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using a switch vs using a hub

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by eroon

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Win2K Server, clients Win9x and XP. Some network cards are 10mbps, others are 10/100mbps. TCP/IP configured on all clients. Using a 10 mbps hub everything was fine, changed to a 10/100mbps switch, now no one can log on, can't see anyone from server, can't ping anyone. All ports on the switch are lit, also lights on network cards lit. Why is this?

15 replies

by alpha-male

Assuming your network is configured properly and you have eliminated cabling, nic issues...

Did you by any chance connect your server to port 1 (the uplink port)? Make sure that if you did, it is not in uplink mode (there should be a little switch there to set the mode).

If that is not the case, did you do any kind of setup/management on the switch? You can set all kinds of filters up to forward or block on a switch. Also, for example...if you bought this used and you can manage the switch, perhaps it was set to block IPs not in the appropriate networks. If there is a chance of this, you'll have to find out how to connect and manage the switch. Most of the better ones have Console ports you can connect to with a null-modem cable...
If none of this helps, give us a few more details and I'll try to help further.

by alpha-male

There are several network related possibilities that could cause you trouble. What you need to do at this point is simplify. Connect only the server to the switch. Double check the cabling. Make sure it's cat5 and in good shape (the 10mb cable you were using may not be able to handle 100TX - cat3 and 4 will not reliably). When the server connects and can ping its loopback and NIC IP, try connecting up 1 workstation. If you cannot ping hte loop back or IP address, you need to review and correct (or re-install) your TCP/IP networking Manually set its IP address in the correct range, set up its domain or workgroup (be very careful and exact) and try to login. Try to ping the server and from the server ping the workstation. If you have trouble, double...triple check your IP Addressing (make sure you're not in different subnets) and then try a different workstation...just in case the one you first tested just happened to be the problem. If none of this helps, get back to us with details and specific errors. I'll be glad to help further (I love connectivity stuff).

by rapidad

to add to Alphamale, there is usually a small hole for a reset switch on the switch. Look for this, usually that straightened out paper clip you use to open your cdrom drives will also reset this switch. Another trick is to turn off the power (if itdoesnt have power its not a switch) and then connect back all the calbes one at a time.

by rapidad

one thing that can cause that is if somewhere there is whats called a crossover cable. there are two protocols for building cat5 cables. make sure all your cables have the same color code on the ends (look REAL CLOSE), if you find a cable with diff ends replace it. This goes back to starting over with the switch and adding each box one at a time.

by jeff schaper

I had this type of fault twice. First one was caused by a management Ip Address on the switch which was different from the LAN address. The other time I had to clear the arp table and let the switch rebuild the table.

by j_t_c

Ok, well let first find out a few details. What type of switch is this? Is it a "managed" switch(i.e. Cisco, Alcatel etc.)? OR is it a switch you buy from eBay for 100 dollars or less? For small networks the latter is perfect, however you must look at the auto-negotiate portion of the switch. Some do not Auto-negotiate the connection speed properly and cause the NIC to detect many errors thereby effectively shutting it down. I would set all of the cards to 10 Half duplex if that is possible with your drivers(most are). In my experience cabling is a big deal when it comes to autoegotiating media type and speed. Cable that supports 10 Half duplex doesn't always mean that it will support 100 Full duplex operation. I have spent hours troubleshooting large networks and ended up setting the switch to 10 Half until we could get a new cable plant.. Don't overlook the integrity of your cable plant...

by eroon

Server is not connected to port 1. It's a new switch, a 3Com Dual Speed 16 port switch. I don't see the little hole where I can reset it. I tried the switch in a different network, and it worked fine. Put it back in my network, and still not working. Could there be something in my network configuration that is causing this?

by dona

had ae EXACTLY SIMILAR problem once and rectified it by re-crimping and re-terminating my network points. this is a big deal if you've got a large network but when I re-terminated using EIA/TIA 568A standard-the switch worked fine, so did the formerhub and anything else i used!
the color scheme from pin 1-8 respectively is w/green, green, w/orange, blue, w/blue, orange, w/brown, brown

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