BT Voyager 220v sharring BB

Hi There - I have 4 PCs networked (all wired) via an 8 port Hub (Linksys Etherfast 8 Port 10/100 Desktop Hub Uplink Port) ...........I have just got a BT Voyager 220v Modem/Router, it has one ethernet port.

My question is, if I plug the BT 220v into my Hub (via ethernet cable), will I be able to share my broadband connection on all 4 PCs?

thank you

Edited by jazzmaster (Wed 04-Apr-07 17:30:31)

This seems to say that it is a router with Nat & not just a modem. This means you should be able to plug it straight into your hub to provide a BB connection to all your computers.

The main question is how do you currently assign IP address. i.e. do you already have a DHCP server somewhere assigning addresses. If so you will need to assign the router an IP address in the same network range & set an exclusion for it on your current DHCP server.
If you are using APIPA to assign addresses to your computers the 220v should just assign new addresses to your computers and things should work fine.

Edited by SSmith (Wed 04-Apr-07 19:10:09)

Hi Steve - thanks for reply.

Yes the modem is a router with NAT and DHCP features it seems.

Currently the 220v is connected to one PC via USB, ie, just one PC on the network has BB.

So you don't think it will just be a case of plugging the 220v into a port on the Hub,.......will there need to be some kind of configuration of the modem/router?
Or possibly will the installation setup disc cover this?

thanks again

No, I do think it will just be a case of connecting the ethernet port of the 220v to a spare network port on your hub/switch to give a BB connection to all computers.

How do your computers currently get assigned IP addresses? What I am saying is if you already have a DHCP server on your network you will either have to disable it or put your routers details into it & disable the routers DHCP server.

EDIT : To make sense!

Edited by SSmith (Wed 04-Apr-07 18:14:34)

OK, well the network consists of: 4 PCs and one Hub.........all wired together. Thats all thats on the network. BB was (initially) only required on one PC, so when the 220v arrived I simply installed it on one PC via USB.

So, am I right in saying, with the above situation, the other 3 computers didn't need IP addresses, as they didn't have internet access.........or am I getting confused?

But now I want to share the BB, so if on the network there is only the Hub,will the 220v will do the DHPC thing?

What is the model number of the Linksys Etherfast Hub? Some of the routers have DHCP & some of the hubs/switches do not.

Basically all of your computers will be getting IP addresses because if they can not contact a DHCP server they assign their own IP address (APIPA) so they can talk together in a workgroup.

If you go to one of the computers that is not currently connected to BB, open Network connections in control panel, double click on your network card, this will open a connection status window for your network card. Select support & if the IP address is 169.x.x.x then it is assigning it's own IP address. If this is the case just plug the 220v into the Linksys hub & all should be fine.

If the address is 10.x.x.x, 192.168.x.x or 172.x.x.x then you have a DHCP server on your network somewhere.

Edited by SSmith (Wed 04-Apr-07 18:38:21)

Right Steven, I get you now.......so its possible one of the 4 PCs is acting as a DHCP Server?

This is the switch I have: http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?QuickLinx=15L5

I won't be able to check the IP details until tomorrow.

The network was setup a few years ago, all PCs use specialist Educational software (really database type stuff)........but one PC has to be switched on first (its called the server), then the other 3 PCs can be switched on, and they connect to the server......

So does that sound like maybe the Server PC is also a DHCP server?

Edited by jazzmaster (Wed 04-Apr-07 18:54:08)

I don't think that hub does have DHCP.

In reply to:

---

but one PC has to be switched on first (its called the server)

---

for what? so the others can connect to the internet? or just to access the educational software on the other PC?
This implies the PC's are talking together for some reason, e.g. to share files for the educational software or to share internet connection (ICS).

When you check the network settings of the non-BB connected machine, when on the support tab, click details and make note of any DHCP server. The address for this is the device/computer that is acting as DHCP server if one is present.

In reply to:

but one PC has to be switched on first (its called the server)


for what? so the others can connect to the internet? or just to access the educational software on the other PC?
This implies the PC's are talking together for some reason, e.g. to share files for the educational software or to share internet connection (ICS).

---The "server" has to be switched on first so the other 3 PCs can then access the educational software (when the other 3 PCs boot into windows, they "look" for the server PC, as the educational software prog loads on bootup on these PCs)..............right now the PCs are talking together but only to share printers and files (and educational software).

So, if there is a PC on the network acting as a DHCP Server, is it quite complex to setup the 220v via the Hub?...........or is it easier to "cross that bridge" when I check the details tomorrow , as hopefully they will be assigning themselves IPs?

It's not difficult... if you know what you're doing.

The computers are talking together, it's just a question of what network protocol & what addressing scheme they are using to do this.

If they are using DHCP from the computer acting as the server it's a question of which server is easier to reconfigure as you don't want 2 DHCP servers on the same network.