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Greg A
Greg A asked in Computers & InternetComputer Networking · 1 decade ago

How to use a Switch and Router together to share folders and internet connection across a small network?

I have a home network with four computers all running Windows XP Pro. I want to be able to share folders and printers across the network AND share the internet connection.

I have been using a DLink DI-524 four port router that let's me share the internet connection without any problem, but I haven't been able to share folders. So I went and bought an 8 port switch (Linksys SD208) today.

I hooked up all four computers with Ethernet cables to the switch. Then I put my internet connection into the WAN port on the Router and from one of the LAN ports on the Router I have an Ethernet cable going to the switch.

If I set up all the computers with a static IP in the range 192.168.0.101 to 110 then I get a blazing sharing of folders, but no internet connection. If I set the computers to auto assign the IPs then I can connect to the internet (and share the connection), but I cannot access my shared folders.

Guessing that it is the Router setup, but I've tweaked everything. Thanks

Update:

First, thanks to everyone who responded. Well appreciated.

Good news: IT WORKS! Though the solution was unexpected so I want to post it here in case anyone else has the same problem.

The key was installing IPX/SPX and NetBEIU protocols in Windows. After that I was able to keep all computers connected by Ethernet cable to the Switch, have the internet connection come to the switch via the cable and have all machines set to automatically assign IP addresses.

Now I can share the internet connect across the network AND have very fast access to network shares.

Wow, I had almost given up!

Best wishes for 2008 everyone!

Greg

6 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    nah not really

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    It should not make any difference which way the addresses are set up, as long as the are all in the same subnet., You also do not need the switch, The router already has an inbuilt switch, this is where the 4 ports connect. You need to set all the machines into the same workgroup, and may need to go to the tcp/ip properties of each and select the advanced button, then wins. Set always use netbios over tcp/ip, and turn off use lmhosts. netbios over tcp/ip is essential to network browsing small networks. Microsoft in their wisdom set it to turn off when it sees a dhcp server (which your router is).

  • tricia
    5 years ago

    Turn on ICS on your desktop. Or run the network setup wizard and indicate that you have an existing connection directly to this computer you want to share with other computers. Make sure you have a connection to the router. At the router Disable DHCP as your desktop with ICS will have to act as the DHCP server also. This means if you turn your desktop off everyone looses access.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    I'd have to look inside your router settings to be sure. But I'm guessing that it is an interaction between your IP address ranges and your router's routing rules.

    You're probably working with two ranges of IP addresses. One range for static addresses, and one range for DHCP.

    You've probably got a routing rule set up on your router that say that it's okay to route addresses in your static IP range (192.160.0.101 to 110) to the WAN. But it's not okay to route them to to the LAN.

    You've probably also got a rule set up that says that it's okay to route addresses in your DHCP range to the LAN, but it's not okay to route them to the WAN.

    You want rules set up for *both* ranges that say it's okay to route them to both the LAN and the WAN. Then you can add devices with static IP's or DHCP as you choose. And they will all work.

  • princessil0523
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago

    First of all, return the switch, you dont need it.

    Connect to your router setup, and make sure that DHCP is setup correctly.

    ON EACH OF YOUR WORKSTATIONS...

    make sure they are configured to accept DHCP addressing.

    make sure they are configured ON THE SAME WORKGROUP OR DOMAIN !! ( this is the number one problem )

    right-click to share the folder you want to share, make sure the shared name is less than 13 characters otherwise non-windows xp clients will not be able to view the share.

    also make sure you have permissions set correctly, you can set them to "allow all" for testing.

    now you should be able to access your share by typing on the "run" prompt

    \\hostname\foldername

  • Peter C
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago

    for static ip, sounds like you didn't set:

    default gateway

    primary dns

    both of these should be the same as your router's ip

    like 192.168.1.1

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