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Strange Network Issue
darkcircuit
Member Posts: 211
Hey all,
Wondering if anyone can shed any light on the following issue. Just built my SO a new PC and since adding it to the network I've had the same issue everytime I turn my PC on (the only other PC in the network). Basically everytime I turn my PC on it states that I have no network access and no internet access (warning triangle displays on the network connection), the only way I can resolve this is to unplug the network cable from her PC and then once mine gets network access, plug it back in. Once mine has network access then it works perfectly until I boot her PC and then shut it down, once I shut her PC down the same issue occurs until I un-plug her PC and then the cycle repeats.
My network setup is as follows:
Router (Linksys WAG320N) connected to the phone socket downstairs, which is then hardwired (1gbps) to a network socket connected to network socket upstairs, a 5 port (1gbps) ethernet unmanaged hub is then connected to the upstairs socket and the two PCs are connected into this hub. I have tried the usual network related troubleshooting methods, I've used static IPs, dynamic IPs, plugged the network cables into different ports on the hub, checked that we are both using seperate IPs, and it all looks ok. I've even switched routers (from Linksys WAG160N to WAG320N), and the same issue persists.
I'm wondering if it is some feature of my SO's PC that it keeps an active network connection when it is off that allows it to search for magic packets, which is causing my PC to fail to connect. I've been through the bios of her MB and have been unable to find any setting that sounds like it could be causing the problem and I have made sure that we both have the latest drivers for the network cards via Windows 8 Update. Incase it is relevant, her new MB is http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4441#ov and my MB is http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/P67A-GD53.html and we are both using the onboard network adapter.
Any advice you guys could give would be greatly appreciated.
Comments
Make sure you have Internet Connection Sharing turned off on both PC's (this is part of Windows Networking)
Also for good measure turn off Wake-On-Lan for both network cards (may be a BIOS feature as well as a driver feature)
You have four ports on the router but you only mention three network devices. Ditch the hub and plug directly into the router. Hubs are evil and should all be burned in a great hub fire.
If you have more devices than you mention, can you connect the two routers together and use the remaining six ports? From looking at the pictures, you should run a straight-through network cable from one device's yellow port to the other device's yellow port.
Now on to your issue...
My thinking is that you have IPv6 enabled on the SO computer. They can retrieve and hold an IPv6 address even when the computer is powered down. I have never heard of it causing issues, though. Try to disable it in the bios first because I doubt WIndows' settings will affect it when it is not powered on. Disable IPv6 on your computer too, but you can disable it in Windows.
Unless you are doing something with a server, it is easiest to use dynamic IP addresses. Turn on DHCP on the router which is plugged into your modem and set the range for 100 or so IP addresses. Any servers in your setup should be set to a static IP outside of the DHCP range. Any other devices with DHCP capabilities should be set to disabled.
I almost forgot... the uplink ports should only be used for modems. That's the port which appears to be labeled DSL in the google pictures I found. If a computer is plugged into it, that would explain your issue.
Many years ago, the uplink port used to be linked to the port next to it (in your case 4) so that you could only use one or the other. I should hope they changed that silly design by now.
He can't ditch the hub - the router is downstairs, the computers are upstairs. There's only 1 cable between them (presumably run through the wall). Plugging 2 routers together is probably worse than using a hub - you have the potential for competing DHCP servers (which you say is bad), and it takes more power (by a lot), but in all reality it doesn't do anything differently than having a switch there.
You have a good point about the uplink port on the hub though. That's something worth trying that takes 2 seconds.
Thanks for the advice
the DSL port is RJ11 so no risk of me plugging an Rj45 in there 
We definitely rn't using IPV6 as the router doesn't support it but I will disable it anyway 
I always prefer static IPs because I have to use port forwarding for various activities. My thinking is that it could be some wake up on lan settings on the adapter so I will check those when I get in, I tried various ports on the switch with no luck so I'm guessing that its not that and most likely some special configuration with her PC (especially as it started happening as soon as I connected her new PC up).
I'm afraid I have to stick with the switch as the above poster said, my router is downstairs and my PCs are upstairs
Most routers let you turn off DHCP, which is what he needs to do to one if he uses two in a network. If he is using a switch, that is best for what he needs. If he is using a hub, he should have the second router there instead, but with DHCP turned off.
Switches are fine. Hubs are not. Routers use processing power, but it can be better than having collisions causing lag spikes while gaming.
So, is it a switch or a hub upstairs? Do you have the old router to use in place of the hub?
Since you are using port forwarding, static IPs are fine for the needed PCs. Just make sure the static IPs are not inside the DHCP range. Also, make sure everything is on the same subnet. For example, your IP addresses should all start with 192.168.0.xxx (any number in place of the 0 is fine, as long as every device is the same) and your subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0.
I do see that the LInksys WAG320N is your DSL modem, as well as a router. Many ISPs rent a modem which is separate from the router, and some rent devices with both capabilities. I'm guessing you own your router, which is fine.
One thing I didn't see mentioned is the location of the SO PC. Is it plugged into the router downstairs, or the hub upstairs? If it is downstairs, does plugging your computer directly into the wall instead of the hub work?
The next area I would look is the router configuration, after all of the above is eliminated. Port forwarding can cause issues if you forward a critical port used by WIndows to set up networking. Could you list your forwarded ports?
You need to have a lot of traffic going to a lot of different places before hubs cause significant collision lag. 2 gaming PC's isn't going to do that, unless you are trying to do something silly like run bit torrents or steam video uploads from both at the same time.
I agree, switches are better than hubs, but for 2-3 computers a hub will work fine. In either case, recommending to go from a $10 hub, or a $20 switch, to a $50+ router is a bit overkill. And you have to manually disable the DHCP service and put it into bridge mode, which adds more chances for things to go wrong or get misconfigured, and not all routers support this - using a router as a switch isn't just plug and play like it is with either a hub or switch.
It could very well be a problem with the hub though, so if you still have that second router laying about, maybe try what was suggested with it - but I wouldn't go out and buy a second router just to use it like a switch.
That is excatly what I was suggesting. He mentioned upgrading routers, which led me to believe the other one is still around.
Your using a hub, not a switch.
http://www.networkclue.com/hardware/network/switches-vs-hubs.aspx
Although its not recommended because you will get line loss and may do some damage to your ethernet port connectors, you can move the DSL modem upstairs. You can plug an RJ11 connector into an RJ45 jack. The RJ45 jack does not have any sort of magic that makes it impossible because its just copper wires. So downstairs you would plug your RJ11 wire into the phone jack, then the other end into the ethernet jack. Upstairs you would then plug an RJ11 wire into the ethernet jack and use that to power your DSL modem.