Virgin - Network - IP Addresses... HELP!!!

intense33

Hi all,

Please help if you can... I am pulling my hair out.

I have just had a virgin (NTL) line installed in my office (I have circa 8 computers)... they installed a modem and then left.

For information I previously was on a BT Contract and used a BT Wireless router/hub.

I also use an external harddrive/networked attached storage (NAS) unit (which I have already disabled the IP address on).

I also have a big printer which is networked and a big plotter... I am sure these have MAC addresses but not an IP address...

Ok - so, I plugged the modem into the non-wireless cabled router, plugged 3 x 8 port switches into the modem and the internet worked on all computers... after some switching on and rebouting... this was good news.

I then plugged in the storage device (the NAS) and the internet went down... on all computers...

On the network I could see the computers that were connected but not the Storage unit and my file sharing had been removed on another computer we use as a shared folder. So I removed the IP address on the NAS and changed to automatic config... then rebooted everything...

In a nutshell - I do not have internet, but I have got my shared network storage drive working... the shared computer that we all use cannot be accessed over the network and I have no internet...

Someone told me this was an IP address issue? I deleted the IP addresses that the current comps had installed and then rebooted everything but this didnt work... still no internet or storage device.

The only way I get the networked storage is if I unplug the modem...? By the way, I now cant get the internet at all... I have plugged a comp directly to the modem, nothing... I rang virgin and they said the service was fine, no faults...

Oh - do I have to set the network router and storage device to DCHP? What will this achieve?

Please help...

I am out of my depth as this isnt my field of expertise, so please make this as simple as possible for an idiot like me to understand...

Chris

chunter

Can you go to the router and list what ip each device has?

Oh and Yes, make the NAS DHCP.
Not the router. The actual router address can't be anything other than fixed.
But on the router, switch the DHCP server on.

intense33

Hi Chunter - On the Router it lists 4 x client IP's, you can programme the router to do other things but it is too complicated for me I am afraid.

I will try the other things tomorrow (i had to work from home because of the internet problem...)

I think the NAS is DHCP already, I disabled the IP though(?)

I think I tried this combo on Wed but still it didnt work? Should I reset all my IP's on my comps? Should I bite the bullet and call in a pro?

Little_John

Without knowing exactly what you have it can be difficult to work this out but I will have a go.

The virgin modem a small blue box?
The router which one is it and how is it configured? is it set as a DHCP (automatic ip address) server so it issues ip addresses to anything that is configured to ask for them when connected to your network? You can only have 1 DHCP server on a network so don't configure anything else as a DHCP server the NAS is the only other thing that may have this feature

It isn't advised to have equipment with static IP addresses while running a DHCP server as well but you can if it is configured correctly to prevent duplicate IP addresses.

My tip would be configure DHCP on the router, set it to have a range say 192.168.0.10 up to 192.168.0.250. This gives you a few IP addresses that you can set manually which is what you need to do for the printers and NAS having them on DHCP can result in their IP addresses changing when you reboot the DHCP server and other equipment on the network.

Static IP addresses to set
So the router address 192.168.0.1
NAS 192.168.0.2
Printer 192.168.0.3
Plotter 192.168.0.4
Your pc's will pick up from 10 leaving you with 5 spare static addresses for the future. If you have the printer and NAS on dynamic (DHCP) then one day it could be 192.168.0.10 the next reboot it could be on 192.168.0.19 as you rebooted your PC's before the NAS. the result is you would loose access to it via IP addressing, if your using network names then it isn't a problem but that can have other problems so IP access is much more reliable when it comes to configuring network devices.

The little blue boxes log mac addresses, each time they are switched on so if your router is the device that connects to the net you need to reboot the modem if you connect a pc to it before it will work.

The way I would get this working
Disconnect everything
configure the router as above
connect the modem to it and reboot the modem then the router
connect 1 PC using DHCP
connect the NAS hopefully it is currently set to DHCP so will get ip address of 192.168.0.11 reconfigure that to the ip address above
connect your printers one at a time it will get ip address 192.168.0.12 and 192.168.0.13 reconfigure them to what I said above.
Now you can connect your PC's and they will get what ever IP addresses they get they don't matter. Then modify any ports for the printers and mapped drives to the NAS on all the PC's and away you go.

intense33

Thanks John, I will try all of that tomorrow... fingers crossed...

Since starting a business I have learnt how to make off RJ45 Ends on CAT5 cable, all about routers etc... I am big style out of my comfort zone...

I will endevour to let you know the out come..

Little_John

if your local to Bolton let me know I will give you a hand

intense33

Cheers for the offer, but I am in London... unfortunately

PROLIANT

You can not have more than one DHCP server on the same subnet i.e you can only have one DHCP server on your internal network, if you are using your router do give out IP Addresses then you need to make sure you have got DNS Forwarders setup up for the Virgin DNS Servers or you will not be able to resolve internet names outside of your LAN,
if you have a static IP address or if you have a Dynamic (DHCP) WAN/Internet IP address from Virgin then the router should be set to obtain this information from Virgin Media.
Make sure DHCP is turned off on the NAS because some NAS actually have a DHCP server built in as well as the option for the NAS to get a DHCP assigned IP address.
If you have another DHCP server i.e a Windows Server on your LAN then make sure DNS is setup correctly.

amcluesent

All networked equipment has a MAC address and an IP address.

At a guess you either have conflicting DHCP services or a loop in the network. Using basic kit, your network need to fan out like the roots from the base of a tree. For example

MODEM connected to WAN link of Router
Uplink port of switches connected to the 4 LAN ports on the router
All PCs, plotters, NAS etc. plugged into the switch ports.

Why not pay someone to sort you out, I assume this is for a business and you can expense it against tax? Thinking that BT advert with Gordon Ramsey using a carving knife to try and open the case of a PC...

exup

amcluesent wrote: »

All networked equipment has a MAC address and an IP address.

At a guess you either have conflicting DHCP services or a loop in the network. Using basic kit, your network need to fan out like the roots from the base of a tree. For example

MODEM connected to WAN link of Router
Uplink port of switches connected to the 4 LAN ports on the router
All PCs, plotters, NAS etc. plugged into the switch ports.

Why not pay someone to sort you out, I assume this is for a business and you can expense it against tax? Thinking that BT advert with Gordon Ramsey using a carving knife to try and open the case of a PC...

MAC addresses (sometimes called layer 2 addresses) may be used by switches and hubs without the need for IP addresses - as data may not go from on LAN to another (via a router) there may be no need for an IP address.(layer 3 address)

The router you have may actually be a combined router with 4 port switch - if this isthe case then you may be able to plug in your devices directly without the need for switches.

(Could you post the make and model of the router please?)

Try plugging your main PC/laptop into the router directly, also the NAS should be directly connected to the router - with the NAS using DHCP - IP enabled.
Don't worry about plugging anything else in right now - just see if you can get the PC to connect to the internet via the router and also see the NAS .