Switch Connection

[Zalophus]

Just installed new 8 port D link switch to replace old 5 port D link switch.

The old switch works fine, but needed more ports.

The new switch cannot connect to my router.

I have Smart TV, Denon AMP, BLU Ray, all Ethernet connected, and all of which work fine with old router, but all display the same "unable to connect to router "error, with the new 8 p0rt.

My router is ASUS RT-AC56U. with Merlin 384.5 Firmware.

D link was of no help.

I've tried the usual trouble shooting with the router, such as unplugging, and rebooting, and trying different ports on the switch but no help.

Suggestions for other steps?
Thanks

 

[ColinTaylor]

What is the model number of the switch? If it's a "dumb" switch then there is no configuration needed (or possible), you just plug it in and it works. So this has nothing to do with the router.

 

[Zalophus]

What is the model number of the switch? If it's a "dumb" switch then there is no configuration needed (or possible), you just plug it in and it works. So this has nothing to do with the router.

It is a "Dumb" , i.e Plug and Play. Model DES -1008E. (Old switch is DDS 2205). I had tried a TP Link Plug and Play switch first, and had the same problem. So if not the router, and not two different switches, then why won't any of my of devices connect through either of the new switches, but will through the old?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Ok I've had a look at the manual and it's a pretty basic/old switch.

The thing that sticks out is that it's only a 10/100 switch whereas the Asus has gigabit ports. So there might be an auto-negotiation issue.

The first thing I would do is check that the power light comes on (duh). Then connect a known good Cat5 cable between the Asus and one of the switches ports. Does the indicator light next to the switch port come on when you make the connection? Log into the Asus and look at Tools > System Information > Ethernet Ports and check that the LAN socket is active and the link status is 100 Full Duplex.

EDIT: The old switch (DGS-2205) was a gigabit device.

 

[Zalophus]

Ok I've had a look at the manual and it's a pretty basic/old switch.

The thing that sticks out is that it's only a 10/100 switch whereas the Asus has gigabit ports. So there might be an auto-negotiation issue.

The first thing I would do is check that the power light comes on (duh). Then connect a known good Cat5 cable between the Asus and one of the switches ports. Does the indicator light next to the switch port come on when you make the connection? Log into the Asus and look at Tools > System Information > Ethernet Ports and check that the LAN socket is active and the link status is 100 Full Duplex.

EDIT: The old switch (DGS-2205) was a gigabit device.

Good suggestions.
1.Power light is on.
2.Cat 5 cable from ASUS to Switch-Switch shows active , and Tools/Ethernet Ports show Link State as 100 Full Duplex, but no "Last Device Seen".

But when I go to "Network Map/Client Status/Wired, it does not show the switch.

Does this help you?

 

[ColinTaylor]

So now you need to connect an Ethernet cable between another of the switch's sockets and one of your client devices (TV, Blu-ray, etc.). Again checking that the light comes on for the socket. The lights should then start flashing to indicate traffic is flowing. You might need power cycle the client device to get it sync to the switch properly.

Only connect/test one client device at a time just in case one of them is causing the switch to "lock up".

But when I go to "Network Map/Client Status/Wired, it does not show the switch.

No it won't. The switch is a transparent device so it is invisible as far as the router and clients are concerned.

 

[Zalophus]

Thanks- I have tried each device separately, with no success, so the work around I have come with, is to "daisy chain" the two switches, keeping the router cable coming to the old switch, and running a second CAT 5 cable to the new switch, and then plugging all the devices into the new switch.
That works perfectly, but would still like to know why my router can't talk to my new switch. If you have any further ideas, or suggestions I would appreciate hearing them.
FYI-The TP Link switch I referenced earlier, was a full gigabit switch.
Thanks again for all your help and suggestions.

 

[ColinTaylor]

That's very strange. I would normally suspect a faulty cable but it sounds like it works with the other switch.

When you say it doesn't work what are you seeing? Does the link light come on on the switch port? Does it blink? Are there any messages in the router's syslog? Does the router's Tools/Ethernet Ports show a MAC addresses on that port?

EDIT: Although it's a bit of a long shot, make sure that the devices you have wired to the switch don't also have a Wi-Fi connection to the router. That will create network loops.

 

[Zalophus]

When I connect the router to the New Switch, and try to establish internet connection with my Panasonic TV, DVD player, or my Denon Amp servers, I get some version of "Access to IP Address failed" and "Connection to Gateway Failed". I've tried putting device settings at both automatic, and manual, using the Old switch IP, and DNS settings for the manual. Neither work, but when I reconnect thru the old switch, with all settings to Automatic, everything is fine.

I hope this answers your questions.

RE the router, I don't know how to use the ASUS System Log: What do I set Default message log level and Log only messages more urgent than to, and what exactly am I looking for? If I know this, I can reconnect my router to the new Switch, and see what messages these two settings produce.

Thanks again for taking the time to walk me through all this.

 

[ColinTaylor]

To be honest I don't think we're going to get to the bottom of this. It is apparent from the messages about IP addresses and gateways that the devices can't talk to the router, but there's no obvious reason why.

The primary thing to check is the physical links. You've done that with the router-to-switch link and that is working. So we now need to add one of the client devices to the new D-Link switch. i.e. connect another cable from the switch to the client and make sure its light comes on. The light should blink to indicate that traffic is passing through it. If that doesn't happen there is a problem with that link, so try a different cable.

While you're doing this have another PC somewhere logged into the router looking at the syslog page. Just after you've plugged your devices into the new switch hit the refresh button for the syslog. Was there a sudden burst of messages when you plugged the device into the switch? If so post all those messages here.

I would leave the syslog message levels at their default (Notice and Info). If you have an option to log DHCP queries set that to Yes.

One last thing to try/check is on the router at LAN > Switch Control. Make sure that Spanning-Tree Protocol is enabled and Jumbo Frames are disabled.