Need help adding a switch to my network.

[Bladst]

Good afternoon,

 

I am having issues adding a switch to my network at my office. I currently have my set up as Modem to the firewall (ubiquiti unifi security gate) to my switch (netgear gs 105) then the switch has one port going to my desktop, one to my security dvr, and one going to my access point (ubiquiti unifi uap-ac-pro-us). My Point-of-Sale needs a switch in my showroom. My network equipment is in my back office. The switch that came with my PoS package was a TP-link 8-port cable/DSL router. I ran a 75 foot cat6 cable through the ceiling from the netgear switch to the showroom. There I connected to the Tp-link switch. Once I did all my other connections stopped working. When I ran the troubleshooter through a desktop I have on wifi it says there is a DNS error. I do have a static IP through my ISP so I can monitor my security off site. Is the 8-port router conflicting with my other set up? Do I need a different switch for the showroom? Is there a way to may the 8-port router work as just a bridge? I am not an expert when it comes to networking, It took hours just to add the firewall in because I thought it was a switch. Looking for any and all help or explanation on what is going on.

 

Thank you

[Mira Yurizaki]

I'm not much of an expert either, but from what I understand... A switch is more or less a multiplexer. It's designed to allow multiple end devices share a single port on a router.

 

What you're supposed to do is Modem <-> Firewall <-> Router <-> Switch.

 

This might be a good read: http://www.diffen.com/difference/Router_vs_Switch

[Bladst]

1 minute ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I'm not much of an expert either, but from what I understand... A switch is more or less a multiplexer. It's designed to allow multiple end devices share a single port on a router.

 

What you're supposed to do is Modem <-> Firewall <-> Router <-> Switch.

So the router they sent doesn't work as a switch and I should get a switch instead?

[Mira Yurizaki]

6 minutes ago, Bladst said:

So the router they sent doesn't work as a switch and I should get a switch instead?

Well this is where things get complicated.

 

If you need a basic LAN only network, then you might be able to use a switch. However, if you need those devices to access the internet, you need a router.

 

EDIT: I'm flubbing words here. Most routers create a LAN anyway, and thus act as switches. They just have extra stuff to be able to talk to other networks (i.e., the Internet)

[Bladst]

46 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Well this is where things get complicated.

 

If you need a basic LAN only network, then you might be able to use a switch. However, if you need those devices to access the internet, you need a router.

 

EDIT: I'm flubbing words here. Most routers create a LAN anyway, and thus act as switches. They just have extra stuff to be able to talk to other networks (i.e., the Internet)

so can I disable that extra stuff? All i want is for it to act exclusively as a switch. I feel as though it is trying to take over as the main router.

[Mira Yurizaki]

4 minutes ago, Bladst said:

so can I disable that extra stuff? All i want is for it to act exclusively as a switch. I feel as though it is trying to take over as the main router.

Don't connect it to the internet then.

[Bladst]

35 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Don't connect it to the internet then.

Have any suggestions on how to get a wired connection three rooms away without it?

[Mira Yurizaki]

I think I'm confusing myself and making you confused, after re-reading your OP.

 

You're supposed to connect your stuff in the way I described earlier: Modem <-> Firewall <-> Router <-> Switch. This is if you need all your devices connected on a LAN and be able to access the internet. This is my setup at home, minus the firewall.

 

If you're trying to create two separate networks that can talk to each other, that's beyond my scope of knowledge (a cursory look at switches suggests some more advanced ones can setup VLANs for this purpose or something). But if its for security reasons, they should be air-gapped anyway.

[Bladst]

2 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I think I'm confusing myself and making you confused, after re-reading your OP.

 

You're supposed to connect your stuff in the way I described earlier: Modem <-> Firewall <-> Router <-> Switch. This is if you need all your devices connected on a LAN and be able to access the internet. This is my setup at home, minus the firewall.

 

If you're trying to create two separate networks that can talk to each other, that's beyond my scope of knowledge (a cursory look at switches suggests some more advanced ones can setup VLANs for this purpose or something). But if its for security reasons, they should be air-gapped anyway.

I solved it. It was because the item my PoS sent with tier set up was a router NOT a switch. I turned off my wifi on one of my desktops. I hooked the "router" from them to the desktop by lan with nothing in the wan port. I logged into the browser set up. disabled DHCP and added a static IP different then everything else. I then took the Lan from my switch in my office and connected it to the new switch ( the router but I turned off the DHCP which means it isnt trying to grab anything anymore) into a lan port ignoring the Wan port. Then I took another lan into the pc and all is well now, Wifi works and all of it. So thanks for the support man!

[tt2468]

On 2/3/2017 at 2:47 PM, Bladst said:

I solved it. It was because the item my PoS sent with tier set up was a router NOT a switch. I turned off my wifi on one of my desktops. I hooked the "router" from them to the desktop by lan with nothing in the wan port. I logged into the browser set up. disabled DHCP and added a static IP different then everything else. I then took the Lan from my switch in my office and connected it to the new switch ( the router but I turned off the DHCP which means it isnt trying to grab anything anymore) into a lan port ignoring the Wan port. Then I took another lan into the pc and all is well now, Wifi works and all of it. So thanks for the support man!

If it has an "AP Mode", you can use that, which basically turns the thing into a switch.