RT-AC66U and TP-Link Gigabit Switch

[squidbilly]

Hi. I attend a relatively small church in south MS and have recently installed networking in our new facility. We have 3 computers, 2 network projectors (one is wireless), a NAS, and 2 network printers on the network which consist of a RT-AC66U (running Merlin 374.40) connected to a TP-Link (TL-SG1024) gigabit switch which is fed from a Trendnet TC-P24C6 patch panel. The gigabit switch is connected to one ethernet port of the router and the NAS to another. All other members of the network are connected directly to the switch of course and are assigned static IP addresses. At this time, we do not have access to the internet.

The network isn't used all the time (Sundays and Wednesdays mainly of course), but recently I have been losing connectivity. From a given computer, I cannot log in the the router or the projectors or the NAS, which is a real pain right in the middle of a service. For instance, Saturday night everything was working properly. Come Sunday morning right before our Easter service, I could not access the projectors, the NAS or even log in to the router itself. I looked at the activity light on the router for the port that the gigabit switch is connected to and it showed no activity, like it was dead. In a crunch for time, I cycled the power on the switch and eventually I regained connectivity and the corresponding port light on the router began to blink with activity. Any ideas or suggestions? This wasn't the first time it had happened, and it seems to be randomly recurring. Thanks in advance.

Oh yeah, and many many thanks RMerlin for allowing me and so many more to benefit from your work.

 

[RMerlin]

Hi. I attend a relatively small church in south MS and have recently installed networking in our new facility. We have 3 computers, 2 network projectors (one is wireless), a NAS, and 2 network printers on the network which consist of a RT-AC66U (running Merlin 374.40) connected to a TP-Link (TL-SG1024) gigabit switch which is fed from a Trendnet TC-P24C6 patch panel. The gigabit switch is connected to one ethernet port of the router and the NAS to another. All other members of the network are connected directly to the switch of course and are assigned static IP addresses. At this time, we do not have access to the internet.

The network isn't used all the time (Sundays and Wednesdays mainly of course), but recently I have been losing connectivity. From a given computer, I cannot log in the the router or the projectors or the NAS, which is a real pain right in the middle of a service. For instance, Saturday night everything was working properly. Come Sunday morning right before our Easter service, I could not access the projectors, the NAS or even log in to the router itself. I looked at the activity light on the router for the port that the gigabit switch is connected to and it showed no activity, like it was dead. In a crunch for time, I cycled the power on the switch and eventually I regained connectivity and the corresponding port light on the router began to blink with activity. Any ideas or suggestions? This wasn't the first time it had happened, and it seems to be randomly recurring. Thanks in advance.

Oh yeah, and many many thanks RMerlin for allowing me and so many more to benefit from your work.

I would recommend (if not already the case) to put these equipment on entry-level UPSes. It might help with the stability, especially if the switches themselves are those giving you issues.

 

[squidbilly]

I would recommend (if not already the case) to put these equipment on entry-level UPSes. It might help with the stability, especially if the switches themselves are those giving you issues.

Yes, I forgot to mention that the router and switch are plugged into an APC BE550G UPS.

 

[cailloux]

We have 3 computers, 2 network projectors (one is wireless), a NAS, and 2 network printers on the network which consist of a RT-AC66U (running Merlin 374.40) connected to a TP-Link (TL-SG1024) gigabit switch which is fed from a Trendnet TC-P24C6 patch panel. The gigabit switch is connected to one ethernet port of the router and the NAS to another. All other members of the network are connected directly to the switch of course and are assigned static IP addresses. At this time, we do not have access to the internet.

Why wouldn't you connect all devices to the 24-port switch, versus having the NAS connected to the switch in the AC66 and then in to the 24-port switch? The switch may be trying to apply some sort of Spanning Tree and shutting the port down to prevent (what it thinks are) loops.

I assume that the AC66 is set up as an access point and not as a router?

Can other devices ping each other through the switch?

What happens to the connectivity if you move some devices from the 24-port switch in to the switch on the AC66? If it's intermittent connectivity issues through the switch, I'd suggest RMA'ing it back to the manufacturer.

One other thing to try is to see if you can lock the port on the switch to either gigabit or to 100Mbit through the web UI.

Finally, you should check to see that you followed the same wiring convention in your punch downs (EIA 568A/568B). Depending who wired it, I've seen folks switch them around as well as punch down straight through which can cause crosstalk.

 

[squidbilly]

Why wouldn't you connect all devices to the 24-port switch, versus having the NAS connected to the switch in the AC66 and then in to the 24-port switch?

I didn't think it mattered to be honest. I thought the switch was merely an extension of the router's built-in ports, so I just plugged the NAS directly into the router since it was physically closer to it. The NAS is plugged into the router only and not into the switch.

I assume that the AC66 is set up as an access point and not as a router?

The AC66 is in wireless router mode.

Can other devices ping each other through the switch?

Yes, they can until this problem occurs and then they are no longer able to do so.

One other thing to try is to see if you can lock the port on the switch to either gigabit or to 100Mbit through the web UI.

It is an unmanaged switch.

Finally, you should check to see that you followed the same wiring convention in your punch downs (EIA 568A/568B). Depending who wired it, I've seen folks switch them around as well as punch down straight through which can cause crosstalk.

I did it myself, so I am certain I used the same convention throughout.

Thanks for your response. I am leaning towards it being a problem with the switch. However, it is very hard to diagnose with the problem being so intermittent.