# Solved: Configuring Static IP's with Netgear FS105



## Scottyman61 (Dec 14, 2006)

Is it possible to just use an un-managed switch to connect to a comcast cable internet modem and create a home network or do I absolutely have to use a router?

I tried to plug in the static IP's on a couple computers going through a Netgear FS105 un-managed switch but I believe that it's necessary to put in the DNS suffix to make it work.

I found the DNS suffix setup in the advanced tab for TCIP settings but when I tried several different settings I got no success.

Say I want to have three computers connected to the same modem with different static IP's:
Comp1 192.168.1.101
Comp2 192.168.1.102
Comp3 192.168.1.103

I know how to get the computers to talk to each other so that's not the problem I'm having. It's just getting them to all see the internet together this way.

Here's Comcast's configuration settings with one computer on auto.

##########################################################

C:\Documents and Settings\#####>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : ##########
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.nm.comcast.net

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.nm.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI
Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : ##-##-##-##-##-##
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 69.254.139.80
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.254.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 69.254.138.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.66.10
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.85.98
68.87.69.146
68.87.78.130
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, April 11, 2009 6:30:27 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, April 15, 2009 6:30:27 PM


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

It appears that your switch doesn't have a WAN port needed
to connect the modem to,so no way to connect to the internet.
You need a switch or router with a WAN or internet port.
The configuration at their website shows a firewall device
with a WAN port connected to the switch.


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## zx10guy (Mar 30, 2008)

Some basic networking needs to be addressed here. Your typical switch is a layer 2 device. This means the switch directs traffic based on MAC addresses. A router is a network device which moves traffic between two different IP subnets.

So connecting a switch to your modem will not allow you to complete the network connectivity to route traffic from a set of private IPs to a public IP on your ISP's network. The only time you would use a dumb switch on a ISP connection is if you have a block of IPs provided by your ISP. I have done this on a T1 connection where we have a few static public IPs.

The waters get a bit muddied when you talk about layer 3 switches but that's outside the scope of this thread and not the particular network device we are talking about.

So basically, you need a router.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

The other good reason for the router is the fact that you can only connect one computer to the Internet using that switch.

If you insist on doing it without a router, you could use ICS on one computer to "simulate" a router, but that's not something I recommend.


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## Scottyman61 (Dec 14, 2006)

zx10guy said:


> Some basic networking needs to be addressed here. Your typical switch is a layer 2 device. This means the switch directs traffic based on MAC addresses. A router is a network device which moves traffic between two different IP subnets.
> 
> So connecting a switch to your modem will not allow you to complete the network connectivity to route traffic from a set of private IPs to a public IP on your ISP's network. The only time you would use a dumb switch on a ISP connection is if you have a block of IPs provided by your ISP. I have done this on a T1 connection where we have a few static public IPs.
> 
> ...


I understand now. I thought before I posted this that you could create multiple IP's using multiple devices like a DHCP device could without actually having that device.

I was thinking about it before I went to sleep last night and realized that the router acts like a DHCP server that provides IP's even if you hard set the IP into each computer so that makes total sense. The reason it worked when I was using the Hughesnet system before is their modem acts just like a DHCP device that assigns a block of IP's just like a router does.

Thank you very much for your very clear answer.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

The Hughesnet "modem" was undoubtedly a modem/router, which is why it acted like a router.


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## Scottyman61 (Dec 14, 2006)

I appreciate you both helping me out on this.

I have another problem though. I reconnected a BEFSR41 Linksys router that I had boxed up and it worked fine when I used it last time. The problem I'm having is that it is not passing through the IP that is assigned from Comcast correctly.

When I connect my computer directly to the cable modem I get a standard cable IP such as:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.nm.comcast.net.
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 67.164.143.81
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.248.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 67.164.136.1

But when I connect the router to the modem and then my computer to the router I get something like this (on the router status page). This isn't complete but just an example:

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 76.87.48.53
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

and it will not allow the router to connect to the internet. I can see the router fine but when I release and renew the router (not my computer) I get an IP that doesn't match a standard Comcast IP, hence, I cannot get to the internet.

I'm using the latest firmware 1.04.09 on the router. It's about 3 years old but it appears to be working fine.

Any suggestions or should I call Comcast tech support to get their help. Maybe this router isn't compatible with their system.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I think the router just needs a slap in the head. 

Reset the router to factory defaults by holding the reset button down for 15 seconds with power on. The following procedure should get you a connection with any broadband modem that is configured to use DHCP for the router connection, such as cable modems, and many DSL modems.


Turn off everything, the modem, router, computer.
Connect the modem to the router's WAN/Internet port.
Connect the computer to one of the router's LAN/Network ports.
Turn on the modem, wait for a steady connect light.
Turn on the router, wait for two minutes.
Boot the computer.

When the computer is completely booted, let's see this.

Hold the *Windows* key and press *R*, then type *CMD* (_COMMAND for W98/WME)_ to open a command prompt:

*NOTE:* For the items below in *red* surrounded with *< >*, see comments below for the actual information content, they are value substitutions from the previous command output!

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands one at a time, followed by the _*Enter*_ key:

IPCONFIG /ALL

PING <computer_IP_address>

PING <default_gateway_address>

PING <dns_servers>

PING 206.190.60.37

PING yahoo.com

Right click in the command window and choose *Select All*, then hit *Enter* to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

*<computer_IP_address>* - The *IP Address* of your computer, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

*<default_gateway_address>* - The IP address of the *Default Gateway*, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

*<dns_servers>* - The IP address of the first (or only) address for *DNS Servers*, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.


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## Scottyman61 (Dec 14, 2006)

Thanks for your help John! I don't know what to say except that maybe I wasn't giving it enough time. I had already gone through almost the exact same procedure before I tried the switch and started posting here and couldn't get it to work. I followed your instructions to the letter this time and it started working. I thought the router was bad.

No need to post the results of the ping tests as they were all perfect and below 100ms except for the one that started with 200 and that was about 140 average. I really appreciate your help in this matter. All back up and running and static IP's assigned to each system like I had before the move.

Thanks again!

Scott


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Great, glad it all worked out. No need for the info, that's just in case you're still having issues.


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