Question Can a Gigabit Switch break your internet? "urgent plz help"

[evanhoever1]

Hi all. I recently moved into a new apartment with Gig internet. There is a control box in my bedroom that has tons of ethernet and cable lines. Essentially there is one "master" ethernet cable coming down from some central room, and that is my line. I could plug that one master ethernet cable into one of the 8 Ethernet plugs (i have 8 wall ethernet outlets across the apartment) or plug the master ethernet cable into a router/switch and then go out from there.

Up until today, I was running the master cable into a AC1750 router and then 2 cables from the router to 2 different outlets in the apartment. One for my TV and one for my Desktop.

I received a Gigabit switch from Amazon (link here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KFD0SMC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and i went to swap the switch for the router. My thinking was "I dont want the router in the closet behind tons of walls and a metal grate since it will slow down 2.4 and 5.0ghz wireless connections". Hindsight I should have left as is because now my internet is not working.

Essentially I plugged the switch in to AC power, and then put the master ethernet in "1" and then went 2 ethernet cables out to my 2 wall outlets I wanted to utilize. I would put the Router in the livingroom and still use the other for my PC. Well when I did that, I was receiving "connection" but no internet. I went back to the router option mentioned above and now the internet is not working. All of my devices are connecting to the network automatically, but nothing is receiving connection.

I would really appreciate some help here as the ISP cannot come until Thursday and i am WFH now.

 

[RealBeast]

Plug your "master" line, i.e the incoming WAN cable into your router WAN port, then attach the switch to the router with an LAN to LAN short cable. Attach all the other cables for the apartment into either the switch ports or the remaining 3 LAN ports on your router and you will be all set.

edit: what you have is an unmanaged switch and that cannot assign internal LAN addresses since it does not have DHCP service like the router. Switches do exist that can be configured but they are quite expensive and you don't want that anyway.

 

[evanhoever1]

Plug your "master" line, i.e the incoming WAN cable into your router WAN port, then attach the switch to the router with an LAN to LAN short cable. Attach all the other cables for the apartment into either the switch ports or the remaining 3 LAN ports on your router and you will be all set.

edit: what you have is an unmanaged switch and that cannot assign internal LAN addresses since it does not have DHCP service like the router. Switches do exist that can be configured but they are quite expensive and you don't want that anyway.

Hey so the problem i am having too is that even plugging the WAN cable into the router and nothing going out. from the router, the wireless connection is not working.

 

[RealBeast]

You usually need to contact the cable company to give them the MAC address for your modem or if combined your modem & router combo (some can find it by testing your line) so that they can authorize it on their network. Also get a manual for your router (you can download one) to understand all the optional settings.

edit: so if it is just a router, you still need a cable modem.

 

[evanhoever1]

You usually need to contact the cable company to give them the MAC address for your modem or if combined your modem & router combo (some can find it by testing your line) so that they can authorize it on their network. Also get a manual for your router (you can download one) to understand all the optional settings.

edit: so if it is just a router, you still need a cable modem.

Ok thanks. Few things though. I do not have a modem as my unit is supported by gig/fiber so its a single WAN cable running to my unit from a master room somewhere in the building. Unfortunately since its set up this way, the ISP company cannot ping or see my single line but needs to come to the building and that wont be until later this week.

Also, i connected my laptop to the router via wifi and it came up saying "WAN port is unplugged" or "WAN cable not connected" while the cable is clearly connected to the router. So i am wondering if by trying to use the unmanaged switch if i inadvertently tripped the WAN cable and its no longer sending signal my way.

 

[RealBeast]

Ok thanks. Few things though. I do not have a modem as my unit is supported by gig/fiber so its a single WAN cable running to my unit from a master room somewhere in the building. Unfortunately since its set up this way, the ISP company cannot ping or see my single line but needs to come to the building and that wont be until later this week.

Also, i connected my laptop to the router via wifi and it came up saying "WAN port is unplugged" or "WAN cable not connected" while the cable is clearly connected to the router. So i am wondering if by trying to use the unmanaged switch if i inadvertently tripped the WAN cable and its no longer sending signal my way.

No, the signal is just not being sent since your line is not yet authorized -- otherwise people would move in and use free cable Internet. Nothing is damaged. 😉

 

[evanhoever1]

No, the signal is just not being sent since your line is not yet authorized -- otherwise people would move in and use free cable Internet. Nothing is damaged. 😉

Hah totally! Except it worked from Friday to Sunday night around 10pm PST.... And it was coincidentally right when I was trying to get the Switch to work.

 

[RealBeast]

Hah totally! Except it worked from Friday to Sunday night around 10pm PST.... And it was coincidentally right when I was trying to get the Switch to work.

Very interesting. Sounds like they left it on and figured that out at some point.

I assume that just attaching the gateway no longer works? If it does just attach the switch downstream from the router (LAN to LAN) to give you more ports.

 

[evanhoever1]

Very interesting. Sounds like they left it on and figured that out at some point.

I assume that just attaching the gateway no longer works? If it does just attach the switch downstream from the router (LAN to LAN) to give you more ports.

Yeah so if i just attach that WAN cable to lets say port 5 in the control box, and then run ethernet from port 5 to my router in my livingroom.. no connection