Ethernet Switch Not Working

[morko]

Hi, 

Last night I moved my Fios Actiontec Router (M1424WR Rev. I) with WPA2 to the living room from the garage (where the ONT is located) for better wireless coverage.  I used a splitter and all works well with the router including wireless and STB.  

Our house is wired for ethernet with all cables running to the garage where the router used to be, so I attached a switch (D Link Gigabit 8 port) there and plugged in all the ethernet cables for our home into the port.  

Then I plugged in an ethernet cable into a LAN port on the actiontec router in the living room which feeds to the switch in the garage, however the switch isn't working.  I attached my laptop with an ethernet cable attached to the switch but I'm not getting any internet connectivity.  Any idea why the switch wouldn't just auto sense the router?  I assumed it would just work, plug and play?

When I had the router in the basement and plugged in the wires into the free ports it worked fine and provided service to the rest of the house via ethernet including the living room. 

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

[JDoe5]

Does theE-Switch have an Uplink switch or specifically an Uplink port ?

[morko]

no uplink switch.  just has 8 ports.  it's the d link 8 port gigabit switch.  

This one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127325

[JDoe5]

Please create wiring diagram (topographic map) of your SOHO network (LAN) showing all wired Ethernet components and attach it to your reply.

[ConsultingSvcs]

It sounds like you have this switch connected directly to the ONT? If so that's likely your problem. In order to connect more than one device you'll need a router that can do network addres translation (NAT) in between the ONT and your network. An ordinary switch won't cut it. Before you moved the Actiontec, it was serving as such a router in addition to being your wireless access point. As you've configured it now, it's only an access point. If I'm understanding your network configuration correctly, you've got a few options:

Opt. 1: Put the Actiontec router back in the garage and connect it between the ONT and the switch and turn off the wireless on it. Then buy an inexpensive wireless access point, put it in the living room, and plug the ethernet connection into one of its LAN ports (not the WAN port if it has one). This is by far the simplest option, especially if you have Verizon FiOS TV too.

Opt. 2: Leave the Actiontec in the living room and buy an inexpensive SOHO router to put in the garage. That router doesn't need wireless but if you have a 150 or 300Mbps connection make sure it supports gigabit. In the router, turn DHCP on. Now call Verizon and ask them to release the IP lease for your Internet. Then plug the ethernet from the ONT into the WAN port of that cheapo router and plug the switch into one of the LAN ports of the cheapo router. 

There are a few other options too if you're interested, but these are by far the least complicated.

[morko · Accepted solution]

Thank you all for your responses.  I appreciate it.  I bought an ethernet signal tester and after fiddling around and reseting my router, was able to get the switch to work.

Hopefully it's stable at the point.  

Thanks again.

[JDoe5]

morko:

What did you discern or change that made the difference ?

[rgranzow]

What did you end up doing on your router/switch to get things to work?  I have the exact same problem.

[viafax999]

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@rgranzow wrote:

What did you end up doing on your router/switch to get things to work?  I have the exact same problem.

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Should be nothing to do.  What he outlined is exactly how it should be wired.

Connect an ethernet cable from 1 of the lan ports on the VZ router to a port on the switch  Make sure at this point that the relevant port light light on the switch comes up as active - it will show as a 100mb connection unless you have one of the newer rev routers.  Now connect your devices to the switch, again check the relevant port lights to make sure they came active.  For any that don't you probably will need to change the cables or test and diagnose the cables with an ethernet cable tester.

Mine has he been running like that for several years with no issues.

[Davids2443]

i just added a trendnet 8-port unmanaged gigabit standard switch to my verizon fios gigabit router.  i took 1 available port and connected it to the switch.  i then tried using the switch with different computers that were originally liked via the actiontec router - all connected, none had access?  i thought this was a pretty straight forward procedure?  In my business apps i've added switches many times and it was very simple.  What step am I missing here?