Newb issues re: simple home network, pinging, using router & switch

[CompleteNewb]

Thanks to posts I've found on this newsgroup, I was able to add a PC to an
existing home network. However, while further investigating some items for
my own education, I ran into a couple issues that seemed confusing. This is
a simple 4-PC network using a comcast modem, a linksys router, and a small
switch.

1) Is there any particular reason to connect a PC to a router as opposed to
the switch? For instance, would the faster PC with the most files that are
shared to the others do a better job in terms of speed serving and
performance if it were connected to the router as opposed to the switch?
Intuitively, it seemed to me that if the PC's that get files from the server
are on the switch, then it didn't really matter whether the box that housed
the files (it's a workstation as well, not just a server) was on the switch
or router. Is there any particular rule of thumb when it comes to things
like this? Should printers be connected directly to the switch/router, or
do they do just as well attached to the pc's and using the shared printers
setup? I've got 1 Comcast cable modem, 1 Linksys Router, 1 small switch
(don't know company), 4 PC's, and 3 printers. All pc's need to be able to
see all other pc's shared folders, but one pc has the majority of files that
are shared. All pc's need to be able to print to any of the 3 printers.
All pc's need to access the internet. Is there a best practice setup for
this that anyone can suggest?

2) Even though all the pc's can see the shared-out folders on the other
pc's, and can use the Intenret connection, I can't ping one PC from another.
If I do a ipconfig command on one and get its ip address, shouldn't I be
able to ping that ip from another PC? I get several attempts and then a
timeout, or packet lost, on any attempt to ping any PC from any PC (none of
them seem capable of pinging any others). Why would these boxes be able to
see the other shared folders and make use of the shared printers, but not be
able to ping?

Any help on this would be appreciated, and thanks for reading. I apologize
for the newbishness.

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
A Router is actually a Switch and Routing circuits.
The switch is used for the computers on the local Network (LAN), and the
Routing circuits Route the Internet from the Modem to the switch. So it does
not matter whether you use the Router's Switch external Switch or both. If
every thing is connected correctly the result is the same.
If you use WinXP and the firewall is On, it probably blocks the local pings.
You have to set the Firewall expectations to allow the pings.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/internet/sp2_wfexceptions.mspx
Jack (MVP-Networking).

 

[Richard G. Harper]

Whenever you put a router into the mix, you are changing all the IP
addresses of every device connected to the router and possibly or probably
to an address range that cannot be seen by a device that is either not
connected to that router or that is connected to a different router.

If you need a router in your network it should be the very first device to
be connected after the incoming Internet connection. Your cable modem or
DSL modem should be first, then the router, then any other computers or
switches should be connected.

Once you have configured the physical network correctly, make sure the
router is not locking down any ports your computers need for file and
printer sharing, and that it's not in an "AP isolation mode" (it may have a
different name on your router) that PREVENTS you from networking correctly
by isolating all the computers from each other.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

 

[CompleteNewb]

I appreciate these replies to my post, and they make sense to me in that a
router is a hardware firewall (ie. "disguising" the actual real IP of
hardware connected on the internal side from stuff connected on the
outside). That one statement might be horribly wrong, but hey, I'm feeling
my way as I go.

But how is it, then, that a "ping" is more protected than a Windows Explorer
pane? I would have thought that if Windows Explorer will show the
shared-out folder of one PC to another PC connected to the same router, then
what possible harm could there be from a "ping"? I guess I'm confused on a
very basic level here. If the "ping" won't work, then how can I make sure I
can connect to a PC on the same home network, and narrow things down in
terms of troubleshooting? In my head, surely a browse of Windows Explorer's
Network Places, if it shows and allows acess to internal network's shared
folders, it should allow a ping. I mean, it's all TCP/IP, right?

Does a "ping" happen outside of the Windows Network Workgroup? Meaning, if
I have a PC that's a member of workgroup "Home", and I can see the "All
Users\Shared Docs\Share" folder of another PC, then isn't that a
higher-level heirarchy in terms of remote acces than a simple ping?

If I can see a shared folder on PC1 from PC2, but I can't ping the ipconfig
IP address of PC1 from PC2, then what's my troubleshooting step if I
suddenly can't see the shared folder on PC1 from PC2 anymore? All of the
posts I've seen that address internal (home) networking problems say "try
and ping PC1 from PC2, and if you can't then you are on your way to seeing
the prolblem." This indicates to me that a "ping" is a much lower, more
basic form of access than actually browsing folders. And yet, from this
response, it seems that lack of ability to ping has nothing to do with
whether or not one PC can see another on an internal network. I mean, I
thought a ping was kind of like "making sure the power cord's plugged in"
when a PC doesn't power up.

Am I thinking about all this all wrong?

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. From reading this, this may
result in someone saying "read this book," but I 'm just curious in case I
have an easily-explained-away newb point here.

Whenever you put a router into the mix, you are changing all the IP
addresses of every device connected to the router and possibly or probably
to an address range that cannot be seen by a device that is either not
connected to that router or that is connected to a different router.

If you need a router in your network it should be the very first device to
be connected after the incoming Internet connection. Your cable modem or
DSL modem should be first, then the router, then any other computers or
switches should be connected.

Once you have configured the physical network correctly, make sure the
router is not locking down any ports your computers need for file and
printer sharing, and that it's not in an "AP isolation mode" (it may have
a different name on your router) that PREVENTS you from networking
correctly by isolating all the computers from each other.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

Thanks to posts I've found on this newsgroup, I was able to add a PC to
an existing home network. However, while further investigating some
items for my own education, I ran into a couple issues that seemed
confusing. This is a simple 4-PC network using a comcast modem, a linksys
router, and a small switch.

1) Is there any particular reason to connect a PC to a router as opposed
to the switch? For instance, would the faster PC with the most files
that are shared to the others do a better job in terms of speed serving
and performance if it were connected to the router as opposed to the
switch? Intuitively, it seemed to me that if the PC's that get files from
the server are on the switch, then it didn't really matter whether the
box that housed the files (it's a workstation as well, not just a server)
was on the switch or router. Is there any particular rule of thumb when
it comes to things like this? Should printers be connected directly to
the switch/router, or do they do just as well attached to the pc's and
using the shared printers setup? I've got 1 Comcast cable modem, 1
Linksys Router, 1 small switch (don't know company), 4 PC's, and 3
printers. All pc's need to be able to see all other pc's shared folders,
but one pc has the majority of files that are shared. All pc's need to
be able to print to any of the 3 printers. All pc's need to access the
internet. Is there a best practice setup for this that anyone can
suggest?

2) Even though all the pc's can see the shared-out folders on the other
pc's, and can use the Intenret connection, I can't ping one PC from
another. If I do a ipconfig command on one and get its ip address,
shouldn't I be able to ping that ip from another PC? I get several
attempts and then a timeout, or packet lost, on any attempt to ping any
PC from any PC (none of them seem capable of pinging any others). Why
would these boxes be able to see the other shared folders and make use of
the shared printers, but not be able to ping?

Any help on this would be appreciated, and thanks for reading. I
apologize for the newbishness.