No connection on D-Link DGS-1008A switch

Question

Recently I moved and set up a new Ethernet network for my home. I have a router feeding into a 16-port gigabit switch, which splits up to the different rooms in the house. In one of the rooms there's a need for multiple ports so I have the mentioned 8-port D-Link switch.

Before the move it worked just fine, but now when I plug a cable from the wall (meaning from the 16-port main switch) to the secondary switch, it does not recognize the connection at all (no light). When I plug a computer to said switch, an orange light lights up (LAN connection, no internet). The connection to the main switch is working - when I plug a computer directly to it I have a perfectly working connection.

I should mention that the network in the walls is a CAT6 type, but it doesn't work when I use CAT6 or CAT5 cables with the secondary switch, and I have tried a power cycle with the secondary switch.

Thanks for any help.

EDIT: I did a bit of tinkering, and found out that the secondary switch works when:

• Connected directly to the main switch
• Connected the wall port through a third switch

This is getting weird. This implies some issue in the connection of the switch to the wall port, but I know both are working (and switching cables didn't help...)

EDIT 2: As I continue to mess around, I thought the problem is simply with the wall port, but using a PoE injector (with no DC voltage) as a middleman between the port and the switch did not work.

Solution

Well, this is by no means a solution, but this is what I did to bypass the problem, in order to avoid using really old hardware instead of the one I have or buying a new one, which are possibilities that probably most people will prefer.

Basically, I just plugged in a WiFi USB stick into the PC that I have sitting in that room and ran a bridge between the WiFi Network and the Ethernet port of the computer. Then, I just connected my DGS Switch to the Ethernet port and after setting a static IP it worked. The wall port is used for the WiFi Access Point, which is so close to the USB stick that the delay isn't really noticeable.

A better variation of this will be to use a USB-LAN adapter, or even better - a PCI GBE Network Card, but these required too much work or parts I don't have so I just went with what I had.

EDIT: I bought a new switch and it works perfectly.

Comments

[ScubaDiving]

This is interesting. I did not consider the option that the cable's jack isn't climped correctly. Is there a way to check which wires are misplaced? How will I know what crossover cable to get?

[ScubaDiving]

The 16-port switch is a TP-LINK TL-SG1016D and it has auto-MDIX. @Tobias Knauss

[Tobias Knauss]

1) Did you test Laptop to 16port switch with the wall's cable in between or with a patch cable? If it was with the wall's cable and you got a Gigabit connection, then the socket is fine. 2) Did you try in other rooms? Did you test on different ports of each switch? 3) there is only on type of crossover cable. But here you don't need it due to Auto-MDIX.

[ScubaDiving]

1. I got a connection with a laptop from the wall socket with a regular cable. 2. The switch works in other rooms. 3. I tried to move the cable of the wall socket to other ports on the 16-port switch but it didn't help.

[Tobias Knauss]

This sounds weird. Your laptop is working on the wall socket, but the DGS switch isn't, although the same switch is working in other rooms. My conclusion is that there's something wrong with either one of the 2 sockets or the cable in the wall. Fast Ethernet (FE) uses pins 1,2,3,6 only, thus 2 of 4 pairs. GBE uses all pairs. If GBE has a connection, then FE must work also. Except GBE had a fallback method to use the other two pairs, which I doubt and I've never heard of. Anyway, check the sockets by disassembling them. If they're fine: did you recently put a nail or screw hole into the wall?

[ScubaDiving]

If the jack that plugs into the main switch isn't crimped correctly, is it possible that the DGS switch won't be able to connect to it, but a GBE-enabled machine will? If this is the problem, all I have to do is to re-crimp the jack (since I checked the wall socket and it's fine).

[Tobias Knauss]

@ScubaDiving: Unlikely. If FE (on the DGS) fails, then GBE fails also.

[ScubaDiving]

Then what can the problem be? I've connected now an old switch (Lancast CenturyStack 8116-11) and everything works fine through it. But it's a loud (a freaking fan in an Ethernet switch!), big and slow. I don't want to use it, if I can...

[ScubaDiving]

Also, I should mention: when the DGS goes through a power cycle, it's LEDs light up in sequence as in some sort of "scan" or "sweep", and then all the connected ones flash green and the not-connected flash orange. When it is connected to the wall port, this connection flashes green and then turns off. Extremely weird to me.

[Tobias Knauss]

@ScubaDiving That's important info. There may be some kind of electrical noise, which avoids successful detection of the other network device. Are you using shielded cables? If so, try unshielded. Or the other way round, use shielded. This is critical especially if you have a shielded cable (e.g. in the wall) but no further connection of the shield to tge devices, through shielded patch cables. The unconnected shield may 'catch' noise and cannot lead it oft.

[ScubaDiving]

The cable that runs through the wall is a CAT6 cable. I've tried connection both CAT5 and CAT6 to feed the DGS, with no result. I don't think I have unshielded ones (only CAT cables).

[Tobias Knauss]

CAT is just the category of the cables, doesn't say anything about shielding. Try Cat.5 UTP patch cables. Is the wall's cable shielded? Is the shielding properly connected to the sockets? You said that DGS and TL are working when connected by direct cable. So the failure must be somewhere in the wall or sockets.

[ScubaDiving]

Well, I was wrong - my CAT5 cables are all UTP and CAT6 are FTP. So changing shielded to unshielded doesn't help.

[Tobias Knauss]

Before you waste too much time, just buy another 8 port switch... FE switch is available at 20€, 25$, GBE at double price.

[ScubaDiving]

A new model? Or will replacing my DGS will help, too (it's still in warranty)?

[Tobias Knauss]

Buy a Netgear 8port GBE. If this works, you can use your DLink for other jobs.

[ScubaDiving]

Doing this means giving up on this issue altogether. I think I'll arrange some other solution, like using a LAN-USB adapter and then using a computer in that room as a bridge to the switch.

[Tobias Knauss]

@ScubaDiving So you'd have to run this computer (200 watts) to access a switch (10 watts). Bad idea. Also configuration of the route is quite complicated, different subnets or dedicated routing tables needed. You could continue tests with the new switch, but I still wouldn't put too much effort into it. Use the DGS for other work instead.

[ScubaDiving]

The computer is already there as a file server, so there's no additional power usage. Regarding routing: isn't enabling a bridge in window's network adapter settings enough for this?