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I recently got another switch and connected it in living room to be able to hard wire in more devices. When I connect the second switch I lost internet on all devices. Both switches are connected to wall panels which are connected back into the router via a network panel in a closet.

This is my current network setup:

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Before having this setup, the Steam Link was hardwired into the wall port and the PS4 and Smart TV were connected via wi-fi coming from a second router that was connected to the office switch. The router that gets the fiber connection has its wi-fi mode turned off and just serves to provide the fiber to the other rooms.

All of the ports on both switches light up green like they are receiving traffic but I'm getting no internet access. As soon as I unplug the switch in the living room internet access returns. Any ideas as to what could be causing the problem?

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    Are these simply unmanaged switches? Or managed one with 'optional features' (like reachably by its own IP, which might accidentally be the same IP as your gateway). If unmanaged: What is the output of ifconfig/ipconfig before and after. Can you ping your router before plugging in? Can you ping after plugging in the second switch? Etc
    – Hennes
    Jan 5, 2018 at 15:51
  • Both switches are Netgear Prosafe GS108s. One is a brand new one and the other seems to be an older version that was provided by my ISP. When running ipconfig on my gaming pc connected to the original switch there is no change in the ipconfig. I can ping after plugging in the second switch, but am not able to access websites. I get the 'Server not Found' error in the browser, and the PS4 is able to obtain the ip address but not connect to the internet.
    – lpbearden
    Jan 5, 2018 at 17:05
  • Maybe it is only DNS that is not working. if you can pin 8.8.8.8 then you can be prettt sure that internet works but dns might be problem.
    – Sampo Sarrala - codidact.org
    Jan 5, 2018 at 17:36
  • So I can ping 8.8.8.8 successfully 9 times out of 10. Testing it a few times sometimes one of the requests would time out. All of this is with the second switch plugged in and not being able to access the internet. I am able to access as soon as the other switch is unplugged.
    – lpbearden
    Jan 5, 2018 at 17:56

1 Answer 1

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Since the switches are unmanaged, VLAN problems or other configuration issues can be ruled out. A link issue (MDI-X to MDI-X without crossover) also seems unlikely - at least the GS108 supports Auto MDI-X and the link LEDs turn on

This leaves two major possibilites:

  1. the switch is faulty - test it offline just between two devices using alternating ports
  2. there's a loop on the switch, causing a broadcast storm, and interrupting the network

Edit: With the switch confirmed working and a loop being ruled out you need to make a more thorough survey of the connections. Usually, the activity LEDs should only indicate very low traffic levels. If you see a sudden increase when connecting one of the devices then something is wrong with that device.

Another possibility is a configuration collision with one of the devices and the router. Try connecting the otherwise empty switch and then connect the devices one by one, checking Internet connectivity each time and waiting a few minutes for problems to come up.

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  • I was able to connect two devices via the switch and ping them. So I don't believe the switch is faulty. I'm thinking it might be a loop with the fiber coming in going to the router, then the router plugging in both of the rooms. How would I solve that though? There's not possible way to connect the switches to each other outside of running a cable across multiple rooms.
    – lpbearden
    Jan 7, 2018 at 18:11
  • A bridge loop requires a closed loop between (any) two switch ports. If there is only a single connection between each switch and the router (with supposedly switched ports), no connection between the switches and no cable loop on any switch (or the router), then there can be no loop.
    – Zac67
    Jan 7, 2018 at 20:28
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    I figured out the issue, sorry for such a late reply. The issue was the cable box that was wired in, was also connected via wifi, creating a loop.
    – lpbearden
    Apr 24, 2018 at 14:28

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