home network

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Wed May 22, 2002 8:43 am

A friend of mine just hooked a router up to his cable modem and created his own home network. Unfortunately, since setting up this network, he is having trouble not just conencting to the internet, but his computer is crashing.

One of the machines is an old Packard Bell machine and the other computer on this network is a Mac G3. Would having a Mac and a Windows machine online at the same time cause problems?

What would an acceptable solution for this network be? I suggested leasing another cable modem from Adelphia and a second IP address for the Mac so they would essentially be on two different LANs when connecting to Adelphia instead of on their own LAN and then connecting to Adelphia's WAN.

Quark · Post by **Quark** » Wed May 22, 2002 11:02 am

What OS's?

What router?

Too many unknown questions... definately need details.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Wed May 22, 2002 11:24 am

Originally posted by HighLordDave
A friend of mine just hooked a router up to his cable modem and created his own home network. Unfortunately, since setting up this network, he is having trouble not just conencting to the internet, but his computer is crashing.

One of the machines is an old Packard Bell machine and the other computer on this network is a Mac G3. Would having a Mac and a Windows machine online at the same time cause problems?

What would an acceptable solution for this network be? I suggested leasing another cable modem from Adelphia and a second IP address for the Mac so they would essentially be on two different LANs when connecting to Adelphia instead of on their own LAN and then connecting to Adelphia's WAN.

I would have said there was Mac conflict, but that is just a guess. What is he going to use this network for, if it is just transfering files one can get a USB link that acts like a network.

It might be worth checking the speed of the network cards, if the router is a hundred and the computers 10's then he might need a converter of some kind.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Wed May 22, 2002 11:30 am

The Windows machine is a Packard Bell AMD K6-2/333 machine and the Mac is a G3 with Mac OS-X. The router is Linksys LKS BEFSR41 router with a four-port switch.

It's on a Motorola cable modem (I don't know the model number) provided through Adelphia.

The Windows machine was the first machine hooked up to the cable modem and they never had any problems. Then the son decided that he wanted to hook his Mac up to the internet so he bought this router and ran a cable into the basement and put his computer on the LAN. It was only since adding the router and Mac that they have started to have problems.

I was wondering if having a Mac OS and Windows on the same LAN might be causing problems either with the router or the cable modem. Seeing how the Mac is the only variable, it seems to me that it is the culprit.

Yshania · Post by **Yshania** » Wed May 22, 2002 1:50 pm

This may be so obvious it has been considered already, but could there be a fault with the router or the additional cabling? If you disconnect the Mac, can the pc connect?

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Wed May 22, 2002 1:56 pm

I think the router is configured properly and the physical connections are set up correctly. If the Mac is off, there are no problems with either the PC or the router and everything is fine. It's only when the Mac is on that the network and the Windows machine crashes.

I have talked to another of my tech support buddies and he says that the Mac may not be set up for TCP/IP and may be trying to use Appletalk network protocols which is in turn causing problems with the LAN. I don't know enough about Mac OS-X to fix this; does this sound like it could be the problem? If so, how do I get the Mac to use TCP/IP protocols?

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Wed May 22, 2002 2:21 pm

Originally posted by HighLordDave
I think the router is configured properly and the physical connections are set up correctly. If the Mac is off, there are no problems with either the PC or the router and everything is fine. It's only when the Mac is on that the network and the Windows machine crashes.

I have talked to another of my tech support buddies and he says that the Mac may not be set up for TCP/IP and may be trying to use Appletalk network protocols which is in turn causing problems with the LAN. I don't know enough about Mac OS-X to fix this; does this sound like it could be the problem? If so, how do I get the Mac to use TCP/IP protocols?

That would be my first suggestion. The only way any computer can connect to the internet is by the TCP/IP network protocol. Check that the two computers haven't got the same IP address for their network cards that use this connection.

Unfortunately I can't help with checking this on a Mac. My only experience with them involved smoke and burning PCB's.

Quark · Post by **Quark** » Wed May 22, 2002 10:54 pm

http://www.mactechnologies.com/pages/tf ... ml#linksys

^^ Link for a TFTP upgrade for the Linksys Routers (required by some Mac software).

http://www.mactechnologies.com/pages/instruct.html

^^ Might help some more. Note: I got the links for these off the Linksys website.

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Thu May 23, 2002 7:30 pm

I can post a definitive answer for you tomorrow but I believe the problem is stemming for two reasons.

1. With a cable modem, a Linksys router is not the answer. A Linksys dumb access point should do the trick. The second machine relies on the connection of the first. I know of two people who have been through this and the Linksys router wound up not being the answer. A router would work, but I think you'll need to pay for more IP's from the cable company.

2. Definitiely need some TCP/IP tools for the Mac. I can track those down tomorrow as well.

Quark · Post by **Quark** » Thu May 23, 2002 10:12 pm

Nah, I'm using my cable modem with the Linksys BEFSR41 with no problems whatsoever. I've had 3 computers hooked up to it simultaneously (one short of the max).

The router acts as the only contact point to the ISP, so as long as it works there's no need for additional IPs. The router takes over the computer's old IP for the WAN and gives new LAN ones to the comps connected to the router.

I remember reading in the manual needing something specific for using Mac computers, I just don't really remember what.

I have a Mac to test it on, but it'd be a waste of time for me. That comp is 100% data sensitive, so the parents would yell at me for hooking it up to the internet ...

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Fri May 24, 2002 6:20 am

I am not sure but couldn't one just connect the Router to a hub, that would then mean just one connection to the router.

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Fri May 24, 2002 7:24 am

@Sleep,

that's what one would think and may very well be true. my experience with cable modems is nil. I only speak second hand my comments about the router/dumb access point.

If Quark says it works, I believe it works. Conceptually, it makes perfect sense. It may very be a lack of skill on the second hand examples I was referencing. At home, I've always had a dial up or an ADSL.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Fri May 24, 2002 7:31 am

Originally posted by Ned Flanders
@Sleep,

that's what one would think and may very well be true. my experience with cable modems is nil. I only speak second hand my comments about the router/dumb access point.

If Quark says it works, I believe it works. Conceptually, it makes perfect sense. It may very be a lack of skill on the second hand examples I was referencing. At home, I've always had a dial up or an ADSL.

In the office we have a router for ISDN, i could look into that if it will help?

One other thing, check what IP's are set on the network cards?

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Fri May 24, 2002 7:49 am

Sleep,

**waves his hand jedi style**

You don't need to look into the router/ISDN configuration. That's not the network were looking for.

RE: concerning IP's of NIC's

I would think, Sleep, if one were using a Linksys router via cable modem, it would be a similar setup with DSL. Configure the PC's to obtain IP automatically and then setup the LSys router as a dhcp server. Default range should revolve around 10.0.0.x or 10.x.x.x although I doubt there'd be enough nodes for the latter. You could probably set the DNS options in the router as well or configure manually per workstation.

Again, I'll have to ask what barriers said people crossed when trying to network with their cable modem and why they went for linksys dumb access point over the router.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Fri May 24, 2002 8:22 am

Originally posted by Ned Flanders
You don't need to look into the router/ISDN configuration. That's not the network were looking for.

I know that, but we connect from the Router to a hub, so it might indicate something

I would think, Sleep, if one were using a Linksys router via cable modem, it would be a similar setup with DSL. Configure the PC's to obtain IP automatically

That is what i presume, however if they have set an IP it might be conflicting with the Routers in built programing

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Fri May 24, 2002 8:33 am

by sleep
I know that, but we connect from the Router to a hub, so it might indicate something

I was only joking, just so there is no misunderstanding.

by sleep
That is what i presume, however if they have set an IP it might be conflicting with the Routers in built programing

True. DHCP is typically 'off' by default on such devices. I think we need to wait for the high lord himself to make an entrance and comment. He's got a lot to chew on here.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Fri May 24, 2002 8:44 am

The PC is set up to obtain an IP address automatically. Our cable provider (until they are broken up by a bankruptcy court) is Adelphia, who gives out a computer name then sets the computer to run DHCP and periodically get an IP address from Adelphia's network.

The router is set up to run DHCP and we put the computer name Adelphia gave us into the router. The router then assigns an IP address (usually 192.168.x.x) to each computer, but the WAN thinks that the router is the computer that Adelphia originally put the computer name in.

My own router is a Netgear RP114 router and is configured the same way and I have not had any problems. I think that the root problem for my friend is that the Mac is not set up to run TCP/IP and is trying to use Appletalk over this LAN which is in turn causing it to crash.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Fri May 24, 2002 8:50 am

Originally posted by Ned Flanders
I was only joking, just so there is no misunderstanding.

None whatsoever,

HLD answered my question anyway

Quark · Post by **Quark** » Fri May 24, 2002 9:11 am

Okay, found my router manual.

Yes, default address for the router is 192.168.1.1

Default addresses for the computers are 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.255

You can try manually setting the Mac's address to, say, 192.168.1.4 (or anything BUT .1 or what the PC is using).

Okay ... only thing I see about Macs in the manual is that the router can support it but Linksys won't help you ... figures.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Fri May 24, 2002 9:25 am

What about Subnet?