I work for a department at a technical college. I came in as part of a grant to help with general tech support. Of course, I ended up taking care of a network that someone else created and left ZERO documentation on. My knowledge on larger networks is limited.
We have a dedicated Internet connection that comes in through the same leased switch that the main campus network comes through. From that leased switch, an ethernet cable connects into an un-managed switch that belongs to the school that I cannot access without the main campus tech support staff. That switch converts the copper to fiber which is then jumped to another building on campus where our network is located. It comes in through a head-end room (that I have no access to) into another un-managed switch. There, we have one wall port connected to that switch which leads directly to the room where our firewall/router/main switch is located. That wall port plugs directly into the firewall, then router, then switch. I know it is far from the best set-up, but it's what we have to work with.
I've been here for about 7 months and I noticed the internet connection has always been a bit flaky. For the past month though, it has been really bad. We've found that if we reset the first un-managed switch that is connected to the ISP Switch, the connection tends to come right back up. For the past couple days, it has not. We tried swapping out that switch with another known good un-managed switch to see if it would work. Still nothing.
I called our ISP, and they gave me the IP scope for our connection. Our scope is X.X.X.138 through x.x.x.142. Our internal network is set up for the x.x.x.142 address. The ISP said that our first un-managed switch (the one directly connected to the ISP leased switch) must have one of the address in our scope for it's WAN interface that is not the same as the one our internal network uses.
How does that setup work? I wasn't aware that you could assign a switch a WAN IP!? If I assign that switch, let's say the x.x.x.138 address, wouldn't it pose an issue to the router that is plugged in down stream? It's public IP is setting on the x.x.x.142 address. How does the router know to pass through the switch? Can anyone help me understand!? Does anyone know a better solution?
Thanks!
We have a dedicated Internet connection that comes in through the same leased switch that the main campus network comes through. From that leased switch, an ethernet cable connects into an un-managed switch that belongs to the school that I cannot access without the main campus tech support staff. That switch converts the copper to fiber which is then jumped to another building on campus where our network is located. It comes in through a head-end room (that I have no access to) into another un-managed switch. There, we have one wall port connected to that switch which leads directly to the room where our firewall/router/main switch is located. That wall port plugs directly into the firewall, then router, then switch. I know it is far from the best set-up, but it's what we have to work with.
I've been here for about 7 months and I noticed the internet connection has always been a bit flaky. For the past month though, it has been really bad. We've found that if we reset the first un-managed switch that is connected to the ISP Switch, the connection tends to come right back up. For the past couple days, it has not. We tried swapping out that switch with another known good un-managed switch to see if it would work. Still nothing.
I called our ISP, and they gave me the IP scope for our connection. Our scope is X.X.X.138 through x.x.x.142. Our internal network is set up for the x.x.x.142 address. The ISP said that our first un-managed switch (the one directly connected to the ISP leased switch) must have one of the address in our scope for it's WAN interface that is not the same as the one our internal network uses.
How does that setup work? I wasn't aware that you could assign a switch a WAN IP!? If I assign that switch, let's say the x.x.x.138 address, wouldn't it pose an issue to the router that is plugged in down stream? It's public IP is setting on the x.x.x.142 address. How does the router know to pass through the switch? Can anyone help me understand!? Does anyone know a better solution?
Thanks!
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