Network splitting

[Inuyasha5689]

Ok so I live in a dorm and just upgraded the internet here and the modem only has 1 ethernet port in the back, so I bought a Netgear / GS105V2 gigabit ethernet switch.  I installed the software and I have the ethernet cord going from the modem to the switch.  Then I have another cord that goes from the switch to my computer.  And this works just fine.  However my room mates xbox one will not recognize the internet/network.  It keeps saying that it can't reach the DHCP server.  And the switch was on DHCP mode, but it also said that its settings couldn't be edited because the modem and switch were not on the same subnet.  I eventually fixed this tho.  

 

So I need help figuring out why the switch won't let my room mates xbox one or laptop(with usb 3.0 ethernet adapter) won't recognize and connect to the internet.  It isn't the port because my computer will connect through any of the switches' ports.

[unijab]

Deco conflicts?

[brwainer]

Almost every time, the modem/ISP will only allow one device to connect through it to the internet at a time. You will need a router, not a switch.

[Inuyasha5689]

so I need a router in order to have multiple devices connect?  In theory if I had the 1 modem cord going into a router with 4 ports and 1 switch in each router port, would all 16 of those ports connect to the internet fine?

[Wombo]

so I need a router in order to have multiple devices connect?  In theory if I had the 1 modem cord going into a router with 4 ports and 1 switch in each router port, would all 16 of those ports connect to the internet fine?

Yes you need a Router.

 

Modem (modulator De-modulator) - what you need to connect to your ISP's local loop

Router - Routes BETWEEN networks

Switch - forwards frames WITHIN a network

 

That would work fine but you would have a lot of bottle necking on the link to your ISP. It would also be best to have the router acting as a DHCP server.

[Inuyasha5689]

Yes you need a Router.

 

Modem (modulator De-modulator) - what you need to connect to your ISP's local loop

Router - Routes BETWEEN networks

Switch - forwards frames WITHIN a network

 

That would work fine but you would have a lot of bottle necking on the link to your ISP. It would also be best to have the router acting as a DHCP server.

And how would I do that? Isn't that done automatically?  I've never had to do that before when connecting multiple things to a router via wire

[Wombo]

And how would I do that? Isn't that done automatically?  I've never had to do that before when connecting multiple things to a router via wire

Most consumer "routers" are actually what are called AIO's or SoHo Routers. These devices perform MANY networking functions which can include acting as a Modem, Router, Switch, Wireless AP, Firewall, and DHCP server. Using one of these types of devices should be enough for your network. If you need more ports, just add a standard unmanaged gigabit switch and you should be fine.

 

The basic Topology you are looking for would be something like:

ISP - modem (sometimes this is built into the SoHo routers provided by your ISP) - SoHo router/AIO -  (switch if needed) - end devices

[yzbd]

Reason why your computer is working: it is acting as a DHCP server (basically software router) and allowing the internet connection.

The Playstation can not do this, it needs to be given an IP address by a DHCP server (router). Just having a modem and a switch won't work.

 

Step 1) Buy a router and hook it up to the modem. The router will have extra ports to connect it to the PC and Playstation.

Step 2) Switch does not need to be hooked up if you only have two devices - they are only used to expand the ports on your router if there isn't enough. 

Step 3) Everything works. 

[brwainer]

Reason why your computer is working: it is acting as a DHCP server (basically software router) and allowing the internet connection.

The Playstation can not do this, it needs to be given an IP address by a DHCP server (router). Just having a modem and a switch won't work.

Step 1) Buy a router and hook it up to the modem. The router will have extra ports to connect it to the PC and Playstation.

Step 2) Switch does not need to be hooked up if you only have two devices - they are only used to expand the ports on your router if there isn't enough.

Step 3) Everything works.

Your first sentence can't be true in this case - even if his computer was acting as it's own DHCP server, it would still have to get an IP address from the ISP through the modem, or be configured with the static IP and default gateway that the ISP provided, in order to get online at all. So the issue really is that either the ISP only does static IP addresses, or they only allow one device to get an IP by DHCP per modem at a time (the latter is most common)

[yzbd]

Your first sentence can't be true in this case - even if his computer was acting as it's own DHCP server, it would still have to get an IP address from the ISP through the modem, or be configured with the static IP and default gateway that the ISP provided, in order to get online at all. So the issue really is that either the ISP only does static IP addresses, or they only allow one device to get an IP by DHCP per modem at a time (the latter is most common)

Sorry about that, you are correct -- just grabs the WAN IP address. I'm not sure what I was thinking when making that statement.