Manually Reconfiguring LAN: How-To

[Myssa Rei]

Welp, it looks like my laptops at home are unable to detect the internet connection we have at home despite being plugged to the same router that my desktop uses... Which makes it all the stranger, as I'm able to browse the internet right now with the desktop while it's connected to the router/hub (so it's sort of like modem => router/hub => desktop right now).

Looks like a manual configuration is in order... except it's been years since I've done this, so I need help.

[larethian]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

Welp, it looks like my laptops at home are unable to detect the internet connection we have at home despite being plugged to the same router that my desktop uses... Which makes it all the stranger, as I'm able to browse the internet right now with the desktop while it's connected to the router/hub (so it's sort of like modem => router/hub => desktop right now).

Looks like a manual configuration is in order... except it's been years since I've done this, so I need help.

First try restarting the router and modem.

If it doesn't work, check IP of laptops using "ipconfig /all" assuming you are using windows. You can do that by doing windows key + r and type 'cmd' enter to bring up console.
Check that laptops has an IP address and it falls within subnet range your router is configured to provide. If your netmask is 255.255.255.0, the first three set of numbers in your IP addresses should match the one on your desktop.

If you dont understand the output copy paste into forum if possible.

If laptops have correct IPs, try in console:
ping router IP or desktop IP to verify your network interface is up and running.
then
ping 8.8.8.8 or
ping 8.8.4.4.
To verify router is able to send your data outside of home network.

If you get replies from all pings but just unable to surf internet your laptops are not getting dns names resolved correctly (can be verified by ping www.google.com).

If you urgently need your laptop you can manually set dns servers to 8.8.8.8 (google how). Otherwise you can try fixing your dns issues, by googling or coming back here.

[Myssa Rei]

Okay, this is what I've found:

a) The IP address of the laptop does NOT fall within the subnet range, and the netmask is not 255.255.255. Instead, the latter is 255.255.224.0

b) Not only that, they don't match the default gateway at all (which is 49.144.61.1)

EDIT:

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mimi-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8040 Family PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-54-7C-B4-DB
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::a088:789f:afd2:72c9%24(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 119.94.85.75(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.224.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 19 March, 2015 12:41:43 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 19 March, 2015 1:41:42 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 119.94.64.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 119.94.64.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 167781460
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-18-8E-3D-26-00-24-54-7C-B4-DB
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 124.106.4.2
124.106.6.2
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : B2-82-FE-BC-48-0E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : B4-82-FE-51-D9-0C
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : B4-82-FE-BC-48-0E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{898A60A2-E7F2-403E-8628-F7CF01F91290}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter 6TO4 Adapter:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2002:775e:554b::775e:554b(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 124.106.4.2
124.106.6.2
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes


EDIT EDIT:

The default gateway has changed -- it now matches the default gateway I have on my PC, but it still can't browse the internet. It now shows as being connected to an unidentified network though.

[larethian]

What is Tunnel adapter 6TO4 Adapter?
Is it a virtual connection?
Try disabling that first. You should be able to see it in your "Network Connections" window and right-click then disable. I suspect you have installed something that created a virtual connection/adapter which is interfering with either your routing tables on your laptop or messing up something.

Also, I assume your router has IP=119.94.64.1. Because that's the DHCP server your laptop is querying through your ethernet interface, and after query, it should set your gateway and netmask correctly automatically. If your subnet mask is wrong, you will not be in the correct subnet and not be able to talk to your router properly.
Verify this from your desktop. You should be able to access your router page from the browser (google according to your router brand/model if you don't know).
You can also check the subnet mask configured inside your router. All machines and router should have the same subnet mask.


So after disabling Tunnel adapter 6TO4 Adapter, right click on "Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection", disable. Then re-enable.
Do "ipconfig /all" again, to check your address, netmask, gateway.

ping your router's IP to check.

[Myssa Rei]

This is a plug-and-play router though -- a DLink 8-port 10/1000 Desktop Switch. It should be 192.168.01.0, but when I punch that through a browser nothing happens.

Pinging that IP address on the laptop brings a "destination host unreachable" message too. Oh, but the Laptop is now able to see the LAN, and it says its connected to an unidentified network, but it can't actually browse anything. Using a browser just gives a "unable to connect to the internet" error.

Plus I don't even think it's possible to disable the Tunnel adapter 6TO4 Adapter, as it's nowhere in the device lists. As in, at all.

[speck123]

6to4 is to allow IPv6 packets over and IPv4 network.

So, your desktop is still working, right? What is its IP address?

[Myssa Rei]

The IP is 49.144.XX.X, while the IP on the laptop right now is 49.144.96.84

Default gateway for both is 49.144.96.1

[larethian]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

This is a plug-and-play router though -- a DLink 8-port 10/1000 Desktop Switch. It should be 192.168.01.0, but when I punch that through a browser nothing happens.

Pinging that IP address on the laptop brings a "destination host unreachable" message too. Oh, but the Laptop is now able to see the LAN, and it says its connected to an unidentified network, but it can't actually browse anything. Using a browser just gives a "unable to connect to the internet" error.

Plus I don't even think it's possible to disable the Tunnel adapter 6TO4 Adapter, as it's nowhere in the device lists. As in, at all.

Myssa, a switch is not a router but I'll spare you the technical details for now.
Do you know whether your modem is a pure modem or a modem/router? Does it have multiple ethernet ports / wifi support? You can verify from your service provider or check the model number on google.
Try this. Unplug your desktop, then plug in your laptop and see whether it works.
Because your switch is not a router, and if your modem is a pure modem, your provider probably only allows one IP to be assigned to you through the modem. If after unplugging your desktop and plugging in your laptop works (you can also reboot your modem just to make sure), then it means you need to get a real router and not a switch.

[Myssa Rei]

Yep, plugged the modem directly to the laptop, and it works. So it looks like I have a switch and not a router.

With that aside, now what?

[larethian]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

Yep, plugged the modem directly to the laptop, and it works. So it looks like I have a switch and not a router.

With that aside, now what?

If you want to connect multiple devices in your home to the internet, you need to buy a real router.

What a switch does is merely to extend the physical connections of a network. Normally, the DHCP server on this network will then assign IP addresses to each device. The network you connect through the modem is your service provider's network which in turn connects you to the world wide web. But your service provider's servers are configured to provide your residential point with only 1 IP address. Thus, even if you extend the number of physical connections, and have multiple devices sitting on this network, you will only get 1 valid IP.

A router on the other hand serves as a network partitioning device. It does this by creating a separate network (a subnet) and connects it to another network. In this case, you use a router to create a home LAN and all devices will go through your router to connect to the service provider's network which will in turn link you to the WWW. The service provider gives the IP to the router and sees only the router, ie. only 1 device. Within your home LAN, you can define any kind of IP format range depending on how you configure your router. The devices on your home LAN have unique IP addresses to differentiate themselves from one another (either by static configuration or by DHCP from the router's DHCP server, the later being recommended) on the LAN only and not from the external world. The service provider and also WWW does not care about your internal subnet device IPs and they are invisible to them anyway. Your router is smart enough to route your traffic between the WWW and each LAN device correctly.

So, in short, buy a real router (not switches or hubs) and follow the instructions in the manual on how to set up your own home network.


As an additional note, if say your router has 4 ethernet ports and you have 6 devices that need to hook up to the router via ethernet cable, this is where you use the switch to extend the physical connections of the router.

[Myssa Rei]

It's a good thing I was still within the return period for the Switch, so I turned it in for an actual router with both ethernet and wireless functions (for the laptops)... And looks like it solved the issue.

Thanks for setting me straight on the differences between switches and routers. Now I'll have to pray that the router survives my baby nephew's rampages through the house. ^^;

[SeijiSensei]

If you have a house with a second floor, you might want to put the router up on a high location. Mine sits on the top of a large filing cabinet. Keeps it away from the nephew, too!