LAN/Internet/Router question

I have three machines and a Printer plugged into a switch which in turn goes of course to the Router and then the Router to the Internet.

I just noticed that when I connect any machine to the Internet that all of the Link/Act lights for the 3 machines and the Printer on the switch blink.

Or at least for the Printer and other machines that are actually on.

Apparently everythings has worked OK and I just never paid attention.

Is this the way it is supposed to work ?

And if so is it just checking all connections to find the right one ?

Or just checking connections ?

I say it is OK otherwise I would be getting error messages. ( or no connection )

Also I only had 2 machines and the Printer on. The 3rd was just turned on and all four of the Link/Act lights flickered.

This may also go along with what I have learned. Especially with this XP Pro machine.

That is WAIT until ALL LIGHTS have stopped flickering before doing anything on this machine. Somethimes they stop for a second and then start AGAIN. Maybe even a couple of times. And many times with no correspondig HD activity light

I think I know. But maybe I don't. Or just that I am not sure.

BillyBob

 

If everything is working I wouldn't worry about it. This is probably just normal activity.

Switches actively keep track of which device is connected to each port. It learns the MAC address of the network card and then directs traffic to only that port when appropriate. It also checks back periodically to make sure everything is OK and not changed.

DRD

 

Good moring NetDoc

Is there an Echo in here ? MY thoughts exactly.

But as I said. I have not noticed this before and was just checking.

But I do have a question about this.

I thought that in my case it used IP addresses asigned by the Router ? And gets asigned by the first machine that is turned on.

After a certain pieroid of time any way. ( I am quessing here )

The address run from 192.168.1.100 ( printer which is always on ) to 168.192.1.104. ( depending on which machine get turned on first in the AM. I have seen my Wifes machine x.x.x.101 and mine x.x.x.104 because mine was the last to be turned on.

Or does the Router and/or the switch use Mac addresses and we use the IP addresses when we play games etc. between the machines.

And many times it may just be the Name of the machines come up. And other times it may be both. I am going to wild guess and say that that may be software related.

But to the bottom line I AGREE It is working. LEAVE IT ALONE.

But I just looked and I have to find out why the printer has no address. It may well have something to do with it not printing from one of the another machines yesterday. That I do gotta check into. Actually I think ( now that I am thinking ) that the printer should be shut down ( powerwise ) and restarted. The problem MAY HAVE been cause because just as Rip wanted to Print Nancy turned on her machine. And all I heard was Uncle Bob ! we got a problem

I have a very happy Daughter-in-law and Grand daugher. I was told yesterday that everyone in there house was VERY happy since I fixed up a 3 machine network that they had had a Professional work on TWICE.

ALL I did was shut
EVERYTHING down ( Powerwise )
Checked the Cableing.
Powered up the Router.
Then restarted ONE MACHINE at a time and made aure the NIC was on Auto Pilot.

BINGO !!

She told me after the the Tech NEVER powered anything down. He just restarted the OS on each one.

I may be wrong but I nave found that Powering down when doing things like this makes then go better. And MY IDEA about this is that just a RESTART may not clear RAM. Or at least not completely.

And again unless I am thinking wrong. Every setting/address is in RAM when the machine is in use.

BTW. PLEASE answer me on the RAM question. As I am having a discussion with a Family menber over that. And I do not understand it completely myself.

Have a nice day.
BillyBob

If I edit this times enough I will get it right

 

Printer problem seems to be solved.

Upon Checking Router Client table the Printer showed NO ADDRESS.

So I Checked the proper boxes and DELETED all addresses.

POWERED down everything.

Waited a few minutes and then repowered the printer. And I was talking before about lights flickering ? The Link/act lights on the Switch and the one on the Router were going NUTS for about at least 90 seconds.

Now. Unless I am still half asleep this AM all this messing aorund has confirmed what I have thought right along. And that is.

DO NOT get in a big hurry to do something after you turn the machine on.

And now I think more than ever that that may well apply to just the machine itself. Even with no LAN.

BillyBob ( the experimenter )

 

For the moment, I am just going to address the comment about IP addresses and MAC addresses.

Every network card (NIC) has a MAC address burned in at the factory. In XP/NT/2K open the command prompt and type "ipconfig /all" without the quotes. YOu will see the physical address or MAC address for each NIC and modem.

There should never be two NICs with the same MAC address. Deep down, computers actually use the MAC address to communicate. At another level, we use TCP/IP and its addressing scheme. However, TCP/IP turns around and uses MAC adresses for packet delivery. Switches are concerned about MAC addresses, routers are primarily concerned about IP addresses, although they also use MAC addresses.

Your router is assigning IP addresses when it functions as a DHCP server. Those addresses are assigned to the MAC addresses on the NICs on your network.

Might sound confusing, but it works and works well. If you use some sort of packet capture software, you will see traffic addressed mostly to IP addresses until you start to look inside the packet and then you will always see MAC.

DRD

 

Thank you NetDoc

You are poviding me with what I was asking for.

I ran the "ipconfig /all" but all I got was reading for the NIC. No Modem.

But also my Modem is after the Router. Would that have any effect ?

So is my thinking correct then that when all those lights are flickering they are just the machine checking addresses ? Even maybe double checking.

And although the IP address may change due to the order the machine are turned on the MAC addresses stay the same ?

BillyBob

 

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Bob>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Bob
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hvc.rr.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 4:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hvc.rr.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Linksys LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapt
er(LNE100TX v4)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-41-E2-A0-FC
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.29.99.22
24.29.99.20
24.29.99.13
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, May 08, 2005 9:50:22 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, May 09, 2005 9:50:22 AM

I FINALLY figured out how to get this here.

BillyBob

 

You got it.

You won't see the modem, only devices that are installed in your PC. You should be able to get the router's MAC address throught the admin utility.

Next time we'll get into something complicated. Ha! Ha!

DRD

 

Yes. I sure do.

Now that I have gotten into this address thingy, I remember now that when I changed Cable Modems I had to have everything connected ( or ready to ) and call my ISP and give them the MAC address of the new modem. It took the whole sum of about 5 minutes ( or less ) to get me back on line with the new Modem.

I also hope that this post provides help for others that may have questions.

BillyBob

 

That is possible I guess.

But if it were indeed the cause then the LIGHTS get ignored.

Because those Golf Clubs have provided us with COUNTLESS hours of just plain fun. ( well fun MOST of the time anyway )

Balls in the woods. In the water. And in Sand traps are not nuch fun.

And at the same time my wife was making EAGLES on Par 5s and Birdies on Par 4s.

A couple of times the other night when My Wife and I were playing on this machine, it would have been nice to have such a thing as a PAR 6 or 7.

I blamed it on the bandaid on my finger.

BillyBob