DIY Home network help

[Suntzu-Cenarius]

Yea, I'll probably try one to start then, I can always add on.

[Suntzu-Cenarius]

Update!

So, all lines ran, cat5e pure copper (got it for free, great price)

Went with the Ubiquiti wap, range is great, strong connections.

My problem though, I feel, is the switch. I am getting random spikes on my ping times, and even packet loss. Pinging Google or just my router. I've even bypassed my wall panel and ran straight to my switch and router. Only when going through switch does it occur.

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B...ilpage_o05_s02

TP-LINK TL-SG1024 10/100/1000Mbps 24-Port Gigabit 19-inch Rackmountable Switch, 48Gbps Capacity

(every time I edit, it goes back to the walmart one...


Is what I bought. ... should I just return it? Replace it with same model or get something else?

Thanks for everything!

[Vash The Stampede]

Could be the router and switch aren't playing nice. Remember the router is also a switch. Also make sure the wiring is good too.

[Suntzu-Cenarius]

Currently using the Motorola sbg6580 provided by my isp... only have the switch plugged into it.

[Vash The Stampede]

Do a simple test. Take a small Ethernet wire and plug router right next to the switch. You know, not using your homes wiring. Then see if your PC is dropping packets. If so a problem between router and switch. If not then double check your homes wiring.

[Suntzu-Cenarius]

Yea, I've ran multiple tests so far.

I've connected direction to the gateway modem, everything good to go there. (I can run tests directly from the modem to cmts, everything is great with my isp connection)

I've dropped down to 3 connections on the switch. PC1, PC2, and router.

Gave both PC static ip address, I can ping from pc1 to pc2, but not from pc2 to pc1. Both can access the internet.

I've power cycled everything, multiple times.

[Vash The Stampede]

Are you using stock settings or something like jumbo packets?

[Suntzu-Cenarius]

Purely stock. It is an unmanaged switch.

- - - Updated - - -

My tests so far.

I've isolated the network down to just two desktops and the modem/router combo.

I've tested between each connection, and even running the same Ethernet from the router to the switch into a laptop. The only time I experience packet loss is when going through the switch. I can ping from my desktop to the 192.168.0.1 and i have pings ranging from 1ms to 1100ms, and even packet loss. Only when going through the switch.

Then, a power cycle gets the switch back up and running (Where all pings go through at 1ms) but only for a short time.

Am I crazy in thinking I just got a bad switch? I've had issues with tp-link in the past, but trusted the 1200+ positive reviews on amazon and newegg.

Should I just replace and chalk it up to a bad batch? Or switch to a different brand?

[Vash The Stampede]

Bad switch or incompatibility between the switch and router. Like maybe the switch uses Realtek while the router may use a Broadcom chipset. Even though they're suppose to play nice, sometimes they don't.

[Daerio]

My problem though, I feel, is the switch. I am getting random spikes on my ping times, and even packet loss. Pinging Google or just my router. I've even bypassed my wall panel and ran straight to my switch and router. Only when going through switch does it occur.

In my experience you're describing collision, which can occur due to either a software incompatibility (or incorrect configuration) or faulty hardware.

Also in my experience, this is typically what happens to switches when they approach end of life. More and more collision resulting in packet loss, until the device gets decommissioned. Swapping the switch out is a very easy test/fix if you can manage it, obviously. Seems like a decent first step.

Am I crazy in thinking I just got a bad switch? I've had issues with tp-link in the past, but trusted the 1200+ positive reviews on amazon and newegg.

Average reviewer probably doesn't have a clue what random ping spikes look like, especially if they don't happen super often. Problem typically gets worse over time.

[Tradewind]

It's not collisions Switches don't do that. Every port on a switch is its own collision domain, it routes information to specific ports via its mac address table and a store and forward system. Collisions have not been a thing in modern networking technology since shit like token ring, hubs, repeaters and half-duplex links went out the door decades ago. As each port is its own collision domain the only way it would happen is if there's a mismatch (duplex) between the single port and the host nic but then its only limited to that link.

Switch is probably just straight up faulty. Faulty firmware, some part of the board not working right, such as its memory. Get it swapped out, or try a new brand. Probably just bad luck.