# 5 port workgroup switch help



## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

i just added a linksys 5 port workgroup switch in my office (model number EZXS55W) and after i plug it in i lose the internet. it is hardwired off of a linksys wrt300n about 150' away. if i unplug the workgroup switch and plug directly in to the back of my computer the internet comes right back. any ideas


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

dave29 said:


> i just added a linksys 5 port workgroup switch in my office (model number EZXS55W) and after i plug it in i lose the internet. it is hardwired off of a linksys wrt300n about 150' away. if i unplug the workgroup switch and plug directly in to the back of my computer the internet comes right back. any ideas


Need details... you should be coming from one of the numbered ports of the 300N to the uplink port of the new switch. Have you configured the switch yet? is the switch and the 300N both set for DHCP... that won't work. Need details but glad to help.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

i dont know a lot about networking, i have been slowly learning so bear with me. yes, it comes from one of the numbered ports on the 300n to the uplink port on the switch. i bought 2 of these switches and they did not come with a installationcd(is that what you mean by configured it yet?)


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

The EZXS55W requires no configuration (nor does it offer any). Your router needs to be reset (maybe just power cycled) to get some things straightened out. I just installed the same switch in front of my firewall and it was a little testy until I power cycled some stuff.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

i reset it twice and yet no internet:nono2:


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

harsh said:


> The EZXS55W requires no configuration (nor does it offer any). Your router needs to be reset (maybe just power cycled) to get some things straightened out. I just installed the same switch in front of my firewall and it was a little testy until I power cycled some stuff.


No control panel in that switch? I didn't know, dont think I have ever used a LinkSys switch without a control panel.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

it is supposed to be "plug and play" but it isnt working for me


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

harsh said:


> The EZXS55W requires no configuration (nor does it offer any). Your router needs to be reset (maybe just power cycled) to get some things straightened out. I just installed the same switch in front of my firewall and it was a little testy until I power cycled some stuff.


I have to confess, that is the first truly "dumb" switch I have ever seen. I have a bunch of LinkSys switches including one here in my home LINKSYS SRW2016 and they all have control panels reached thru you browser... that's what I love about this forum, you learn something new every day.

So I take it this kind of switch just passes thru the information from the Router?


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

from what i understand..... that is correct


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## HIPAR (May 15, 2005)

I assume the DHCP server in the Linksys router is turned on. The first thing I do when having connectivity problems is to check that all my nodes are having an IP address assigned. Usually, everything works once that's happening.

--- CHAS


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## funhouse69 (Mar 26, 2007)

This could be a few different things - Off the top of my head, bad cable or even defective switch but before we go there lets look at a few things. 

Most importantly are you getting a link on both ports that you are plugging in to? Since this is such a simple switch it is possible that it does not auto-detect when a Crossover Cable is needed. The Router should detect that but you never know.

Just to make sure all of our bases are covered you are connecting a cable from one of the Yellow Ports on the Router to one of the ports of the Switch then the computer to another port on the switch correct?

If this is correct then make sure you are getting links on both - Also and this is VERY important - Depending on how the Router was set up you might have MAC Filtering Enabled, if so that COULD be an issue but shouldn't be with this particular switch. If you are still having issues you could try disabling it just to make sure. 

Other then that we could be looking at a bad cable or even a bad switch either are very possible.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

funhouse69 said:


> This could be a few different things - Off the top of my head, bad cable or even defective switch but before we go there lets look at a few things.
> 
> Most importantly are you getting a link on both ports that you are plugging in to? Since this is such a simple switch it is possible that it does not auto-detect when a Crossover Cable is needed. The Router should detect that but you never know.
> 
> ...


i have covered all the bases that you posted except for the CROSSOVER CABLE, i am not sure what that is. also, i know that cable is good and i have tried 2 different "brand new" switches.


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## STEVEN-H (Jan 19, 2007)

OK I just looked up your switch on the Linksys site. The input marked uplink should connect to your router. Doing this acts like a crossover cable and makes output 5 on your switch unusable. You can then use output 1-4 on your new switch. You cannot use a regular cable from your router to the switch ports 1-5.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

i have hooked it up that way and it didnt work. i have also hooked up port 1 to the router and it didnt work.(the box shows port 1 hooked up to the router) i am about to just give up on it. how can something so simple be so frustating?


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## Kodok (Feb 10, 2008)

Dave, 

I didn't read all your postings closely. But basically from your WRT300N plug the cable to the Numbered Ports (w/ yellow color). The other end of the cable you want to go to the Uplink Port of the EZXS55W switch. Now your PC needs to be connected to Port 1 to 4 of the EZXS55W Switch and can't use Port 5 since Port 5 and Uplink Ports are basically the same port (1 is straight through and 1 is a X-over). And make sure the Switch is powered. 

To learn about X-Over Port or cable you can read the documentation of the switch from the Linksys website. 

Basically the rule of thumb, to connect switch to switch or PC to PC, you need X-Over port or X-Over cable. To connect devices (i.e. PC, Printer, etc) to Switch, you just need a straight thru cable. Now this is for 'older' switches or routers. Newer ones have auto sensing capabilities that basically you don't need to worry about Uplink port, X-Over cable, etc.

When you have done all the above, you can open DOS Prompt on your PC (assuming it's Windows) and type 'ipconfig /all'. Assuming you're running all default settings from the Linksys Router, your IP Address should start with 192.169.xxx.xxx. 

Let me know if you have any questions.


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## phat78boy (Sep 12, 2007)

Where did you get the 150' cable? I ask because it sounds like it may be that cable. Do any lights show on the front of the switch when its connected? If not, grab another patch cable and go next to your main router and plug it in there.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

phat78boy said:


> Where did you get the 150' cable? I ask because it sounds like it may be that cable. Do any lights show on the front of the switch when its connected? If not, grab another patch cable and go next to your main router and plug it in there.


i made the cable, and it works fine hooked directly up to my computer. also, all the lights are lit up on the switch


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

Kodok said:


> Dave,
> 
> I didn't read all your postings closely. But basically from your WRT300N plug the cable to the Numbered Ports (w/ yellow color). The other end of the cable you want to go to the Uplink Port of the EZXS55W switch. Now your PC needs to be connected to Port 1 to 4 of the EZXS55W Switch and can't use Port 5 since Port 5 and Uplink Ports are basically the same port (1 is straight through and 1 is a X-over). And make sure the Switch is powered.
> 
> ...


i have done that to a "T" and no dice.
i am going to disconnect everything and hook everything back up(for the 5th time) and see what happens:lol:


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## phat78boy (Sep 12, 2007)

dave29 said:


> i made the cable, and it works fine hooked directly up to my computer. also, all the lights are lit up on the switch


So as kodok stated, are you getting an IP address on your computer once its hooked up through the switch?


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

yes, i am getting an IP address on both my computer and on one of my hr20's that are connected, but neither will find the internet


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## phat78boy (Sep 12, 2007)

dave29 said:


> yes, i am getting an IP address on both my computer and on one of my hr20's that are connected, but neither will find the internet


Ok, is the default gateway coming through also? Is it the same address as what you get when you plug it in directly?


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## Kodok (Feb 10, 2008)

dave29 said:


> yes, i am getting an IP address on both my computer and on one of my hr20's that are connected, but neither will find the internet


Can you please tell us what's the IP Address ?

I'm assuming both of your PCs and 1 of the HR20 are connected to the same Switch ?


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## HIPAR (May 15, 2005)

If you haven't already tried this, disconnect everything wired/wireless from the internet router to eliminate the variables. Then connect a computer to a wired router port and verify the internet is working. Open a command prompt window and do an ipconfig /all Now disconnect the computer and connect the switch input to the known to be working router port. Connect the computer to a switched port and open a second prompt window. Do ipconfig /renew followed by ipconfig /all and compare the outputs of ipconfig /all for something obviously different. 

I myself have wasted too much time on this out of control networking nonsense. The network genius people really need to simplify it for us mere mortals. I hate to think about the tons of functional networking devices returned as defective because we cannot configure them.

--- CHAS


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## phat78boy (Sep 12, 2007)

HIPAR said:


> If you haven't already tried this, disconnect everything wired/wireless from the internet router to eliminate the variables. Then connect a computer to a wired router port and verify the internet is working. Open a command prompt window and do an ipconfig /all Now disconnect the computer and connect the switch input to the known to be working router port. Connect the computer to a switched port and open a second prompt window. Do ipconfig /renew followed by ipconfig /all and compare the outputs of ipconfig /all for something obviously different.
> 
> I myself have wasted too much time on this out of control networking nonsense. The network genius people really need to simplify it for us mere mortals. I hate to think about the tons of functional networking devices returned as defective because we cannot configure them.
> 
> --- CHAS


Making networking simple is like asking a doctor to make surgery easier. Maybe thats a little extreme, but there are so many variables to even the smallest network design that it is really impossible to make it "easy". I understand peoples fustration with networking their devices, but there is no easy way to just fix it. The understanding of the different network layers and cabling is not easy and IPv6 is a nightmare if you think IPv4 is hard. If you are completely lost, its best to just bring someone in who knows exactly what they are doing.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

phat78boy said:


> Ok, is the default gateway coming through also? Is it the same address as what you get when you plug it in directly?


will check tommorrow morning and post results


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

Kodok said:


> Can you please tell us what's the IP Address ?
> 
> I'm assuming both of your PCs and 1 of the HR20 are connected to the same Switch ?


no, on this switch i only have 1 computer, 1 hr20, and a slingbox pro. will post ip address in morning


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## HIPAR (May 15, 2005)

phat78boy said:


> Making networking simple is like asking a doctor to make surgery easier. Maybe thats a little extreme, but there are so many variables to even the smallest network design that it is really impossible to make it "easy". I understand peoples fustration with networking their devices, but there is no easy way to just fix it. The understanding of the different network layers and cabling is not easy and IPv6 is a nightmare if you think IPv4 is hard. If you are completely lost, its best to just bring someone in who knows exactly what they are doing.


I'm not talking about a large server based corporate enterprise with thousands of nodes but the entire system is oriented toward that kind of complexity. I mean, do we really need all of the complication of those elaborate doted IP address/ subnet mask schemes for a simple home network with three or four devices that need to share data?

I wasted a whole day stumbling though the Microsoft Knowledge base to find an obscure registry setting that needed to be toggled to allow one of my three computers to accept access on my home net. How do these things get changed?

A friend bought a router at Best Buy and tried to set up a home network with an XP machine .. couldn't do it. I ran the networking 'wizard' and everything completed. Guess what .. no connectivity. That's got to be the dumbest wizard because it didn't first check if the necessary background services are running. Paying a network engineer hundreds of dollars an hour to figure these things out; nonsense.

What Dave is experiencing is total Bravo Sierra.

--- CHAS


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

HIPAR said:


> I wasted a whole day stumbling though the Microsoft Knowledge base to find an obscure registry setting that needed to be toggled to allow one of my three computers to accept access on my home net. How do these things get changed?


Rule #1 of Windows: Microsoft's knowledge base is the fastest way to an ulcer. Time spent there is pretty much lost and you'll come away understanding that Microsoft wants you to spend lots more money on upgrades.

Rule #1 of Windows: Your firewall will fight you every step of the way.

I was doing battle with Norton Internet Security a while back and it wouldn't let me ping a machine that was getting shared Internet access through it. Running the home networking wizard in Windows managed to cut off the shared Internet access for the remote machine. Norton's knowledgebase suggested that I was having problems upgrading the software and should upgrade.

I ended up going to the Windows Annoyances website and was up and running in a matter of a few short minutes.

Lockergnome and Annoyances have been my go-to sites since I started doing battle with Windows XP networking.

http://help.lockergnome.com/

http://www.annoyances.org/


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

ok, when my computer is hooked up to the router and works fine.... my ip address is 192.168.1.100

when i hook the 5 port switch up and then hook my computer up from there, it changes to 168.162.1.1

i go in and change the address back and it still doesnt work. i think i am just going to try to go another route than this 5 port switch. 

lots of headaches for a $30 switch. 
does anyone reccommend a different type and/or brand of switch that is simple to configure?


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## Kodok (Feb 10, 2008)

It looks like your PC can't get the IP Address from the router. The second IP that you said was a generic IP from Windows when your PC is setup for DHCP but can't get the IP from the DHCP Server. 

Can you try to move the switch closer to the router and use different cable to rule out that it's not a switch issue more into the cable issue ? But then again, switch can go bad as well. 

Good luck.


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## funhouse69 (Mar 26, 2007)

You can't get much more simple of a switch its function is to just pass traffic to different devices. This doesn't seem like a switch problem but it certainly could be. 

Is there a way that you can just for testing purposes put these devices close together and use known good cables. This does sound like a cable issue, even if a cable links up it doesn't always mean that it can pass traffic properly.


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