# Windows Home Server Issue



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

I had to replace my wireless router recently. Ever since then, WHS cannot find my server when trying to connect from my laptop.

The laptop accesses my network through the wireless router. I can access the server using WHS on my desktop, which accesses the network through my wired network.

I think it has something to do with a failure of WHS on my laptop to recognize the IP address. I know the IP address being assigned to the server, and I can ping it no problem.

I found some blogs talking about this, but the steps described for how to fix it do not make sense to me.

Any ideas how I can get WHS on my laptop to find the server again? I cannot backup my laptop until I get this fixed.

Thanks.


----------



## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

Are your laptop and WHS server on the same subnet?


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

steve053 said:


> Are your laptop and WHS server on the same subnet?


Not sure. I have two routers in my house: A wired router, which is .1.1 and the wireless router (for the laptop), which is .2.1. I will have to check to see if they are on the same subnet. The server is connected to the wired router and the laptop to the wireless router. This is how I had it with my previous wireless router, which worked fine.

Since replacing the wireless router, WHS can't see my server.


----------



## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

davemayo said:


> Not sure. I have two routers in my house: A wired router, which is .1.1 and the wireless router (for the laptop), which is .2.1. I will have to check to see if they are on the same subnet. The server is connected to the wired router and the laptop to the wireless router. This is how I had it with my previous wireless router, which worked fine.
> 
> Since replacing the wireless router, WHS can't see my server.


Most consumer routers have a default scheme of 192.168.*0*.xxx or 192.168.*1*.xxx

1) Not sure why you have two different routers. This adds a lot of complexity to a home network. Best to remove one of them all together, or turn off the routing function of one of the routers and use it as a switch.

2) You have one of the following going on

- You're routers are on different subnets (192.168.*1*.xxx and 192.168.*2*.xxx) and they are giving out conflicting ip addresses

OR

- Some of your devices have a static ip address assigned to them (most likely the 192.168.2.xxx devices) and some are receiving an ip address from a router in your home network.


----------



## MikeW (May 16, 2002)

Some wireless routers can become Wireless Access Points instead of routers. You would need to turn DHCP off on your wireless router, set up the WAN IP Address to a static IP based on your main routers scheme, then plug the network into one of the wireless routers switched ports, not the internet or wan port. This will ensure all devices are running on the same subnet.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

steve053 said:


> 1) Not sure why you have two different routers. This adds a lot of complexity to a home network. Best to remove one of them all together, or turn off the routing function of one of the routers and use it as a switch.


I have a wired router in my basement that feeds the entire house (wired during construction). Then I added a wireless router into one of the jacks for the wired router. My wired router is 192.168.1.1, the wireless is set to 192.168.2.1.

I will implement MikeW's suggestion and see if that works. When you say "based on your main routers scheme" what does that mean?

Thanks everyone.


----------



## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

davemayo said:


> I have a wired router in my basement that feeds the entire house (wired during construction). Then I added a wireless router into one of the jacks for the wired router. My wired router is 192.168.1.1, the wireless is set to 192.168.2.1.
> 
> I will implement MikeW's suggestion and see if that works. When you say "based on your main routers scheme" what does that mean?
> 
> Thanks everyone.


Use the hardwireded router as you router (192.168.2.1), and follow MikeW's advice by turning off dhcp in the wireless router. You may have to reboot the computers witht the 192.168.1.xxx ip address to get the "correct" 192.168.2.xxx ip address.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

I got it working. I set up my wired router as 192.168.1.1 and the wireless router as 192.168.2.1, and turned of DHCP on the wireless router. Now everything is on the same network and my laptop can see my WHS server.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.


----------



## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

davemayo said:


> My wired router is 192.168.1.1, the wireless is set to 192.168.2.1.


And those are two different subnets, and the WHS cannot communicate across them. As others have said, the solution is to turn off the router functionality on the wireless router and just use it as a wireless access point. Then everything will be on the same subnet, and all will be well.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

BattleZone said:


> And those are two different subnets, and the WHS cannot communicate across them. As others have said, the solution is to turn off the router functionality on the wireless router and just use it as a wireless access point. Then everything will be on the same subnet, and all will be well.


I turned off the DHCP functionality so it is just acting as an access point.


----------



## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

He's probably lucky that the wireless router that's set to 2.1 is ignoring that setting and now just acting as a switch with a wireless access point.


----------



## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

Glad you got it working.

I agree with BattleZone and change the ip address of the wireless router to a 192.168.1.xxx address that's outside of the DHCP addressing scheme. It may not make a difference, but it's better to have everything on the same subnet (just makes future troubleshooting easier).


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

steve053 said:


> Glad you got it working.
> 
> I agree with BattleZone and change the ip address of the wireless router to a 192.168.1.xxx address that's outside of the DHCP addressing scheme. It may not make a difference, but it's better to have everything on the same subnet (just makes future troubleshooting easier).


So, set the IP address of the wireless router to 192.168.1.300 or something like that? The DHCP range is .100 to .200.

I'm hesistant to change anything because it appears to be working <knock on wood> and every time I mess with the settings, I can't get it back to working.

That being said, I did have the internet access drop out a couple of times today and I had to talk my wife through releasing and renewing the DHCP on the wired router to get the internet back. Don't know what's causing that.


----------



## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Set it to 192.168.1.30 or something under 100. 255 is the highest you can go, BTW (300 isn't possible).


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Ok. Thanks for the advice.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Ok, all you experts! I'm STILL having problems with this. 

I've got the following setup:

Wired router (connected to my cable modem): IP address 192.168.1.1

DHCP range: 192.168.100 to .199

Wireless router (connected to wired router through LAN port in the wireless router): IP address 192.168.1.254

I have DHCP turned off on the wireless router. When I connect my laptop to the wireless connection, it gets an IP address within the DHCP range of the wired router, which seems to be right.

This works fine for a couple of hours but then I lose the internet connection through the wireless router. The only way to get it back is to go into the setup for the wired router and do a DHCP release and then renew.

This is what shows up on the wireless router's status screen:

Internet IP Address: 0.0.0.0 
Subnet Mask: 0.0.0.0 
Default Gateway: 0.0.0.0 

When this happens, I can still connect to the internet no problem through my desktop computer, which is connected to the wired router.

It seems like my wireless router is conflicting somehow with the wired router. I've had a setup like this for several years, with no problem. But recently I had to replace the wireless router and I can't duplicate whatever setup I had before.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

What model is your wireless router?


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Shades228 said:


> What model is your wireless router?


Linksys WRT160N.
Wired router is Linksys also.


----------



## old7 (Dec 1, 2005)

davemayo said:


> Ok, all you experts! I'm STILL having problems with this.
> 
> I've got the following setup:
> 
> ...


Double check the DHCP range. It should have 4 sets of numbers. 192.168.1.100 to .199



davemayo said:


> Wireless router (connected to wired router through LAN port in the wireless router): IP address 192.168.1.254


Try plugging the wired router into one of the regular ethernet ports instead of the LAN port.



davemayo said:


> I have DHCP turned off on the wireless router. When I connect my laptop to the wireless connection, it gets an IP address within the DHCP range of the wired router, which seems to be right.
> 
> This works fine for a couple of hours but then I lose the internet connection through the wireless router. The only way to get it back is to go into the setup for the wired router and do a DHCP release and then renew.
> 
> ...


Let us know if it helps.

-Doug


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

old7 said:


> Double check the DHCP range. It should have 4 sets of numbers. 192.168.1.100 to .199
> 
> Try plugging the wired router into one of the regular ethernet ports instead of the LAN port.


Yeah, that was a typo. The range is 192.168.1.100 to .199

The wired router is plugged into a regular ethernet port of the wireless router.

Thanks.


----------



## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

davemayo said:


> This works fine for a couple of hours but then I lose the internet connection through the wireless router. The only way to get it back is to go into the setup for the wired router and do a DHCP release and then renew.


You're sure that 
1) the wireless router's dhcp is turned off 
2) the wireless router has a static ip address outside if the wired router's dhcp addressing scheme
3) the ethernet cable is connected to the wan port of the wireless router and one of the switch ports of the wired router


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

steve053 said:


> You're sure that
> 1) the wireless router's dhcp is turned off
> 2) the wireless router has a static ip address outside if the wired router's dhcp addressing scheme
> 3) the ethernet cable is connected to the wan port of the wireless router and one of the switch ports of the wired router


1. Yes, the wireless router's DHCP Server is set to "Disabled." But on the setup screen, the Internet Connection Type is set to "Automatic Configuration - DHCP." If I choose Static IP, I don't know what values to fill in the boxes.

2. Yes. It is set to 192.168.1.254. The DHCP range on the wired router is 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.199.

3. The wireless router has 4 ethernet ports and one labeled "Internet." The wired router is plugged into one of the 4 ethernet ports, not the "Internet" port. (See MikeW's post above).

Note that although the DHCP of the wireless router is disabled, it shows that the DHCP range of the wireless router is 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.50. Because the wireless router's DHCP server is turned off, I cannot change these values, but that shouldn't matter.

Thanks.


----------



## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

davemayo said:


> 1. Yes, the wireless router's DHCP Server is set to "Disabled." But on the setup screen, the Internet Connection Type is set to "Automatic Configuration - DHCP." If I choose Static IP, I don't know what values to fill in the boxes.


Try a static ip on the wireless router and see if that helps.

Choose an ip address outside of the dhcp range of 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.199 (make sure that you are not assigning an ip that is assigned to your wired router or any other device on the subnet)

The subnet mask is 255.255.255.0

The default gateway is your wired router's ip address.

Use your router's ip for both dns servers.

See if that clears up your problem.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

steve053 said:


> Use your router's ip for both dns servers.


I assume you mean the wireless router's ip for the dns servers. Thanks. I'll try this.


----------



## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

davemayo said:


> I assume you mean the wireless router's ip for the dns servers. Thanks. I'll try this.


No, use the wired router's IP for the dns servers when setting up the static ip for the wireless router.

Sorry, should have been more clear in my earlier post.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

steve053 said:


> No, use the wired router's IP for the dns servers when setting up the static ip for the wireless router.
> 
> Sorry, should have been more clear in my earlier post.


Thanks. I'll try that.


----------



## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

My 2 cents, being a network tech:

1. Unless you're totally out of ports, you should be using the WRT160N as the sole 'primary' device. I bought one for my parents. It's a solid piece of hardware. Disable DHCP on the wired router, plug your uplink (Internet) port on it into a port on your 160N and that should clear things up nicely. 

2. The assessment that the different subnets were the problem is correct; by default you're assigning a netmask of 255.255.255.0 to both devices on 192.168.1.0 and 192.168.2.0, which means neither network can see the other. The zeroes have to match. If you go with the above setup you should be golden.

3. Inflation! 3 cents now. if you do set the 160N to be the "dumb" access point, you can set it up to DHCP an address like any other device and it'll work fine. I tend to give static addresses to things I need to know the IP of, but on the whole you have nothing to worry about. Once configured as a "dumb" access point you shouldn't need to address the 160N at all. That said, if you're going to make it static, give it an address of 192.168.1.50 (since your DHCP scope starts at 100, meaning it'll never give out an address lower than that), netmask of 255.255.255.0, DNS of 192.168.1.1 and Gateway of 192.168.1.1.

Any other questions, reply, I subscribed to the thread.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

RasputinAXP said:


> That said, if you're going to make it static, give it an address of 192.168.1.50 (since your DHCP scope starts at 100, meaning it'll never give out an address lower than that), netmask of 255.255.255.0, DNS of 192.168.1.1 and Gateway of 192.168.1.1.


Thanks for your help. When I try this on the wireless router, I get an error message: "The router IP address equals to the subnet address. Please correct it."

Here's what I have set up:

Static IP:

Internet IP Address: 192.168.1.50
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
DNS: 192.168.1.1

Under Router IP, I have it set to 192.168.1.254 and the subnet is 255.255.255.0.

DHCP on the wireless router is disabled.

Thoughts?


----------



## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

I'm looking at the User Guide on the site, page 6 in the printed manual, luckily also 6 in the PDF. 

Change Internet Connection Type to Static IP. 

Your Internet IP address should be 192.168.1.50
Subnet 255.255.255.0
Gateway 192.168.1.1
DNS1: 192.168.1.1
DNS2: 8.8.8.8 (google DNS)

This should push all routing, etc off to the wired router, provided the wired router's address is 192.168.1.1. It's standard to have the router be .1 in your network; 254 is actually "end of network" which could mess you up pretty badly. "255 is the max" because 255 "masks" the other 254 bits. 

If your wired router is 1.254, I would change it back to 1.1 and that should clean up the rest.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

RasputinAXP said:


> I'm looking at the User Guide on the site, page 6 in the printed manual, luckily also 6 in the PDF.
> 
> Change Internet Connection Type to Static IP.
> 
> ...


I have it the way you suggest above. Still getting the same error message: "The router IP address equals to the subnet address. Please correct it."

Wired router is 192.168.1.1.


----------



## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

Oh. Wait. I get it now.

Set Internet Connection to DHCP.

Set router address to 192.168.1.50, etc etc.

That's where I'm going wrong. I don't have a 160N in front of me to poke at the settings with. The internal interface of the 160N will be on 192.168.1.50 regardless of its "external" IP address. If I'm thinking correctly. I may not be. I may need more wine.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

RasputinAXP said:


> Oh. Wait. I get it now.
> 
> Set Internet Connection to DHCP.
> 
> ...


Ok, let me try that. Thanks.

This works, but after a few days or a few hours, the internet connection drops. The only way to get it back is to release and renew the DHCP on the wired router. I have no idea why this is happening.


----------



## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

I feel for you on this one.

If push comes to shove, haveing one router and a switch is the prefered method (like RasputinAXP mentioned earlier). Is there any way to connect your wireless router to the modem? Then run one wire from the wireless to the basement and change the wired router to a switch.


----------



## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

Sounds like the router or the modem is going. To isolate it, I would switch the wired and wireless.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Thanks for the replies. 

I noticed that the subnet for the wired router was 255.255.224.0, so I tried switching the subnet for the wireless router to that and it seems to be stable. If the problem appears again, I'll try something else.

It will be nearly impossible for me to swap the wired and wireless routers. My wired router is inside a junction box in the basement that includes my DirecTV connections as well. The router's 8 output ports are hard wired out to all the rooms in my house. The wireless router only has 4 output ports. Plus, if the wireless router is in the basement, it is unlikely I'd get a good signal on the second floor. That's why I have the wireless router in the first floor.


----------



## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

a netmask of 255.255.224.0 cuts off a chunk from the .1.0 network but in your case (everything on .1.0 anyway) it's not going to make a difference. Your netmasks should always match.

If this is up, solid and OK then there shouldn't be any reason to swap them. Let us know how it goes.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Well, I knew it was too good to be true. I'm still losing the internet from time to time. Have to go into the wired router setup and renew the DHCP to get the internet back. About once a week, I cannot get the wired router to renew the DHCP and I have to go pull the power from the wired router to get the internet back.

Also, I can no longer get access to the wireless router by putting its IP address into my browser. Just says it couldn't find that webpage. I believe that the wired and wireless routers are on the same subnet: 255.255.224.0.


----------



## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

Can you plug a cable into the wireless router and connect it to you laptop? If so you will be able to connect to the wireless router. Something's not set up correctly. For whatever reason it's not passing the renew request from the laptop through the wireless router to the wired router.

Have you considered a wireless accss point?

Sorry, without actually sitting down and looking at the configuration, I'm all out of ideas.


----------



## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

Those symptoms sound to me like the wired router's slowly dying. It may be time for a new one.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

RasputinAXP said:


> Those symptoms sound to me like the wired router's slowly dying. It may be time for a new one.


I'm at my wits end. This shouldn't be so complicated. The wired router is 5 years old. What's the life expectancy of these things?


----------



## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

Honestly, a wired home router, depending on enclosure, could fry itself inside of 2 years pretty easily. 5 years old is a good, solid lifespan for a wired router.

Hell, I fry my wireless routers inside of 2 years most times, but I'm rough on them. And at work, we tend to replace wired switches on the order of 6-10 years, or as they fail, but those are $4000 a pop.

Lilnksys BEFSR81 is your best bet (you said 8 ports, right?)


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

RasputinAXP said:


> Honestly, a wired home router, depending on enclosure, could fry itself inside of 2 years pretty easily. 5 years old is a good, solid lifespan for a wired router.
> 
> Hell, I fry my wireless routers inside of 2 years most times, but I'm rough on them. And at work, we tend to replace wired switches on the order of 6-10 years, or as they fail, but those are $4000 a pop.
> 
> Lilnksys BEFSR81 is your best bet (you said 8 ports, right?)


Yeah, 8 ports. I currently have a Linksys BEFS81. Thanks.


----------

