Network Kaput -- Help!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Marek Williams
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Marek Williams

I have a small home-based book publishing business. I print the books
on a couple of large Laserjets over my little home network (to the
JetDirect cards). Everything was working fine up to two days ago, the
last time I printed something. Today I went to print an invoice and
all I could get is an error message. I tried to ping the printer and
got no response. I turned on the other printer and got the same
results.

There is only one computer, which has a 10/100 ethernet card. This
card is connected to a Zonet 8-port switch. The two printers are also
connected to this switch, and the cable modem as well. (I.e., I'm
using only four of the eight ports on the switch.)

With the printers turned on, the lights on the switch light up, as
well as on the lights on the JetDirect cards. The light on the network
card is also lit up. And the light on the switch for the cable modem
is also lit.

The cable modem is still working fine. I can go anywhere on the
internet. But I can't communicate with either of the printers. As I
said, two days ago I printed without a problem. Something has happened
in the past two days. There have been no hardware changes, nor have I
installed or removed any software.

I've tried restarting the computer (Windows 2000 Professonal, SP3),
but it didn't make any difference. I also unplugged and reconnected
the cables, but that didn't help either. Anyway, it is unlikely that
it is cables, as that would mean that two different cables (to the two
printers) both chose the same exact moment to crap out. Ditto for the
JetDirect cards -- for two to go out at the same time is just about
impossible.

I also moved the cables on the switch to different ports, and it
didn't make any difference. Since the cable modem is on the switch and
it still works fine, the switch doesn't sound like the culprit. And of
course, since the cable modem is working through the NIC and the
switch, then the NIC must be all right, too.

Since it seems unlikely that it's a hardware problem, the logical
conclusion is that there must be something screwy with the networking
setup. Again, however, I have made no changes, so I'm at a loss to
figure out what could have gone wrong.

There is one other factor. On 9/22 I signed up for and installed
internet cable service (Comcast). After the installer left I noticed
that he had unplugged my switch from the NIC and plugged the modem
into the NIC instead. He had made a comment during the setup that he
didn't understand my network, but I didn't take note at the time what
he was doing. After I discovered what he had done I took the modem out
of the NIC and plugged it into the switch, then plugged the switch
back into the NIC. However, I have printed successfully since then, so
something else must have happened. Besides, I unconnected the cable
modem from the switch and still couldn't ping the printers.

The day after the cable was installed, I downloaded and installed the
McAfee firewall that is free for Comcast users. However, when I
discovered today that the network was broken, I disabled the firewall
completely, and it made no difference. Besides, I have printed
successfully since installing the firewall. Since then I have
uninstalled the firewall completely, plus the McAfee security center,
and restarted the computer. Still no communication with the printers.
I mention the firewall only because it is all I can think of. Prior to
getting the cable connection I used dialup and I had no firewall.

I really need to do some printing and am getting pretty desperate.
I've spent over a day now trying to figure out what is wrong without
success. I'm at my wit's end (OK, it's a short trip to the end of my
wits), and I need some suggestions. Can someone please give me some
ideas? Some new things to poke at? Even if your suggestion is not the
right one, it might help me stumble on the correct solution. Help!
 
Print off the printer config and look at the ip address.
Is that what you gave it?

johns
 
Print off the printer config and look at the ip address.
Is that what you gave it?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. I finally resolved the problem. It took
waiting on hold for an hour and a half for Comcast tech support. The
first tech person answered relatively quickly, but didn't have a clue.
She elevated me to a senior tech person, and then I sat and waited.
And even then the senior tech guy had to look up the answer.

And the answer? Well, this will tell you how little I know about
networking (and the senior Comcast tech person as well). It turns out
that what I needed was a router. I buzzed out to the local Fry's and
bought a Linksys 4-port router for $39.99. It took me an hour to
figure out how to get it all configured, but all is working well now.

However, I have one additional question. Before doing this I had
installed the McAfee firewall that is free for Comcast users (for the
first year). In the process of troubleshooting I uninstalled it
completely, so now I have no protection. Or do I? Does the router
isolate my computer from the internet? (The router is just a router,
no firewall included.) I could reinstall the McAfee firewall, but I'd
rather not if I am already protected.
 
Yes, the linksys router will act as a firewall as well, just make sure you
enable "Block WAN Request", disable "Remote Management",remove any
unessesory port forwarding and carefull put any computer into DMZ zone.
 
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