Modem that distributes dynamic ips?

Talrinys

Talrinys

Talrinys

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Denmark
So i recently made a stupid decision to get a Netgar GS605 switch to replace what i thought was my previous switch. Of course turned out that the old switch wasn't a switch, but a hub, which includes functionality to distribute IP's, which it does very well with 5 dynamic IP's from the ISP.
Now i really want to get this new switch working, as i want to use gigabit speeds and jumbo frames, but i'm not gonna touch a router with NAT.
Reason simply being that NAT doesn't work nicely, a pretty well known fact for anyone who has ever lived with a brother/sister who wanted to use the same game online, on the same server.
So is there anything at all i can do? I had it on my wireless router just to check it out, and it just passed on whatever IP's my router gave it, so i assume i need something before the switch to distribute IP's.
I was looking at this - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-059-LS&groupid=46&catid=115&subcat=418
It has an option to disable NAT, and it can function as a DHCP server, would it work?
 
Can you provide some more details about your internet connection as a lot of what you describe isn't making much sense.

Are you using cable or ADSL?

Also more details about your use of IPs as you seem to suggest that your ISP is providing multiple dynamic IPs which would be very unusual in the case of ADSL.

Also exactly what was the device that you replaced? (make and model)

Also as a side issue, NAT works just fine for multiple players on the same game unless you are playing some old or poorly coded games. I have 3 PCs here in the same room which are frequently used to play the same games on the same server
 
It sounds like the "hub" was actually a router in no-NAT mode, but as Teal said you're light on details - what was the device you replaced?
 
Well beside for the NAT issue i lost 6 mbit/s speed setting my switch up after my router, and that is absolutely unacceptable.

Yes i am indeed receiving multiple dynamic IP's, 6 of them, which yes is extremely unusual in many countries, but quite usual in Denmark, so i find it quite annoying that no equipment is made to support this.

I was replacing a Unex hub, i do not have the number or anything on it, all i know is that it had an uplink port and 5 fast ethernet ports, plugged the ADSL modem into the uplink and the computers into the ethernets and that worked perfectly, giving each of the computers one of the IP's.

I'm running ADSL2 20/1mbit using TDC(danish monopoly telecommunications company).
 
Oh yes, by the way :) :
Never had a router for anything else than wireless, don't believe in the performance hit simply, my wireless router currently sits after the hub, and supplies only my laptop, nothing else.
 
You may be better asking for help on a forum where other people use the same ISP.

However, it would be good to know the model number of the hub you replaced as it is not normal for a hub to have any functionality other than that of allowing the connected devices to talk to each other.

Are you sure it wasn't a router with a hub built in as Tolien suggests?

I would be inclined to put the old 'hub' back into use and then connect the PC's to the new switch and then the switch to the old hub and see if that works.

That should let you use GigE between your PCs and still let the old 'hub' distribute the dynamic IPs
 
Multiple public IPs aren't that unusual - I've got a /29 from Zen too...

Talrinys said:
don't believe in the performance hit simply
Click to expand...

Unless you use a crap router, there's no performance hit at all.

It sounds like your hub was an analog of the Linksys WRTs - 4 port "hub" and a WAN port for your modem, or it was the modem which was dishing out IPs rather than the "hub", and the modem was like the cable modems Virgin Media give out here, in which case using a switch shouldn't be an issue.

Have you tried speaking to your ISP's support about it?
 
No not yet, and i'll try putting the switch after the hub, but the hub only supports fast ethernet and i was gonna try to get everything to GigE since 100mbit speeds will be arriving here very soon.

I can't say if it's a router, i really doubt it since there is no administration functionality at all, and it says hub on the back, i'll find the product number later. Still counting on the linksys modem though, as long as it would be able to distribute the IP's i'd be fine?
 
A router is effectively a layer 3 switch (it routes packets based upon the IP addresses)... and as a switch it should be far more efficient than a hub... Which has no kind of intelligent routing facility and just sends the packets to every port on the hub.

Unless you need public IPs for every computer on your network, i'd stick with a single IP for your router/modem and use NAT.
 
Talrinys said:
Reason simply being that NAT doesn't work nicely, a pretty well known fact for anyone who has ever lived with a brother/sister who wanted to use the same game online, on the same server.
Click to expand...

sorry for going a bit off topic, but im curious as to what problems NAT has? i live with my 2 brothers, and weve played daoc, wow, halflife (and its mods), halflife 2 (and its mods) and many other games together and havnt noticed any problems with us playing together compared to playing on our own.
 
Talrinys said:
Still counting on the linksys modem though, as long as it would be able to distribute the IP's i'd be fine?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't expect it to give out any more than a single IP.

What happens when you connect the switch? The machines don't get IPs? What happens if you manually assign IP/subnet mask/default gateway et al?

Dist said:
sorry for going a bit off topic, but im curious as to what problems NAT has?
Click to expand...

Some servers don't like more than one user with the same IP.
 
Exactly, that's the problem, plus the fact that i lost 6mbit/sec by going through a router, which is another reason for trying to keep this setup.
Yep they simply don't get an IP if i plug the switch directly into the modem, which i suppose is what i should expect.
I haven't tried assigning my IP's, but it probably wouldn't work as IP's are switched around all the time here, and i have to set it up on 4 computers, i'm not at home a lot of the time, and i'd have to make my brother, and parents try to troubleshoot it over the phone, not nice :P

The reason i'm looking at the linksys modem specifically is that it has a DHCP server, and could work that way through the switch probably?
 
Talrinys said:
The reason i'm looking at the linksys modem specifically is that it has a DHCP server, and could work that way through the switch probably?
Click to expand...

That isn't going to do it, the DHCP server can only issue a range that you specify, it can't accept a number of dynamic IPs from your ISP and then distribute those.

This whole thing makes little sense that is why we are interested in the model number of the 'hub' you replaced.

One possibility is that your modem is configured in bridge mode and the 'router' is therefore effectively your ISPs front end.

That would explain how they distribute the dynamic IPs without a router at your end but it would not explain why swapping out the hub for a switch caused problems as that should still let the PCs see the DHCP server at your ISP.
 
That makes a lot of sense, seeing as if i do an ipconfig lookup the DHCP server is listed as (with the X'es being my current ip) x.x.x.1, so the bridge theory is probably correct. I have went back to the hub for now, and will probably just sell the switch and call my ISP when the time for GigE comes, too bad.
The explanation for the switch/hub thing i suppose, is simply that my hub has a port called "uplink" where i connect the modem, which my switch does not.
 
The 'uplink' designation just means that the port is intended to be used without a crossover cable for connecting two hubs or switches, nothing more complex than that.

Most switches these days autosense on each port so it is not necessary to designate one port for uplinks.

Have a look here for a more detailed explanation :

http://www.duxcw.com/faq/network/uplink.htm
 
Alright, but i have experienced this before setting up a network for a friend a couple of years ago where we had to bypass NAT so both he and his brother could play CS on the same server, ended up having to order another hub from the ISP, another one than i have but also one that seems as it has some difference to regular switches. Gonna go find the exact name of the hub, brb :)
 
Teal i think you're absolutely right, i'm using an Efficient Speedstream 5100 router and it does indeed appear to be bridged and firmware-locked by most ISPs that use it, to provide exactly the functionality which i'm enjoying.
So i suppose that i do have a router, and the Nexswitch after that, which puzzles me even more, the Netgear DG605 should work perfectly too then?
 
Should work fine.

Only thing that I can think is have you left the DHCP function on your wireless router running?

If you have then the PCs may be picking up that and assigning it as the gateway rather than your DSL router/modem?
 
Indeed, i did leave it running, and that definitely ****** it up, but to remedy that i tried removing the router from the equation simply, that didn't work at all, just wouldn't get the computers an IP.

Language!
Tolien
 
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