My switch doesnt work when connect >1 computer

hai,
i'm actually on the school dorm LAN where we have internet access through the LAN in every room. There are only 1 LAN port in my room , so i buy 3com switch to connect more than 1 pc.
The problem is that when i connect 1 computer to the switch all work find but when i connect the 2nd comp to the switch....all the connection is gone. The uplink connection also gone.

After that i have to reset the building router downstairs...the connection is up again but it go down again when i connect more than 1 computer to my switch. So anyone can help me plzzz...i really need to connect 2 computer to the switch.

p/s Plz ask me if you need more info

mmm interesting, one of the ways l think you could think of fixing is ... I am *hoping* you can put another ethernet card into your 1st computer, so the cable from your schools lan goes into 1st card then a second cabel goes from 2nd card to your switch, where the other computers then connect.

It sounds like your schools router will not give out more ip address's to your room so you get round it by doing what l said above...

Wouldn't a router work? I know I tried using a router in a UNCW's (North Carolina) dorm and it did not work. they have a webpage that first comes up requiring you to enter your student information before you can obtain an IP addresss....



but then again your idea of the 2 nics in the first pc sounds like it would work. but you would have to have the first pc on 24/7....which kinda sucks sometimes....

router is the way to go. ICS is just software routing. Hardware is a better way of going.

why would hardware be a different way, it may not work.... If it gives the first ip to the first machine the rest won't receive one because the first computer won't be the ones distributing ips it will be the router requiring more from the school router WHICH WILL NOT WORK as it wont issue any more, you have to do it with 2 ethernet cards, only way to go...
unless you could l dunno this is only a guess, buy a router then conenct another switch it could allow it but l am not sure.

*bang bang*........

Sounds like someone hasn't worked with routers before.

Anything you can do with software, that can be done with hardware, the hardware out performs the software. Plain and simple. So ICS will slow your computer down compared to a hardware router due to the additional overhead on the cpu, memory and mainboard resources. None of those effect a hardware router.

If you use a switch instead of a router you are stuck with a single ip address as provided by your ISP. And yes you won't get anymore from the schools router. This is where a router comes into play. You put that supplied address on the wan interface of the router. You configure the lan side of the router to PROVIDE AS MANY IP ADDRESSES AS YOU CAN PHYSICALLY CONNECT TO.

Here's an example. I have comcast internet at home. I have one ip address from comcast. BUT I have two wireless laptops and three pcs all connected to the internet at the same time. This works because of what I have described above.

Paul151990, your recommendation is to use one pc to act as a router for the 2nd pc. This is what ICS is all about. Software routing. You would have to have two nics in the primary machine. You would have to connect the 2nd pc to the first via a crossover cable. These two nics would need a different subnet range then that of the primary pcs nic connecting to the schools router. You then have to get ICS to "route" really bridge the two nic interfaces in the primary pc to get the 2nd pc on the internet via the primary pc.

Now which seems easier to you? I know I found hooking up a router MUCH quicker. In addition you can close ports and do much more with a hardware router.

To conclude you can't have multiple pcs on the lan using a switch. You can if you replace that switch with a router.

thanks for all the reply...i tried the one suggested by paul151990 coz router is to expensive for me. Everything work find now,and dont get any lack of performance in my pc.

But one thing bothered...is ICS is the same thing as a proxy server , and does the cache will pile up and fill up my harddisk.


p/s my comp up for 24/7

no it shouldn't pile up, if you are worried about that happening, get a program from www.versiontracker.com which will automatically erase your temp internet files + cache + cookeis every day or whatever...

Thx Paul and the others for ur time...

p/s Router is now on my wish list...

no problem, and if you want to go further and restrict other people from going on certain stuff get norton firewall