Network Idiot Needs Help
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Thread: Network Idiot Needs Help

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 1999
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    270

    Network Idiot Needs Help

    okay folks please bear with me as i try to outline what i'm working with.... keeping in mind i am learning all this from scratch as i go:


    First of all, this setup is a school network that has been running "ok", but as we are upgrading to newer machines from ME to XP we are encountering problems.

    ok, here is the current setup:

    16 lab computers running XP HOME connected via hubs/switches (2) heading into ROUTER

    5 office computer running XP HOME connected via hubs/switches heading into ROUTER

    1 xerox machine on Ethernet heading into ROUTER

    1 phaser 850 printer on Ethernet heading into ROUTER

    1 2-way satellite proxy server using it’s own separate 4 port router heading into ROUTER

    1 new phaser printer (unused as of yet) to be hooked on Ethernet heading into ROUTER

    1 SNAP server on Ethernet heading into ROUTER

    1 wireless linksys router (unused as of yet) to head into ROUTER

    ROUTER connected to Dell 3ghz system running XP PRO


    ROUTER ports are as follows: 1x 2x 3x 4x 5x 6x 7x, x to pc, to hub
    __________________
    The original setup worked ok, but as new systems are being switched to XP, and the addition of the satellite proxy server causing us to switch to 192.168.10.x from 192.168.0.x...... we are now having trouble with printing to the xerox, shared folders properly showing up across the network etc....

    If i run the small network setup and join a specific workstation to the "MSHOME" network, those workstations show up under the MSHOME network connection.

    However, for some reason the main 3ghz XP PRO that the ROUTER goes to doesn't seem to be on the same network as the rest.... although it is set to MSHOME as well. Under network connections, it has three listed-->"1394 connection, network bridge, LAN connection" listed. All are connected.

    If i were to reformat this "master" 3ghz system that the ROUTER heads to, what am i looking at for re-networking when i get XP PRO installed again? Would these 1394 and network bridges set themselves up? OR, could i hook another new pc and use it as a master to the ROUTER to see if it would run things better? (just keeping the old 3ghz computer sitting off to the side in case things go really bad with trying to setup a new master).

    I sure hope someone understands the mumbo-jumbo i'm trying to describe. It really sucks when networking knowledge is very limited. We have really nice equipment to work with (except for the crappy 2-way sat LOL... but we are out of dsl and cable range).

    Comments anyone?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Bishop's Stortford, Herts, UK
    Posts
    172
    firstly, not to insult your intellegence, but have you changed your

    subnet mask from 255.255.255.0 to 255.255.0.0

    as the network portion of the address has now changed to the last two quartets of the ip address not just the last one.

    I wouldn't recomend formatting the ROUTER machine as it is probably set up correctly already, if you have made changes on your network then it is most likely to be a small change in configuration as opposed to a full format which will solve the problem.

    I would connect the printers into the hubs/switches and not the router. the machines that are likely to want to use the printers are also connected to the hubs and so this will be a more efficient setup.

    I'm sorry if this is a bit vague but i'm a bit confused by this, can you give more specific details on the router/isp set up?
    are the mchines able to connect to the internet?

    dave
    Dave.

    -------------------

    A+
    Network +,
    NVQ (yeah it's lame but i'm getting there)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 1999
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    270
    Hi again,
    Well, i am making progress. Thanks to some help from a friend, i was pointed in the right direction to look for a few things. My confusion started when the 2-way sat guys came in and setup a proxy server into the network, and that proxy server was a 192.168.10.x configuration. I was under the impression that this was the IP configuration for the entire network.... when it was only for the internet portion of the network to access the proxy server.

    So i then set to checking the IP range of the network itself. When i set the IP for workstations into the 192.168.0.x configuration under MSHOME workgroup, things started happening. Those computers were again "reunited" with the 3ghz computer and SNAP server and shared folders in the 3ghz were again available. Furthermore i learned that the 3ghz is itself just acting as a hub... and not a crucial network component anymore (since the 2-way proxy server was added which relieved the 3ghz of it's 1-way satellite pci card and modem duties for the network).

    Also, i checked the xerox machine and it was set to DHCP which was for some reason interfering. I assigned it a fixed IP in the 192.168.0.x range and..... you guessed it..... it became available across the workstations as a network printer.

    Things are definitely looking good now. My confusion with the proxy server and trying to put workstation IP ranges in the 192.168.10.x configuration was obviously causing all sorts of trouble.

    It all seems much more simple now that i have a better understanding of the network as a whole. I guess it's been a good lesson learned.

    One thing though.... DRead you mention it would be best if the phaser printers went thru hubs/switches instead of the router? If i just assigned the phasers an IP in the network 192.168.0.x range as i did the xerox.... wouldn't this work fine?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Bishop's Stortford, Herts, UK
    Posts
    172
    it will work either way but in terms of switching time, it will improve network speeds (if only by a tiny bit) as the computers and printer they use all go through one switch there is less distance for the signal to travel to the printer
    Dave.

    -------------------

    A+
    Network +,
    NVQ (yeah it's lame but i'm getting there)

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