1 out of 3 won't work

A couple of notes:

For Lorreen: Appreciate the feedback. And congratulations on doing this all on your own and not being afraid to tackle all this stuff.

There is no serious downside to using half duplex --it will not bleed your computer dry over time, and as you said and as anyone fairly knowledgable would have predicted you won't notice the difference in speed surfing the web since your web access speed is almost certainly the limiting factor. For large file transfers, as others have pointed out, you will get slower transfers than if your setup worked at 100Mbps at full duplex.

However, results count. You now have something that actually works well. Without having to spend more money, or re-crimp one more time (which you have already done more than once, on both ends).
Some of the very helpful advice is just too impractical.

I am somewhat skeptical of some of the comments on how much slower large file transfers are at this point. Differences in theoretical calculations based on ideal 10Mbps vs 100Mbps transfer times are likely to be much shorter than actual MEASURED transfer times because of other real world variables such as hard drive sustained vs burst speed limitations etc. If in doubt do the experiment--that is always the final word.



As mjg1973, says, if you have some very fancy and very expensive diagnostic tools (a sniffer), and you know what you are doing the exact basis of the problem could be pinpointed.

Several people, far more knowledgable than I, have made comments about crimping problems and talk about too much NEXT or FEXT. Please explain clearly what this is all about. I know a bit about
electronics and I understand impedance. I personally make it a habit not to use terminology without explaining it.

As far as any particular color coding schemes, it makes no difference as long as you use the same scheme on both ends. The wires are identical, the colors on the insulation are for identification purposes only. HOWEVER, if you adhere to some standard and write it down, you will make life easier for yourself and eliminate having to re-crimp both ends of cables, in case one end comes loose or is cut accidentaly just to be sure that the connections use the same wiring scheme.

Many of us tech guys are perfectionists (and that's how it should be), but we need to keep in mind that most non-tech types are more interested in just solving the problem, and have neither the time nor the money to do countless experiments stretching over weeks before being satisfied.

Thanks guys

Dan

 

Quote:
"As far as any particular color coding schemes, it makes no difference as long as you use the same scheme on both ends. The wires are identical, the colors on the insulation are for identification purposes only. HOWEVER, if you adhere to some standard and write it down, you will make life easier for yourself and eliminate having to re-crimp both ends of cables, in case one end comes loose or is cut accidentaly just to be sure that the connections use the same wiring scheme. "

Dan,
Take a few min. to read these tech notes. There is a right way and a wrong way, and a reason for it.

http://www.lanshack.com/highlights/cat5notes.htm

http://www.lanshack.com/highlights/makepatch.htm

Sooner or later you will add a peice of eguipment to the network that wont work on 10Mb half duplex.

"Us southern boys get accused of beeing behind the times but I guess we ain't this time. "

 

Sorry for using terms that all aren't familiar with!

Near End and Far End Crosstalk (NEXT/FEXT).....take a peek at this link.

 

That is your problem then, look at the links from ssmith10pn. there is actualy only 2 pairs of wires doing the work on 10/100 cat5 cabling if you look at the second link- the orange and green pair. you are not using a twisted pair between pin 3 and 6 of the plug. so it works at a trottled down speed of 10baset but not at 100baset. this could cause problems in the future. wire all the ends like ssmith10pn's link - it is the standard.

sam

 

OK guys, I'm home from work with a rotten cold so decided to recrimp ends as per ssmith suggestion.

Here's what I did: this is left to right with prong facing down...... white/orange, orange, white/green, blue, white/blue, green, white/brown, brown. I then reset network properties back to hardware default (full duplex) and ta daaaaaa she's working like a charm.

I need to buy more MJ45's to do the other two computers eventually but since they are not now or have never given me a problem they can wait until I feel better and get to the store.

I will keep all your messages for future reference and next time (if there is one)I will make sure I wire correctly.

Thank you one and all for all of you input I really appreciate it. I have certainly learned something.

Lorreen

 

GREAT JOB!!!
You won't see me post in a win98 or win95 forum because that's not my strong point. But I have plenty of "been there done that" T shirts from going behind someone else on cableing problems.

 

GREAT JOB!!!

Feel free to post any networking questions out here. My only bit of advice would be to let a few people post and let the dust settle before you start implementing changes. There are a LOT of people out there that have done some things and with a little duct tape and bubble gum, they've thrown stuff together. And maybe they are content with such work, but there are right ways to do things! We'll guide you in the right direction, I promise!!

Glad to hear all is well!!

Take care,
Matt

 

568A & 568B Cables on same LAN

Is it acceptable to have one workstation connected to switch or hub with a cable wired 568A and the other with a cable wired 568B? Would there be any performance Issues?

 

When we refer to a jack or a patch panel's wiring connection, we refer to either the 568A, or 568B wiring scheme, which dictates the pin assignments to the pairs of cat 5 cable. It is very important to note that there is no difference, whatsoever, between the two wiring schemes, in connectivity or performance when connected form one modular devise to another (jack to Patch panel, RJ-45 to RJ-45, etc.), so long as they (the two devises) are wired for the same scheme (A or B). The only time when one scheme has an advantage over the other, is when one end of a segment is connected to a modular devise, and the other end to a punch block. In which case, the 568A has the advantage of having a more natural progression of pairs at the punch block side. More on 568 A&B later on.

Crosstalk is the "bleeding" of signals carried by one pair, onto another pair through the electrical process of induction (wires need not make contact, signals transferred magnetically). This is an unwanted effect, that can cause slow transfer, or completely inhibit the transfer of data signals over the cable segment. The purpose of the wire twists, in category 5 cable is to significantly reduce the crosstalk, and it's effects. Two types are: NEXT (Near End Crosstalk), and FEXT (Far End Crosstalk). Fiber Optic cable is the only medium that is 100% immune to the effects of crosstalk.

 

Lights on router remaining on after shutdown

Ok Guys, me again. The computer that I changed ends on is working fine BUT..... even though the computer is turned off the router is showing that it is active. All four of the lights are on for that particular computer. Usually when one of the machines is turned off the lights on the router go of. Any suggestions for this.

Lorreen

 

Wow you got me on that one?
I'll take a wild stab and say wake on lan settings?
Could wake on lan be enabled in the bios?

 

OOps,

My apologies to ssmith10pn and anyone else w respect to the wiring scheme advice information I wrote in my commentary. It is INCORRECT. As samcoinc also points out, it is not simply a matter of using any twisted pair in a sequence from left to right etc. because in the 568-B scheme the green pair is not immediately adjacent but actually straddles the blue pair. In any case what it boils down to--use one of the standards 568-B for example (the link that ssmith10pn has posted is truly EXCELLENT and makes it all very clear. I am corrected and appreciate it very much.

Thanks,

Dan

 

Though you may think the computer is off, it's really just in a standby state. The network card is maintaining connectivity for Wake-On-Lan (WOL), as ssmith mentioned. What this is, in a nutshell, is a feature of newer PCs that allows a network administrator the ability to power on remote machines from a central location and start doing things like pushing software updates, etc. It's a pretty cool feature if you are looking to push updates to a 5,000 node network....at night!!!

If you were to unplug the machine from the wall, you'd see the lights go out!

Just for giggles, the next time that machine is powered down and the lights are still on, try pinging that machine from another machine. Let's see if it "wakes up "! Of course, the WOL feature must be enabled...and if it's a NIC that you recently installed, most of the require a small cable from the card to the motherboard.

 

This is a DELL machine that I bought on Ebay, reconditioned bare bones that I have built up - so not a new machine although probably came from big corporation at some point. The NIC is built into the motherboard so no small cable. I checked the NIC and it was basically the same version as the new one that I was going to install so didn't bother putting a new one in.

OK how do I ping the machine and wake it up? I'll try it for giggles and scare the bejesus out of my 13 year old but then I need to know how to disable it so that I can check (visually but looking at the router) when he is on line and he shouldn't be.

Lorreen

 

kid's machine is missing

Now I can't find the kid's machine on the network!!!! Could I have changed something without knowing it?????? Any suggestions?

I honestly did have this working great at one time and as far as I know changed nothing. HELP please.

Lorreen

 

Do you mean that you can't find it while browsing the network, or can he not surf either? If you can't find him in the network while browsing, that's actually quite common...a wonderful Microsoft feature! If he can't surf either, then you've probably lost connection to the Linksys. Here's a quick trouble shooting lesson....

1. On the computer in question, go to Start -> Run and type in winipcfg.....that's for a Win9X machine...if it's WinNT, 2K, or XP, then you'll have to go to Start -> Run and type cmd which will bring you to a command promt, where you will type ipconfig /all to get the same information.
2. You should see a bunch of information. What you want to write down here are the following values: IP Address, Default Gateway, and the DNS Servers.
3. First thing you want to do is ping the gateway, which should more often than not be 192.168.1.1. You do this by getting to a dos prompt (you'll already be there if it's NT/2K/XP) and type the following ping 192.168.1.1. Your results should look like this:


C:\>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 2ms, Maximum = 6ms, Average = 3ms


That would show that you have connectivity. If your results look like this:


C:\>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),


then you have connectivity issues that need to be resolved....cabling, etc.

3. When you can ping the gateway, then you need to try to ping something outside of your local network, which is where the DNS servers come in. Simply use the same ping command and just substitute one of your DNS servers IP Addresses in the place of the gateway's IP Address.

4. When the above two tests pass, and you still can't see the PC on the network, then you need to start looking at things like Workgroup name and stuff like that.

Let's see how far that stuff get's ya!!

 

Guilty of stupidy :-(

Ok I'm guilty of stupidity here. Kid's machine could get onto the net and could also see all other computers in the network but I could not see his computer from my machine!!!!!

I had forgotten to share his hard drive. DUH!!!!!! Sorry to have bothered you.

His computer is still not disconnecting from the router though. Four lights still lit even though his machine is turned off. I did check the WOL and that is disabled so don't think that's the answer. It's really not a big deal but it would allow me to see if he's playing on the computer when he should be in bed sleeping.

Lorreen

 

Yeah, there's no way for you to disable that part of it, only how it reacts to a WOL request...it's always gonna stay "connected "