Advanced Home Networking Setup Issues...

[augie428]

We have a pretty advanced (at least for me) setup for my home network. I am using multiple switches with my goal being to have everything hard-wired. Years ago I had the same issue and hired an IT professional to come in and fix it. It took him a few hours and I honestly can't remember what his ultimate solution was.

My modem recently went out and I received a newer model from Comcast. I made the rookie mistake of not writing down my previous gateway configurations.

Here's a picture of how my network is setup...

There are 7 devices attached to a switch in another room which has a long Ethernet cable which is attached to the Comcast CG3000DCR gateway. This Gateway is attached to another switch in the other room which has 5 devices attached to it (including the Google WiFi). My main computer is attached directly to the gateway while there is another switch downstairs (with 2 computers attached to it) which runs up and connects to the gateway as well.

I did have it all working prior to having to hook up a new modem and was hoping someone could lend me a hand.

Issue I am having is that the 7 devices are not getting any internet connection. I am not sure if I have to do something with the Gateway configuration due to the numerous switches. The second issue I am having seems to involve the Wifi. When the Wifi isn't responding I am able to remotely login to my Server through my main computer but when the WIfI is restarted to get it working, I no longer see the Server in my network properties.

Sorry this is so long but I am very confused at this point.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[kanewolf]

Switches are transparent to your network. First guess on the server issue is that the IP range from the DHCP server is different than any static IPs you have.

 

[failboat]

Looks like the switches have management pages.
Try to get in and see if there are any settings that impact hosts connected to it.

The DHCP server on the router should be providing everything.
It's odd that one switch went down.
See if clients on it are getting ips and gateways.
If the ip of the management page for that one switch is your new gateway that would likely be the issue.

 

[augie428]

Switches are transparent to your network. First guess on the server issue is that the IP range from the DHCP server is different than any static IPs you have.

Seems like I may have figured out a solution so far. When I would unplug the Google WiFi, then all of a sudden I could view my server, login remotely to it, and also the 7 devices in the other room suddenly all have the wired internet connection working.

I contacted Google, they assisted me in setting up the Google Wifi switching the Wifi points around and choosing a new network name. I'm keeping an eye on things but so far so good. The Google rep didn't think it was the cause of the issue but I can't deny the difference it is now making.

 

[augie428]

Looks like the switches have management pages.
Try to get in and see if there are any settings that impact hosts connected to it.

The DHCP server on the router should be providing everything.
It's odd that one switch went down.
See if clients on it are getting ips and gateways.
If the ip of the management page for that one switch is your new gateway that would likely be the issue.

Switches are transparent to your network. First guess on the server issue is that the IP range from the DHCP server is different than any static IPs you have.

Seems like I may have figured out a solution so far. When I would unplug the Google WiFi, then all of a sudden I could view my server, login remotely to it, and also the 7 devices in the other room suddenly all have the wired internet connection working.

I contacted Google, they assisted me in setting up the Google Wifi switching the Wifi points around and choosing a new network name. I'm keeping an eye on things but so far so good. The Google rep didn't think it was the cause of the issue but I can't deny the difference it is now making.

 

[failboat]

Most devices have their own ip address for web management except unmanaged switches and modems.

If one of those has a conflict it can cause issues.
Mostly gateway conflicts make you lose internet access.

I'd keep a record of each ones static ip and the gateway.

You also don't want two DHCP servers on the same layer2 broadcast.
Check the settings of the google wifi to see if it's an access point.
The new comcast gateway is probably running a DHCP server by default.

One thing to mention about your setup is that your google wifi probably has better features than the isp provided router. Making the google router your main one might be worth looking into.

It seems like you have ample wires running through the house. If you can plug all the google units into ethernet it will make your wireless less congested. The wireless repeating that they use is using wireless channels that could be utilized for devices. Mesh systems are typically last resorts if you can't get wires into anything.

 

[augie428]

Most devices have their own ip address for web management except unmanaged switches and modems.

If one of those has a conflict it can cause issues.
Mostly gateway conflicts make you lose internet access.

I'd keep a record of each ones static ip and the gateway.

You also don't want two DHCP servers on the same layer2 broadcast.
Check the settings of the google wifi to see if it's an access point.
The new comcast gateway is probably running a DHCP server by default.

One thing to mention about your setup is that your google wifi probably has better features than the isp provided router. Making the google router your main one might be worth looking into.

It seems like you have ample wires running through the house. If you can plug all the google units into ethernet it will make your wireless less congested. The wireless repeating that they use is using wireless channels that could be utilized for devices. Mesh systems are typically last resorts if you can't get wires into anything.

Ok, I am still confused. Good idea on the Google Wifi - I hard wired all the units into switches but am still having issues.

I'll lose the internet connection for my main computer which is hard wired into the comcast gateway. When I try to run diagnostics on it I am coming up with a "Windows can't communicate with the device or resource (primary DNS Server)." I've read a little bit about DNS servers but am very unclear as to what my options are. I am guessing the solution resides somewhere in my gateway setup. Should I assign DNS servers manually?

 

[failboat]

Did you make a record of all your ips for the managed devices and routers and log into each page? Conflicts cause these kinds of issues.