Strange networking problem

[Robin Bignall]

I have an USUS P5E3 Deluxe board which has two Ethernet connectors. I
use one for Internet, and I thought I'd use the other to connect my HP
LaserJet 2605, which has both Ethernet and USB connectors. The
printer installed, and will print. However, it takes a long time to
do so. I've also noticed that although the light to the left of the
printer E/net socket is green, the corresponding one on the m/b socket
is not illuminated. I occasionally get a "a network cable is
unplugged" message. I've tried it with both standard and crossover
E/net cables, and the installer seems to handle either. Is it that
the m/b E/net card is not configured correctly to support just a
printer?

I also notice that although the Internet connection works perfectly,
the light beside the port is amber, not green. Is this a problem too?

 

[Robin Bignall]

What IP address, subnet and gateway are you using on the second NIC and on
the printer? The default will be to use DHCP to set these, and I bet there
is no DHCP server availible on that network, so it pot luck what settings
you get!

Can you Ping the printer?

I would guess that the reason it is taking so long to print is that
everything is going out of your main NIC, timing out and then its tryingthe
secondary NIC... I would suggest that you plug your printer into a spare
network port of your router and try it there... If nothing else it will test
my hypothisis!

You're right. It works perfectly via the router. The printer can
print out its network config via its hardware. Some time I'll try to
set the NIC manually and see what happens.

Without looking at your motherboard manual I would guess that the LED colour
on the network port is an indication of speed. Most NICs have two lights.
The first is a "Link" indicator which basically means there is a low-level
or physical connection. The second is an activity light. I suggest thatthe
green/amber light is just indicating 10 or 100Mbps connection.

It should be greater than 10 Mbps because I have a 20 Mbps cable
modem. I'll check that, too.
Thanks.

 

[Robin Bignall]

Why not just leave it running on the main network?

No reason why not. I just thought I'd try using both NICs.

Have a look at the modem/router manual and see what it has built in... is it
a hub or a switch and is it 10 or 100Mbs?

I finally found description of the m/b NICs in the m/b manual. Both
are capable of 100 Mbs. The NIC lights are: activity (LHS): off=no
link, amber=linked, flashing=data activity: speed (RHS): off=10 Mbs,
amber=100Mbs, green=1Gbs. The printer LED is green if connected, and
it can run at 10 or 100 Mbs.

The speed of the modem and the network are totally seperate. I will bet that
the hub on it is 100Mbs. Almost all 100Mbs hubs and switches will run at
10Mbs if they are connected to an old 10Mbs NIC. The printer may well have
such a 10Mbs NIC built in.

If you are determined to run two NICs in your PC, remember that they ought
to be on different IP address ranges. I usually setup LANs to use the
192.168.1.X range, and any sub LANs like your proposed printer one as
192.168.2.X... Both with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. The 192.168.Y.X
ranges are good because they are defined in the IP standards as private
ranges and will never appear on the internet. In fact most routers know this
and filter out any traffic to these addresses. Which helps keep your private
network traffic private.

Thanks, Rarius. I'll give this some thought but it isn't a pressing
need. I'd just like to see how it can be done: teach me a bit about
network configuration. I'm saving this post for future reference.