Wireless router and unmanaged switch set-up

[tglarsen]

Well, I was finally able to move into my home and get things going.  The plus, my wireless connection is up and running and I'm able to type this up without taking away Verizon data.  The minus;
 
I cannot connect to any of my LAN ports in my Gigabit switch.
 
Here is the connection inline;
1 - Surfboard modem
2 - Asus RT-NNU66 Wireless Router
3 - TP-Line Unmanaged 24 port gigabit router
 
My belief was that I could run a line from the Asus into the gigabit and I'd be set for the house.  i'd certain be restricted to the flow of that one port, but I doubt my demands with a 2 person home would be that high on the LAN.
 
However, it isn't connecting to the internet through my wall outlets.  Wireless, piece of cake... Wired, piece of dirt.
 
I'm thinking it is something with the DHCP settings, as it is currently enabled and tossing out IPs from .2 to .254
 
Thoughts, comments, firefighters?

 

[fabriziojoe]

Hello,
The first problem I see is that you have 2 routers which is a double nat. Please verify that the TP-Line is just an unmanaged switch. If it is a router then I would make one of them a DMZ.
 
You should have a data cable going from the modem to the WAN port on the router.
Then you need a cable from one of the LAN ports on the router to any port on the switch-this will serve as the uplink.
 
Can you connect directly into the router with a machine on a LAN port and obtain an IP?
I would start my dhcp range at .50 so you can reserve devices with a static.

 

[pete_c]

Here is a quickie drawing.  While not specficially related to your endeavor it will give you a picture of how things should connect.  Note that I have separated the wireless access point as an autonomous entity on the network.
 
The above and you could consider downsizing your network to make it a bit more managable; with both static IP addresses and a small DHCP scope.
 
Note the flow of the transport is simple and do baby steps when configuring it.  Maybe even write it down or do a little spreadsheet to guide you.
 
Motorola modem = = > WAN port on Asus RT-NNU66 = = > LAN port connected to your unmanaged Gb switch.
 
Configure your subnet, mask, DHCP scope, firewall settings all on your Asus RT-NNU66 (guessing that it is a combo firewall, router, switch and accesss point).  A typical Motorola modem has one network interface on it.  The new ones are also combo AP, Firewall, switch and routers.  The antenna is built in on these I think.  That said you may not even need to use the Asus unless you bridge the combo Motorola (if it is) port to the Asus combo box.  Its up to you what you want to do.  As mentioned about if there are two firewalls then you can double NAT the boxes (network address translation).  Starts to get convoluted the more boxes you manage (excess baggage?)
 

tossing out IPs from .2 to .254

 
Most likely you will never really need this many IP's.  Change you bit mask to something a bit smaller and it will be easier to manage.
 
24 bit mask = 254 IPs = 255.255.255.0
25 bit mask = 126 IPs = 255.255.255.128
26 bit mask = 62 IPs = 255.255.255.192
27 bit mask = 30 IPs = 255.255.255.224
28 bit mask = 14 IPs = 255.255.255.240
29 bit mask = 6 IPs = 255.255.255.248
30 bit mask = 2 IPs = 255.255.255.252
 
 

 
Here is an example of a smaller network with devices on it.  Note that this is not specfic to your network; just an example of what you can do.
 

 

[tglarsen]

The TP-Line is an unmanaged switch, correct.
 
I have a line going from the modem into the ASUS router, and from there I have plugged a line into the #1 position of my 24 port switch.
 
And i attempted to connect to the router by LAN, but it would assign an IP.  It was not a direct connection, though, as I was still trying to go through the switch.  (Which would have not created an issue)
 

Hello,
The first problem I see is that you have 2 routers which is a double nat. Please verify that the TP-Line is just an unmanaged switch. If it is a router then I would make one of them a DMZ.
 
You should have a data cable going from the modem to the WAN port on the router.
Then you need a cable from one of the LAN ports on the router to any port on the switch-this will serve as the uplink.
 
Can you connect directly into the router with a machine on a LAN port and obtain an IP?
I would start my dhcp range at .50 so you can reserve devices with a static.

 

[pete_c]

And i attempted to connect to the router by LAN, but it would assign an IP.  It was not a direct connection, though, as I was still trying to go through the switch.  (Which would have not created an issue)

 
The Asus might have a static configuration on the WAN side of things.  It should get a DHCP address from the Motorola modem.  That said reset the Asus router to its defaults and it should work providing you access to the internet.  Then read the manual for the granular configuration of the Asus; follow the step by step configuration.  Note the default wireless will probably be open so you may want to configure the wireless pieces right away.  The unmanaged switch is just that; no configuration necessary on the switch.

 

[wuench]

It also depends on how your modem is configured.  You have to configure your router (PPPoE, Dynamic IP, etc) correctly to match how your modem is operating per page 19 of the ASUS manual.  
 
Your best bet is to call Verizon and work with them to get your router configured correctly.

 

[RAL]

Since you are able to connect to the internet via wireless, I presume that you are connecting through the ASUS router, correct?
 
You didn't say what models your modem,  and switch are, but I am assuming you don't have a Surfboard modem that
has built in wireless capability.
 
If the modem doesn't have wireless capability, then it suggests that the router is configured correctly in terms of the WAN side
connection to the Surfboard modem.
 
If you connect a PC to one of the other LAN ports on the ASUS, does the connection work?  If so, that says the
problem is between the ASUS router and the switch.
 
Have you checked the cable between the router and the switch?  Tried a different cable?
 
Have you tried moving the cable to a different LAN port on the router and/or to a different port on the switch?
 
Both the router and the switch have MDI/MDIx auto crossover capability, so you shouldn't need a crossover cable.
On the other hand, I have seen some cases where this just didn't work right between certain products and a real crossover
cable took care of the problem.

 

[pete_c]

Yup; here curious what exactly you have relating to the Motorola Surfboard modem. 
 
Best to specify and do a step by step check of the hardware.
 
The first test is to validate the ethernet port on the surfboard.  That said it is assumed you have a regular cable ISP connection (one TV cable) going into the surfboard and one ethernet cable and USB port on the surfboard.  
 
Here too I would agree with RAL relating to having issues relating to a wireless connection to the internet and no ethernet connection (wired) to the internet. 
 
So what specific model of Motorola Surfboard modem do you have?
 
Is it the Motorola SBG-6580?
 
http://www.arrisi.com/modems/datasheet/SBG6580/SBG6580_UserGuide.pdf
 

 

 
The step by step is to test a "wired" connection on the modem first, then the Asus and finally the non managed switch; baby steps.  If you have a Motorola Surfboard extreme and plugged the ethernet port out into your Asus WAN port then you are double NATing (as mentioned above).  IE: going through two firewalls et al.
 
As stated above; basically if you are really not comfortable with the hardware, methodologies of network connectivity including wireless, et al; then its best to call and open a service ticket with your ISP provider; afterall they provided you with the Motorola surfboard eh?
 
I have one ISP connection to FIOS.  That said they provided an all in one device for me to use.  For the internet pieces of it I by passed using the built in wireless and firewall and went to my own bridging the ISP ethernet port to my firewall as that was my preference.

 

[tmbrown97]

If you plug a computer into the same port that your switch is connected to, does it work?
 
What you describe seems like a no brainer - it should work.  Honestly I suspect a crappy patch cable between the router and the switch.
 
The surfboard is hopefully a modem and not a router - in which case it has a single port that plugs into the WAN port of the router - then the router has some LAN port - one has a straight through to the switch.  Then you plug devices into the switch and they should work.  If you have multiple devices doing routing or IP address assignment then you'll likely have issues.

 

[pete_c]

tglarsen, curious what you found out and if this thread helped you any?