Duchess Jack Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Alright - I have a pretty ghetto setup. I have DLS going to a wired router (with single phone line in and single ethernet cable out) and I have that ethernet cable hooked up to another wired router/modem(?) that feeds two 360s and computers in my basement and a computer on my main floor. I know there is likely a better way for me to be doing this - especially since I am rolling with an ungodly amount of cable - but this setup had been fast enough at one time. Here is the issue - the computers on this network (all three) have terrible connections. They just blank out and have "no" connection more often then they have a connection. The 360s however never have problems. There have been a couple times where I have unplugged everything and plugged it back in and all the computers moved really well, but that does not work any more. I had to do something to my NAT to play on xbox that kept me from connecting to certain people. I also had to change things so one of the modems is a "bridge" modem. I guess what I am wondering is - is there software that I can load on all three PCs that would set up and manage this network for me? Somethingt hat would pick all the right settings automatically to stop this timing out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Couple of questions. First, what is the distance between the computers and the second router/modem? There is a finite limit on the length of cable runs although I doubt your reaching it (300+ feet) I gotta ask. Second, why would you use a second router when a switch would work better? A router is deigned to connect one network to another, routing traffic from your network out to the internet and vice versa. A switch does just what its name implies, switching packets from one cable to another on the same network. I would suggest just replacing the second router with a switch and seeing if that doesn't clear up some of the issues. It will certainly simplify administration in the long run for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duchess Jack Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 Its long. I think the one that runs upstairs is 25+ feet. I know that they are too long, but I didn't have many options at the time. It has worked in the past howerver. The first in the chain is from embarq - Zyxel EQ-660R The second is a Dlink EBR2310. For all I know if could be a switch. I know I bought a switch thinking that it was a modem a while back but I stopped using it because it sounded like (by the name switch) that you could only have one thing going at a time. Silly, I am sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duchess Jack Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 I also find it curious that my xboxes don't suffer the same outages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrobn26 Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 A couple of questions: Where is the modem? The 300' max I think is total hookups and not 300' for each feed. so 300/4=75' each max.. I never saw 2 routers hooked up in series in a home. It could be they are fighting for IP's. Try switching the 360's w/ a computer and see if works better. Check this out: http://portforward.com/english/routers/por...0R/Echolink.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 They are definitely both routers and 25 feet is not too long of a cable run at all. Here's a page that talks about issues with the Zyxel. It is probably worth checking out your firmware load on the device. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duchess Jack Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 (edited) thanks guys. I may still have the switch I had bough a while back, so I will give a peak for it. There were definately issues with the two boxes/routers communicating and fighting each other. I did some reading on it and found out how to turn one of them into a bridge modem and that solved "some problems". I also had to go into both of the modems to stop "NAT" (?) problems I was having on 360. The strange thing is that my one xbox stop having the NAT problems and then the other started. Its not a problem with getting online, but its does prevent me from hooking up with certain people. Weird. So riddle me this: Can I hook any modem up to any phone line in my house if I have DSL or does it have to be a modem from the company. The hookup I have is from when I had cable and that is why it starts from the single modem in the basement. This could solve a lot of probems. I clearly need to fix all the above . I mentioned a program that could make sure things hit on all cylinders in the first post. I seem to recall downloading one from download.com a while back. Am I imagining things? Is there such a thing and if there is, are they a helpful tool for the clueless? Thanks again for all the help guys. I honestly cannot tell you how long I have been dealing with this and how much time in total I have lost over that span while hitting refresh. I will give this a read and get back to you. Edited September 12, 2011 by Duchess Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 The 300' max I think is total hookups and not 300' for each feed. so 300/4=75' each max.. The 300 feet (actually 100 meters, so 318 feet) is for each run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 thanks guys. I may still have the switch I had bough a while back, so I will give a peak for it. There were definately issues with the two boxes/routers communicating and fighting each other. I did some reading on it and found out how to turn one of them into a bridge modem and that solved "some problems". I also had to go into both of the modems to stop "NAT" (?) problems I was having on 360. The strange thing is that my one xbox stop having the NAT problems and then the other started. Its not a problem with getting online, but its does prevent me from hooking up with certain people. Weird. So riddle me this: Can I hook any modem up to any phone line in my house if I have DSL or does it have to be a modem from the company. The hookup I have is from when I had cable and that is why it starts from the single modem in the basement. This could solve a lot of probems. I clearly need to fix all the above . I mentioned a program that could make sure things hit on all cylinders in the first post. I seem to recall downloading one from download.com a while back. Am I imagining things? Is there such a thing and if there is, are they a helpful tool for the clueless? Thanks again for all the help guys. I honestly cannot tell you how long I have been dealing with this and how much time in total I have lost over that span while hitting refresh. I will give this a read and get back to you. FWIW, you do not need to download any software to the computers. They already have everything needed to successfully network. Any additional software is not going to make things easier, it will just add an additional thing to configure. You shouldn't need more than one DSL modem. You'd have to check, but I'm pretty sure that having a second one will cause more problems than it would fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 The 300 feet (actually 100 meters, so 318 feet) is for each run. 328 feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 328 feet. Yep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrobn26 Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Yep. I thought it was a series connection, not parallel. I wasn't sure. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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