Network conflicts, enter if youre brave!

[azzfox]

Ok im up a certain creek without a paddle at the moment and my LAN is shitting me to tears. I finally just got ADSL (dial-up user for many years ) and I need to share it between two PC's. The setup at the moment is Modem (single port) > 5 port switch > both PC's. The problem is that I can only get one PC to connect at a time or else it results in "conflicts".

Being new to the whole ADSL scene I took the easy way out and used the "easy" installer that came on disc. Now it seems like a bad choice as my PC is now doing strange things! Which include:

*When setting a manual IP address it tells me that its already in use on the network. So I tried another and same thing again. I then tried a random address and still same fkn thing!

*When typing "ipconfig / all" in Run, the dialog box flashes for a split second then disappears.

*Cannot share files across the network anymore and cannon access modem settings via web browser without DHCP settings in use.

This stupid disc has screwed me over. Later on I found manual instructions that dont require doing much at all and Im kicking myself for rushing into things.

Can anyone please shine a light on whats happening? I dont really feel like a fresh XP install on both PC's atm.

Btw modem is a Netgear DM111P. oh and running XP Pro as mentioned above^

[DanVN]

first of all to use ipconfig, open command prompt first then type ipconfig/all , Then it should stay open.

Does you modem or switch have a DHCP server on it, if not you will need to manually configure IP address' for your computers on your network.

Id recommend reseting your Modem, Switch(If it has settings not sure been a while ) and Computer settings back to default and starting fresh, it really is the easiest way rather than trying to decipher wtf you've screwed up where.

[azzfox]

Ahh yep stays open now

Modem does have a DHCP server on it, I think. Has an option within the settings for it which cant be changed so guess so.

Modem has been reset AND managed to restore both PC's to yesterday sometime so whatever the disc did is no longer.

So now that Im in the clear a bit, maybe this is the time to be asking for pointers . Ive found writing down working addresses then adding them manually doesnt work. Only letting it auto-obtain seems to give me internet. Is this because I cant choose my own IP? And if not then how can I still manually set IP's amongst my LAN? And to put the cherry on the cake how do I manage to share the net between the two?

Thanks for the response!

[stocky]

what manual addresses were you setting them to? the numbers you were using

[levymetal]

^^, yeah you weren't trying to use public IP addresses were you?

if you need to do it manually, make sure you use addresses from one of the following address spaces (i usually use the 192 pool)

10.0.0.1 – 10.255.255.254
172.16.0.1 – 172.31.255.254
192.168.0.1 – 192.168.255.254

if you had 2 computers, one would be 192.168.0.2, the other 192.168.0.3, and make sure the router is set at 192.168.0.1. you should set this as the default gateway when configuring TCP/IP on your computers. if you don't set the default gateway to the routers IP address then you won't have internet as your computers won't know where to forward their dns requests

[azzfox]

The modem is 192.168.0.1 by default, then one PC I wanted 192.168.0.2 and the other 192.168.0.3 and so forth to keep it simple. But DHCP sets it to something like 220.253.231.10.

Right now I can live with it but I need both PC's to work at the same time. One PC sources the addresses fine, but then connect the other PC and after a while I just get "limited or no connectivity" and doesnt work. Hmmm I thought it was going to be easier than this lol.

if you don't set the default gateway to the routers IP address then you won't have internet as your computers won't know where to forward their dns requests

The gateway seems to be dynamic also

[levymetal]

something fishy is going on here then. your pc should be using a local ip, not the public ip address your isp has given you. dhcp is not working as it should be

the gateway will be dynamic if you try and use dhcp. with just 1 pc connected, what happens if you manually configure it and use the following settings? also, with these settings applied, open up a command prompt window and type:
ping 192.168.0.1
and see if you get a response or not

[stocky]

yeah i was about to say the same thing as levy. you shouldnt be getting a public ip like that.

[azzfox]

With settings as above^ I got:



Thats with my PC directly connected to modem.

Then shortly after switching back to auto obtain addresses I got:



Ive been playing around with it nearly all last night and half of today and havnt got very far. I also tried updating the modems firmware which diddnt go too well causing the modem to fail but a power-off for 5mins cleared it, but no firmware change. Just isnt my day(s).

[azzfox]

Emailed netgear for support on the firmware upgrade. The current version seems to lack some settings that can be seen in the newer version. If this doesnt fix the issue or cant upgrade the firmware then its time to look for a new modem. According to whirlpool forums the DM111P isnt the most amazing device and I should be grateful it works this much

[Pub247]

i like my netgear modem router combo its a dg series and works fine i suppose a compromise for you is if it has usb and ethernet is to use one for each pc. but i guess you wont be able t share between pc that way

[levymetal]

ah i know what's going on. the DM111P is just a modem. you'll need a router to achieve what you want to do. you can either buy a router and connect it to your modem, but i think it'll be easier if you just buy an adsl modem/router in 1. saves having 2 devices. get one with 4 ethernet ports so you don't need the switch either.

a router converts local ip addresses into wan/public ip addresses and vice versa. this is a very crude text based diagram showing the conversion of ip addresses in a router, but you'll get the idea of how it works
[INTERNET WAN]-----[220.253.231.10][MODEM]-----[ROUTER][192.168.0.1]-------[YOUR LAN]
so the router is the bridge between the internet wan, and your local area network.

because you don't have a router, your computer connects directly into the internet wan. this is ok if you only need 1 computer to connect to the internet, as an IP address can only be assigned to 1 machine. if you want more than 1 computer connected, you'll need a router to share the same wan ip address across multiple computers.

[azzfox]

Ahhh so thats why! Some unofficial positive rep for you!

So thats what routers are for lol. I just remembered I have an old D-Link modem/router laying around but need to find/make a power supply for it. It only has one ethernet port aswell but if I got it working could I then attach my switch to it for a temporary setup? Model is DSL-502T

[levymetal]

yep if you can get it working it'll be fine, as you said you'll just have to connect it to your switch but you were going to do that with your current modem anyway .

the only actual disadvantage is the fact that you will need to have 2 devices plugged in - but it'll work exactly the same as if you had an all-in-one modem-router-switch

[azzfox]

Cool, Im on a mission tonight.

haha yeah but the old D-Link is well.. old and boxy. I guess I can put it somewhere where I dont have to look at it

[azzfox]

Well... couldnt find a power supply for the D-Link and it needed to be AC so no go, but funny enough I had yet another modem/router here and a power supply that came close to suiting it and works. Both PC's are now online and Im over the moon about it.

To all the above thanks for the help

[levymetal]

that's awesome news! glad to hear it now works

btw, how come you have 3 adsl modems but you've only just come off dialup?

[azzfox]

haha well, a while ago I was contemplating adsl and impulse bought a cheap used modem off ebay (the one currently using) but came with the wrong power supply, and couldnt convince mum at the time so it got stashed away and forgot about for a while . The D-Link I found on hard rubbish so not even sure it works, but its in alright condition and had the cables cut off at the connectors lol pretty illogical thing to do. And the netgear came free from the ISP.