tubbydrmmr Posted June 24, 2002 Share Posted June 24, 2002 I have a Linksys 4 port router/switch set up and being used for sharing my internet connection. My problem is that since I have installed the router, I can't seem to print on a printer connected to another PC on my network. I used to be able to print with no problems on another machine's printer when I used a hub for the sharing, but now it won't go through. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[RAA]-=Chi3f=- Posted June 24, 2002 Share Posted June 24, 2002 What are your Operating systems? This can affect your network settings. Look for windows updates too. You might want to check you network cfg through my network neighborhood (by default). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCanr2d2 Posted June 24, 2002 Share Posted June 24, 2002 Having a router is obvious overkill in most home situations, but you will need to make sure that you have IP forwarding enabled to get through a router. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbydrmmr Posted June 25, 2002 Author Share Posted June 25, 2002 Yeah...I am not sure what should be forwarded to allow printer sharing. How is a Router overkill for home networks? A Router is perfect for home networks. Everyone can get online whenever, without having to use ICS on a "server" computer or actually having a server. We used to route through a server machine here at my home...but that is ridiculous for my house. Now there doesn't need to be another comp running whever someone wants to go online. Routers are great for broadband...perfect for home networks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KordKelly Posted June 25, 2002 Share Posted June 25, 2002 Check out http://www.wown.com This might have some info on getting file/printer sharing configured properly... A router is overkill for home use??? Linksys, SMC, D-Link and a host of others have "residential gateways" which are small, residential sized (usually four port) routers for sharing broadband access...They serve DHCP and most even have hardware firewalls installed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbydrmmr Posted June 25, 2002 Author Share Posted June 25, 2002 Cool...thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCanr2d2 Posted June 26, 2002 Share Posted June 26, 2002 A switch is usually more than enough, and one small piece of software is usally enough to do the same job as that of a router. It's more the fact that people aren't overly sure how to make a switch act similar to a router. Understand what a router does? It can forward data between subnets, ie it will join different networks together. When using a simple home network, a switch will do the correct job of only sending data to the correct port, a hub will broadcast to all and hope for a response from one. A router works at knowing what IP each machine has, a switch knows the MAC address of each machine, and since they are all on the same subnet, that is more than enough to get the data around. To have an inbuilt firewall, etc, is more of a dumb terminal setup, it is more like a PC rather than just a network device. Setup the right way, a switch with a cable modem connected, is a lot less costly, and will do the same job. Just because companies throw them out at you as what you need, it is selling you hardware that is way more, in a technical sense, than what will do the job for you. I guess what I am getting at, is that there are cheaper ways, and just as easy to setup than getting a router....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbydrmmr Posted June 27, 2002 Author Share Posted June 27, 2002 So you can access the internet at any time without a server using only a switch? How do you do that? Can you explain it for me...I am interested in that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCanr2d2 Posted June 27, 2002 Share Posted June 27, 2002 It is just by taking away the routing from the hardware device, and placing the software on all computers, that you can avoid the need for a more costly router. A proxy server program on all PC's and having them all set up the same will remove the need for a proxy, and same with firewall software. Although it maybe slightly more time in the setting up - i.e. 5-10 minutes per PC max, it is probably to be the cheaper alternative. By having a lot more control over the proxy or firewall, rather than a general one, you can assign different roles to each PC a lot easier. In essence, it is creating 4 "servers" as such, which means they will act independently of each other. Then again, I work in IT, so I wouldn't have any problems in doing this kind of setup........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbydrmmr Posted June 28, 2002 Author Share Posted June 28, 2002 yeah...I like that idea though. I wish I had known about that before. Networking is just kinda a hobby of mine and I am learning as I go. I actually got my router that I am using now for free...which is why i am using it. And also, I was initally more interested in the built in switch; that improved performance on my network SOOOOO much. I was originally just going to replace my hub with a switch, still thinking that I was gonna need to have a server. but then I started figuring out my router by playing with the setting and reading the manual and I just decided to go that route. I dunno...the proxy software is a good idea...but I almost think that I, personally with my home n.work, am glad that I have the router. My dad and brother...who also have pc's on the network, are not at all as knowledgeable about pc's as I am and have a tendency to mess up settings easily. Maybe that wouldn't ever be a problem...but having additional proxy software might prove to be not a good move for me. I dunnno...I am pleased with the router and I don't think that they are TOO expensive. Of course, I got mine for free... Is how you have explained it in this tread how you have your home network set up? What proxy programs do you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCanr2d2 Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 I don't have a home network, just describing it from what seems like a logical way to set it up. A Router doesn't have a built in switch - it is a step further up in "smartness" in reading network packets and knowing where to send them. A router uses the IP address to know where to send things, which is a step up from the MAC address a switch uses. Well, a free router is pretty cheap!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbydrmmr Posted June 29, 2002 Author Share Posted June 29, 2002 Oh excellent...thanks for the info, I do appreciate it. By the way, my printer sharing problems are no more...it was an OS thing and nothing to do with the router really:p Oh well, at least I got some good feedback and info from the thread. So routers that say they have built in switches really have a different thing that is a step up from a switch kinda, right? I have another question for you too, since you are I.T. man:D Like I said in earlier posts, I used to use a hub for my DSL internet sharing. It was fine at first, but I began to notice that soon, certain websites were un-accesable by anyone except for the server machine, which had the PPPoE software connection running on it. After awhile, I assumed that it was the hub causing the net bottleneck and that a switch, since it manages the data flow better, would solve the problem. My Linksys Router solved that problem and I assumed it was because of the "switch" that is built-in. Do you think you can come up with a possible explanation using my info I have given you? I would like to learn for the future...this stuff is neat:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCanr2d2 Posted June 29, 2002 Share Posted June 29, 2002 Not sure of what the problem was that you had, never have really experienced hubs too often. In a business environment, rarely is a hub good enough. Sounds like the other PC's got thrown off in times of congestion as to what information they were receiving. After all, a hub just broadcasts to all things connected to it, and hope one of the devices on the network gets the intended message. It's not something I have experienced. Let me clear up what a router does, it doesn't have a built in switch, but it is actually "smarter" than a switch, that by default it has the characteristics of a switch. There is a 7 layer model of networking, and what actually happens. A hub is one of the "dumbest" network devices - just gets a signal and broadcasts to everything. A switch knows the MAC address of each network device, basically it is the hardware device address, and assumes the network device connected is the intended recipient. It is basically a hardware way of verifying what message goes to what. The switch doesn't care for what protocol is used to connect the machines, since it is using a level below to work out what to do. This is where Ethernet is positioned to work at. It is a way to get whatever protocol around on the network. A router uses the IP address of what is connected to make sure the message has gone to the right device. This is now using the transport protocols to decide where to send the info. It makes sure the IP address, or IPX address is the correct one, which it keeps track of as well, like a switch does as well. So, a hub works at the bottom of the ladder, then a switch works on the next level up, and a bridge another step above that. There is a lot more to describe about the ins and outs of the whole networking setup. Not sure where to point you to find out more about it all. Some of my descriptions may also be incorrect since it is so long since I actually learnt, and studied the theory of networking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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