New Unmanaged Switch Doesn't Connect to Router

[Lori]

Hi, all. Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.

Been running an Linksys BEFSR81 wired router, four port. Got a new laptop
and need to connect. Bought a TP-Link unmanage five-port router. Connected
it by the AC adapter and a new CAT 5e cable going from the laptop to the #1
port of the switch. Supposedly, you don't have to do anything.

Well, ran the setup wizards for both the network and the Internet connection
and although the icon at the bottom popped up and said I was connected, I
cannot connect.

The main computers are all running Windows XP Home, SP2, the laptop Windows
XP Pro, SP3. I did try plugging an existing connected computer out from the
router and plugging it into the switch but it didn't connect either. Then I
took the plug that comes in from the cable outside and tried plugging into
the switch but that didn't give Internet service either. I am stumped.

It may be obvious to someone who knows switches, but I don't and it isn't.
I did use the ipconf/all command on the laptop and the only thing I feel is
worth mentioning is, it gave a line that said NetBOIOS over Tcpip is
disabled, if that means anything.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
There is No need for two Routers. If your New Router is Wireless use it
instead of the old Router.
If you do want to keep two Routers then the second Router has to be
connected like this.
Using a Wireless Router as a switch with an Access Point -
http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking).

 

[Lori]

Jack,
Thanks for the fast reply, but you may have misread my post. I am on a HARD
WIRED router for years and added a switch to connect my laptop to the network
and provide Internet access. Please re-read it and see if that is what you
meant to say. Nothing about this involved more than one router or anything
wireless. I have connected the laptop to the switch via CAT 5e cable.
Thanks!

 

[Lem]

Jack,
Thanks for the fast reply, but you may have misread my post. I am on a HARD
WIRED router for years and added a switch to connect my laptop to the network
and provide Internet access. Please re-read it and see if that is what you
meant to say. Nothing about this involved more than one router or anything
wireless. I have connected the laptop to the switch via CAT 5e cable.
Thanks!

Perhaps Jack thought your new switch was wireless because you didn't
mention that you had connected a patch cable between your old router and
the new switch. You did that, of course?

When you have the router connected to the switch and the switch
connected to the laptop, what else does ipconfig /all report beside
NetBIOS disabled? Specifically, what is shown for the laptop's IP
address, subnet mask, and gateway IP address?

Similarly, what result from ipconfig /all when you connect one of your
working computers to the switch (and reboot)?

How do those results compare to ipconfig /all run on a computer
connected to the router and successfully accessing the Internet?

And you should explicitly enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on all of your
computers. Right click on the LAN icon, select Properties; select TCP/IP
and click Properties; click Advanced on the General tab; then click the
WINS tab. See
http://networking.nitecruzr.net/2006/04/netbios-over-tcpip.html

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

 

[Jack \(MS, MVP-Networking\)]

Hi Lori.
Your first Post states: "Got a new laptop and need to connect. Bought a
TP-Link unmanaged five-port router".
I.e. in your own words five-port-router.
Wireless or not, my link explains how to connect second Router as a switch,
or and Wireless Access Point.
In any case the issue can be software, which was addressed by Lem, or
hardware mismatch in case there is an Uplink issue between the Router's port
and the new switch's port. http://www.ezlan.net/faq.html#crossover
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

 

[Lori]

Thanks, guys. I knew it would end up being something simple. I didn't
realize that you need a patch cable! DOY! I have blonde roots
sometimes...LOL. But I had figured it out by the time I read this.

I did try to put one of the working computer's cables from the router into
the switch and it didn't work, but five-port I thought meant five usable
ports for computers! You have to use one of those to patch into the router,
so it's actually really only four ports that are usable.

All's well that ends well, I guess, and it is up and running now, after an
entire afternoon wasted trying. I was under the impression (and I shouldn't
do impressions) that since the instructions do no tell you that you need to
do that, that the switch is able to pick up on the router wirelessly. My bad.

Thanks again.

 

[berniek]

I'm having exactly the same problem. I have a D Link WIRED router that's been on my network for years and I'm trying to install am SMC 5 port switch. The switch is at the end of a 75 foot Cat 5 cable, According to the manufacturer's tech support I should be able to connect either a computer or router to any port on the router. Tech support and I set up two computers, with static IP addresses, through the switch and they worked fine. Not using the switch I can ping anywhere in the world from any of 3 computers connected to this router. I tried using a crossover cable between the router cable and the switch and that didn't work either. I would appreciate any other ideas.