Netgear fs108 switch.. Could it have gone bad?

I came into the office one morning and noticed the internet connection is down. So I unplug the router and netgear fs108 switch and plug it back in 30 seconds later; usually it comes back up. That did not resolve my problem so i called bellsouth to verify that their were no problems with the service. none there. My next move was to reset all the computers. Nothing there. Then I tried using a different cable from the bellsouth caymen modem to the netgear switch, that made no difference.

What should my next move be?

Is it possible the netgear could be defective? on the left side of the unit i only get the top row of lights to come on the bottom row of lights wont light up.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Certainly possible the device could have gone bad - or partly bad.

However, you only mention internet connectivity and from what I read about the Netgear FS-108, it is only a switch with no routing features so the real test is to see how the PCs on your LAN connect to each other. If that works, the problem isn't the switch.

Can your PCs ping each other by IP address?

Can any PC ping the router by IP address?

And it will make further troubleshooting easier if you say what operating systems you are using.

 

Another test to try:

1. Diconnect the router from the switch
2. Find the cable that connects into the switch from your computer
3. Remove that cable from the switch and plug it directly into the router
4. Test internet connection from your computer. You should get interent access, but no one else will. If you can now connect to the internet, that would suggest that the switch is at fault.
5. Repeat from 2 onwards at a different computer to double check.

This of course assumes that the switch and router are physically close to one another. If not can you run another cable directly from a PC to the router instread? If so try that.

 

Newt,

I am running windows 2k server on the file server and XPpro sp2 on all of the workstations.

everyone can connect to the server and run our accounting software just fine.

I will have to wait untill i get everything assembled tuesday to ping the machines, wrapped up all the machines in fear of hurricane frances.

 

Reggie,

I tried that as well, I pluged the server cable directly into the modem and no luck there either.

 

If that is the case, I very much doubt that the switch is at fault.

Hope all goes well for you in the storm

 

Who is handing out DHCP addresses?
The server or the DSL box?

 

The dsl box is..... I believe.

 

ssmith10pn - nice idea. I think I see where you're going!

Scott - is you server a Win 2000 server or a Win 2000 SBS server. If its an SBS server, it may well have DHCP set up. If the PCs IP address lease timed out and they renewed from the server rather than the router, you'd get the symptoms you are reporting.

We'd need IP address information to confirm or regect this possibility. If you don't want to post your IP address information on this board, feel free to send it to me individually and I'll post back my analysis. What is needed is a copy of the content of the text file IPCONFIG.TXT generated by the command:

IPCONFIG /ALL > IPCONFIG.TXT

 

Reggie,

It is just windows 2k server not sbs. I will post results from ipconfig later today.

Thanks for the help, this has me stumped pretty good.

 

Here is a copy of ipconfig /all



Windows 2000 IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : server
Primary DNS Suffix . . . . . . . : Distribution.local
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : Distribution.local

Ethernet adapter Intel Pro 1000 MT Gigabit Ethernet Adapter - onboard:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82540EM Based Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-C0-9F-1C-6C-71

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.1.1.10

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.1.1.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.1.1.10
10.1.1.10
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 10.1.1.10

 

Will the server surf?
Can you also do an IPconfig /all on a desktop?

 

Found the source of the problem... never would have thought this was the case.

I called bellsouth back and got an intelligent tech on the phone this time.He told me that the account login system has changed and that we now need to add "@bellsouth.net" to our username.

it was nice of bellsouth to send out a notice mentioning this change.

I added it to the username reset the router and bang back up.


Thank you all for your help.

can anyone recomend a book or preferrably somekind of interactive program to extend my networking knowledge?

 

Well we all had brain fade on this one. Should have asked you if you could get to the DSL box from IE on the desktop.

 

Thats the thing. I could login to the cayman router no problem.. nothing looked a mis there. oh well its all settled now.

thanks again

 

TCP/IP book recommendation

The books that taught me most about networking are:

Internet Core Protocols A little repetitive, but a very thorough descirption of the lower level workings of TCP/IP. Also the CD has quite a nice packet sniffer on it. Very techie though.

Practical Network Cabling Easy to read guide to cabling issues. Get the cabling right and the network will follow!

A good book on firewalls can teach you a lot about TCP/IP. Unfortunately my favourite seems to be out of print. If you are going to manually set up a firewall, you really have to know how TCP/IP works, so books on the subject often cover basic TCP/IP well.

I also like Microsoft's "Administrator's Pocket Consultant" series for the higher level stuff. Microsoft won't tell you much about MAC addresses or the difference between a hub and a switch, but they will tell you where to start with setting up the operating system.

Doing a Cisco CCNA course - or even better a CompTIA Network + course, is a worthwhile starting point if you want to play with networks professionally.