switch help

[Tadow]

I got a 5 port 10/100 ethernet switch so we could connect my comp and his xbox 360 at the same time. The problem is only my pc works behind the switch and not the xbox. I also tried connecting his laptop behind the switch and it won't connect either. I haven't had time to mess around with it much and just wanted to see if there's something obvious I'm missing. Thanks

 

[superdave1984]

Are you trying to get on the internet or what?

 

[Tadow]

My pc connects fine behind the switch. I also want the xbox 360 to be able to connect to xbox live behind the switch so that both can be connected at the same time. The only way xbox live will connect is if I directly connect the xbox360 to the modem and cycle the modem.

 

[bla!!]

It's because you need a router and not a switch. Basically you're getting 1 IP from the modem and trying to use it on 2 devices. A router will fix this.

 

[KSoD]

I dont think you can use a switch. I think you have to use a router for this to work properly.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

A switch requires a router. A switch doesn't have DCHP, so it can't assign IP addresses. It also doesn't have a WAN port, so it can't route packets to the Internet (actually, it can't route packets period...it's not a router!). A switch is basically an add-on that gives a router more ports. Get yourself a wired (or wireless, but it needs to have wired ports as well) router (like the Netgear WGT624v3, LinkSys WRT series, etc) and wire like this:

||Wall Cable Outlet||-------coax cable---->CABLE MODEM -----ethernet--->WAN-ROUTER-LAN-------ethernet----->ANY port on SWITCH------ethernet cable(s)----->PC, XBOX, etc.

You need a standard LAN cable (not crossover) to connect the switch (any port) to the router (any LAN port). Then the 7 leftover LAN ports (assuming 4 port router, 5 port switch) all work as LAN ports for computers, consoles, etc, and the router's internal DCHP server detects all of them. The modem must be connected to the WAN (Internet) port on the router.

 

[Tadow]

Ok thanks. I should of realized this. theoretically though if I release the ip address from my connected pc then the xbox should be able to connect as it will get the ip, correct? That way I would at least not have to unplug crap back and forth.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

Well, that might work, but that's the reason you need a router. Switches don't have DCHP, which is the system that routers use to give unique IP addresses to all of the devices connected to it. With IP addresses, the router can then manage multiple connections. With a switch, nothing is there to assign IP addresses, so the ports are all just there, and the first device to connect (at least, that's what I'd think would happen) snatches up the modem's one IP address and makes a one-to-one connection. I guess if that were the case, releasing the IP from the computer might work (try it and see), but I'd still recommend buying a router.

I have a modem, a router, and a 5 port switch, and the system works great to supply all my old computers hooked together in one wired/wireless network.