Idunno3
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Dumbfounded. Network/switching question
Ok, so I am dumbfounded after doing a network install with my boss today. Basically we started at the demarc point which was installed by the ISP a Ciena 311e. We connected a Netgear NETGEAR FVS318 VPN to it and alottted over an adequate amount of DHCP addresses from the 192.168.0 pool.
Here comes the crazy part, we were working with Cisco SF 100d 16 port dumb switches attempting to interconnect cabling for a building with 5 floors and about 24ish users per floor.
We put in 2 16-port Cisco SF 100d switches per floor and linked the switches together as well as plugged in all the connections from the patch panels. We did that each for each floor.
And then comes the strange part, floor 1 and 2 work flawlessly assigning an IP from the DHCP of Netgear almost immediately. Floors 3, 4, 5 though did not... Assigning a manual IP as well as as the DNS provided by the ISP worked, but slowly. DHCP did not. By slowly I mean me plugging into the dumb switch and pinging the gateway or outside world and losing roughly around 30-70% of my packets.
The cabling was already installed and we tested all of them to make sure they were crossovers, except for the straight-through connecting our Netgear VPN to the Ciena router. Each floor had a cable going back to the Demarc point which, when plugged directly into a host would fetch a DHCP right away. Floors 1 & 2 would do that with any of the switch ports. Floors 3, 4, and 5 with the switches involved however, would not work with DHCP and with a manually assigned IP would have about a 30-60% packet drop rate.
I'm completely stumped here as I've never even seen a Ciena router or worked with dumbswitches. Please help me!
Here comes the crazy part, we were working with Cisco SF 100d 16 port dumb switches attempting to interconnect cabling for a building with 5 floors and about 24ish users per floor.
We put in 2 16-port Cisco SF 100d switches per floor and linked the switches together as well as plugged in all the connections from the patch panels. We did that each for each floor.
And then comes the strange part, floor 1 and 2 work flawlessly assigning an IP from the DHCP of Netgear almost immediately. Floors 3, 4, 5 though did not... Assigning a manual IP as well as as the DNS provided by the ISP worked, but slowly. DHCP did not. By slowly I mean me plugging into the dumb switch and pinging the gateway or outside world and losing roughly around 30-70% of my packets.
The cabling was already installed and we tested all of them to make sure they were crossovers, except for the straight-through connecting our Netgear VPN to the Ciena router. Each floor had a cable going back to the Demarc point which, when plugged directly into a host would fetch a DHCP right away. Floors 1 & 2 would do that with any of the switch ports. Floors 3, 4, and 5 with the switches involved however, would not work with DHCP and with a manually assigned IP would have about a 30-60% packet drop rate.
I'm completely stumped here as I've never even seen a Ciena router or worked with dumbswitches. Please help me!
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Thanks for the feedback guys..... after endless hours of pulling switches and cables, turns out our Netgear VPN/Firewall switch thinger was the point of failure... still doesn't make sense, but replacing it with a different brand one seemed to correct everything.
GSMartin, I know our setup is not ideal, but our customer seemed to want the cheapest route possible. I'd hate to live in that building, as it only has a 100MB metroethernet connection as well as a non-ideal core switch.
GSMartin, I know our setup is not ideal, but our customer seemed to want the cheapest route possible. I'd hate to live in that building, as it only has a 100MB metroethernet connection as well as a non-ideal core switch.
No worries. Sometimes it's difficult to sell non IT people on the differences of Enterprise vs consumer grade hardware. Typically, they can't comprehend the features and benefits inline with the higher cost. Therefore, not every situation is going to allow for an ideal network configuration.
Anyway, glad to hear you resolved your issue.
Anyway, glad to hear you resolved your issue.
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Student-Network-Diagram.pdf