Forum Discussion

johndon1968's avatar
johndon1968
Joining in
12 months ago

Issues with Ethernet Connections and Switches (unmanged)

Up until yesterday morning, I had BT Broadband with the router connected to a 16 port network switch which then ran to other locations and switches (all 1gbps capable) round the house. No problems at all with this setup, connection was always rock solid but I could only get 17mbps from BT.

Upgraded to Virgin yesterday for a 1000mbps internet connection and, since then, the wired LAN has been an absolute nightmare. All WiFi devices (phones, echo dots, Nest doorbell and camera) are working perfectly but wired devices simply aren't connecting to the internet.

As of right now, I have a single device switched on, an Xbox Series X. If I connect it directly to the router via an ethernet cable there are no problems at all but, as soon as I connect the router to a network switch then connect the Xbox to that, the Xbox either cannot connect to the internet and also complains about UPNP not being enabled (it is enabled on the router).

The same is true with my PC which, again, was rock solid when the BT Router was in use, connected via the switch to the router I continually get 'No Internet Connection' when checking the status of the network although the PC can see other devices on the network if they are connected.  If I connect the PC directly to the router, it also works perfectly again, the problem only exists if I go through a switch first.

I've tried two different switches (both of which were absolutely fine connected to the BT router) with the same result. Obviously, everything has been rebooted multiple times and this is now driving me up the wall...

Any ides would be appreciated.

John

  • carl_pearce's avatar
    carl_pearce
    12 months ago

    I would suggest the following:

    • Disconnect all wired devices from the switch.
    • Connection one wired device, and manually assign an IP address, 192.168.0.5 for example, and the subnet of 255.255.255.0 (Follow manual as below).

    If you can access the switch on 192.168.0.1 you know the reason for the issue!

    Here's a link to the full manual to guide you through changing the IP address, as Roger mentioned above (Page 19/20 of the pdf, or 11/12 in the document itself), or even set it to DHCP so it will acquire an IP address from the HUB 5 itself.

  • legacy1's avatar
    legacy1
    Alessandro Volta
    12 months ago

    Get your own router with 1Gb ports and put hub in modem mode

      • asim18's avatar
        asim18
        Rising star
        12 months ago

        Yes, you shouldn't need to... because VM "should" be providing people with a seperate Modem, and a seperate "off the shelf" router produced by a proper router manufacturer (preferably chinese/taiwanese) with a proper firmware. (It would actually be cheaper for VM as they are basically forcing themselves to pay unqualified coders to produce bad firmware, patches, updates etc., if they used off the shelf routers, they would save a lot of money and hassle and engineer appointments replacing dodgy Hubs!)

        Unfortunately VM changed this in 2010 when they banned the standalone modems, now fast forward to 2024 and they've completely removed the ability to use proper networking equipment as they have banned modem mode on their latest 5x routers too. VM is going backwards unfortunately.

         

        Have you restarted the switch? Try to leave the switch unplugged for a few mins then plug it back in, as the switch may still have things stored from the old BT router.

    • johndon1968's avatar
      johndon1968
      Joining in
      12 months ago

      Yes, tried 2 cables both of which I know work as I can use them to connect the XBOB directly to the hub.

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    12 months ago

    Rebooting may not be enough.

    It is critical to totally clear down the BT Internet view of the LAN from all the network switches and from all the LAN cable connected devices.

    1) Turn off all the network switches also turn off all the kit that is connected via a network cable.
    2) Turn on the network switches
    3) Turn on the devices

    Now your devices should migrate to the DHCP service of the Virgin Media Hub i.e. be using a 192.168.0.xxx IP.

  • johndon1968's avatar
    johndon1968
    Joining in
    12 months ago

    To add to the above, the XBOX has been reconnected to the switch and it too is unable to get an internet connection.

    • carl_pearce's avatar
      carl_pearce
      Community elder
      12 months ago

      Looking at the manual it appears it's a managed switch that uses a default IP address of 192.168.0.1, which is the same as the HUB 5!

      You'll need to change the IP address so it doesn't conflict (BT would have been fine as they use a different IP range (192.168.1.x).

  • Roger_Gooner's avatar
    Roger_Gooner
    Alessandro Volta
    12 months ago

    Problem is that this is a managed switch which needs an IP address. You can disable DHCP and set the IP address to something like 192.168.0.8 (which is outside the hub's DHCP reservation range which starts at 192.168.0.10). However in most cases just enable DHCP and it should get its IP address automatically.

    Edited to add that the hub's DHCP reservation range ends at 192.168.0.245, so you can also use addresses ending in .246 to .254.

  • johndon1968's avatar
    johndon1968
    Joining in
    12 months ago

    Thanks for the both of you, I will admit I was completely unaware of the fact that the switch was a managed one!

    I'll give the suggestions a go and let you know what happens...

    • carl_pearce's avatar
      carl_pearce
      Community elder
      12 months ago

      I would suggest the following:

      • Disconnect all wired devices from the switch.
      • Connection one wired device, and manually assign an IP address, 192.168.0.5 for example, and the subnet of 255.255.255.0 (Follow manual as below).

      If you can access the switch on 192.168.0.1 you know the reason for the issue!

      Here's a link to the full manual to guide you through changing the IP address, as Roger mentioned above (Page 19/20 of the pdf, or 11/12 in the document itself), or even set it to DHCP so it will acquire an IP address from the HUB 5 itself.

  • johndon1968's avatar
    johndon1968
    Joining in
    12 months ago

    My sincere thanks again to all who responded and my apologies again, I genuinely had no idea it was a managed switch, I just installed it and it worked with the BT Router but now I know why ğŸ˜€

    Having changed the IP address to 192.168.1.8 I now have a stable wired network.  

    Next problem is that the network contains another one of the same switch (which I have disconnected for now) so next job is to figure out what IP address that is using but that'll be a job for tomorrow...