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[chrysalid]

Hello,

I can't find a specific forum for this hardware (DES-1008E) - so I'll try here

I suspect my problem is not related specifically to this hardware, but would like some advice...

I have a small office, with the following setup:

The office is about 90 feet long - there is a router connected to a switch at one end.
About 1/2 way down the building is another switch, which connects the rest of the building to the network.
At the far end of the building is one more switch, which connects two final offices to the network.
This has worked fine.
We are now moving another person into each office. Instead of running more cable, we bought two D-Link DES-1008E switches and put one in each office, and have two computers connected to each.

In the first office, this works, but in the second office it doesn't.
If we plug the cable that is already in this office into a PC, it works, but if we plug it into the new switch, and run a cable from the switch to the PC, it doesn't work at all.

What could be my problem?
And is it possible to buy a booster (not wireless) to strengthen this signal down at the far end of my building?

Thanks!
Amber

[TimotiSt]

Hi,

Could you post a simple diagram of the existing network with and without the switch in the second office?

Ethernet on copper wire can span 100meters, that's around 300feet, so that shouldn't be a problem. And that's between two switches, so with your setup, you can cover a lot more, like:

[router]---10m---[switch]---100m---[switch]---100m---[PC]

My first guesses would be a straight/crossover wire (MDI / MDI-X) issue, or maybe a loop in your network.
What's the type of the old switches in your office?

Cheers,
Tamas

[chrysalid]

Thanks for the response.
I've been away, but am not hoping to resolve this issue

The network is as follows:

[Motorola SB5101 Surfboard Cable Modem] -- [D-Link DI604 Router] -- [D-Link DSS-16+][D-Link DSS-16+] -~80'- [D-Link DSS 8+] -~30'- [AOpen 5-Port Ethernet Hub] -~50'- [D-Link DES-1008E] -~25'- [D-Link DES-1008E] - to two PCs

The first 3 items are on a shelf together - the rest of the distances are estimates.

As I said - in the last office, if the final D-Link DES-1008E is plugged in - no connectivity - if it ISN'T plugged in, and the cable that connects to it goes directly into a PC, it works fine...

I have swapped out another switch with it, to confirm the problem isn't with the switch, and it isn't.

Any ideas??

Thanks,
Amber

[TimotiSt]

My two guesses would be:
- swap out the AOpen hub with a switch. Like the DES-1008 on the far end, or with a brand new. Using hubs anymore is not too lucky.
- run a dedicated cable from the hub (or new switch in it's place) to the last DES-1008, so the last two DES-1008 switches would be connected in parallel. That would reduce the layer 2 hop count.
- on the near end, is the router end the DSS-8+ switch plugged into the same DSS-16+, or are they cascaded? (like  [router]-----[DSS-16]--[DSS-16]----[DSS-8]  ) If possible, plug them into the same switch.

Hope it helps!
Tamas

[MauriceS]

While the distance for Ethernet using Hubs is max 100m/segment - 300m total, that distance limit is no longer applicable with switches.
The distance limit has to do with the delay time on the cable. Hubs are great for tools like Wireshark to troubleshoot problems, but no longer the best solution for general purpose networking...

Switches do work differently, and the limits do not apply as before. Yes, you can only have 100m between 2 switches, but one can have lots and lots of switches between 2 points. Communication would have longer delays (every switch has to receive the data, process it, figure out which port to send it to, and then send it out) but there is no theoretical limit unlike hubs.

http://www.industrialethernetu.com/courses/105_1.htm

I would recommend to drop the hub, and replace it with a switch.