

but now that i connected a switch, they seem to be on separate networks, i.e. if i connect 2 pc's to the switch, they can see each other but not the other pc's on the network.. hope that makes some sense

i also connected a wireless router to it and it seems to be on it's own network too

they can all access the internet fine... im thinking maybe its a setting on my us robotics modem/router thats splitting them up? or am i connecting them wrong?

this is the switch if it matters:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=trendnet_gigabit-_-33-156-309-_-Product

wireless router is a linksys e2000


thanks for the responses/help
 
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i wanna say it's an access point but i have no idea lol, it was just plug n play for me, internet is working fine on it

im not sure if its relevant to my issue though, even without the wifi router, and just the switch alone, those 2 pc's cant see each other anyway

so that's why im thinking it's something to do with my router settings..

anyone have any ideas? do i need to get a separate modem/router instead of that us robotics combo?
 
U need to get into that 2nd router/bridge and see how it`s set up.

It`s unlikely u really need 2 routers on a home network (I`m making that assumption from your statement that you are a bit of a noob).

Your ADSL modem router is actually a modem, a router AND a switch in one magical box

The modem bit is the part that works with your ADSL signal MODulating and DEModulating the ADSL signal.

The router bit is the the part that does routing and the whole NAT thing and internal IP`s to external IP.

The switch bit is the phyical part on the back of your ADSL modem/router with the 4x LAN ports on it.

Now, if you use the ADSL modem router, remove the wifi router/bridge for now, and connect your new switch to any one of the 4x LAN ports on your adsl modem/router, any devices on any of those RJ45 LAN ports on either your router or new switch are all on the same network and should be able to `see` each other without issue.

Now, if you have your ADSL box set to serve up 192.168.1.x addresses via DHCP to your networked devices and then you throw the wifi router/bridge in there and for some reason that`s serving up the same address range via it`s own DHCP server then you`re gonna have issues.

Without knowing what the 2nd router is doing you`re not gonna know what`s what. Just try removing that device for now and see how you get on with just your router and switch.

P.S. Don`t bank on any of my ramblings, I`m tired and I fully expect any mistakes I may have made to be corrected by any [H]Gurus!
 
if i take the wifi router out of the picture/disconnect it

the pc on the switch still cant see the pc on the router/switch/modem all-in-one, which is my main problem right now
 
j-sta said:
what do you mean they can't see each other?
they don't know up in Network Neighborhood?

can they ping each other?
can you do a Start -> Run -> \\otherpcname ?
Click to expand...

let me quote myself.
You still haven't explained what you mean by "they can't see each other"

I don't know what BigBadAl is talking about, since you have stated the issue isn't pin-pointed to wireless devices.
 
sorry about that,

what i mean is, i share a folder through w7 on one pc, and the other cant see it

but before i added a switch in between one of the pc's, they can see other's folders fine

they cannot ping each other
 
ok, that helps immensely.
what IP's are they getting? Sans the wireless, since that could be a different issue altogether.

But I looked up that TrendNet and it's a plain unmanaged switch, so it shouldn't be doing NAT or anything to prevent the computers to communicate.

Do you maybe need to change the "location" of the network and verify they are still set to "Home" on both PCs?
 
i appreciate your help, i am at work and will check the IP/location first thing when i get home

will report back asap

someone also mentioned to me that it could be a subnet issue?? how would i check that
 
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it shouldn't be a subnet issue, but the IP address of each device will tell us that part.

I could see an issue if your wireless AP was not setup in a bridge mode, since it is a router, correct?
but that still would only affect wireless devices, or any other devices wired directly to it. That would not affect devices plugged in to your main router or TrendNet. Well, shouldn't cause this issue depending on how it's configure and actually plugged in.

Having just the one router for your ADSL modem and a single switch should not cause those issues.
 
post the ipv4 and subnetmask of each computer

also when you do your ping, turn off the firewall on all the PCs as the firewall can be blocking the ping. you can turn it back on after you get this all sorted out.
 
j-sta said:
........I don't know what BigBadAl is talking about, since you have stated the issue isn't pin-pointed to wireless devices.
Click to expand...

I was just suggesting that if the 2nd router was DHCP server AS WELL as the ADSL modem router that there could be issues from just that.

Also would simply adding a switch make Win7 prompt for a `new network location`?

As I said, I stand to be corrected, some of my daft stuff makes myself cringe!
 
BigBadAl said:
I was just suggesting that if the 2nd router was DHCP server AS WELL as the ADSL modem router that there could be issues from just that.
Click to expand...

you do have a point there, which I stated also, depending on how the WAP is plugged in to the network, since it is a router. But if he's using the WAN port to connect to his network, there wouldn't be any DHCP issues.

BigBadAl said:
Also would simply adding a switch make Win7 prompt for a `new network location`?
Click to expand...

it shouldn't, as I only believe it asks if it receives an IP from a "new" DHCP server. But yeah, I could be wrong and that's certainly a possibility. Although, by default, ICMP Echo Requests are not blocked by the Windows firewall on Home and Work networks. So there may be a software firewall in place.

BigBadAl said:
As I said, I stand to be corrected, some of my daft stuff makes myself cringe!
Click to expand...

haha, I know what you mean.
 
What I would recommend is put the switch first and then have everything else connected to the switch Do you know if this switch is managed or just a dummy switch? Also is the wifi AP in AP mode only?
 
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