I have a Verizon Fios system. I have a Verizon ActionTec cable modem/router. It creates a network that we’ll call VerizonGas.
I have a Google Mesh router (and two Google Nest wireless access points). The Google router has a port (little globe icon) that is connected to a LAN port on the Verizon router. The Google mesh wireless setup works like a champ. I now get great coverage all over the house. However, the Google mesh creates a new network, rather than extending the network provided by the Verizon router. Let’s call this network GoogleGas.
I just bought a new HP printer. This is a wireless-only printer, no Ethernet port. I successfully connected it to GoogleGas. But my computer is connected by Ethernet to VerizonGas via the Verizon router, so it didn’t see the printer. When I turned on the wifi on the computer and connected to GoogleGas, it was able to connect to the printer.
I want to be able to connect my computer to GoogleGas via Ethernet (thinking I would get a faster connection than WiFi). So I connected an Ethernet cable from the second port on the Google router (symbol that looks like < … >) to an 8-port unmanaged plug & play switch. When I plug my computer into the switch I was expecting to see it connect to GoogleGas. However, it now says it is connected to VerizonGas, and without Internet. This makes no sense to me.
As far as I can tell you should be able to connect a switch to the Google router and connect a computer to the switch by Ethernet, and then be on GoogleGas. Am I making a bad assumption, making the wrong connections, or is there some other issue I am not thinking of?
So basically, the Google router’s “globe” is I assume their equivalent of a WAN connection. you are cascading Google to Verizon routers (Double NAT) Normally I’d say “turn off DHCP on the Google router” and connect it to the rest of Verizon LAN. However, two problems:
It looks like the Google pucks don’t have LAN ethernet wired connections. (Do they? What’s the second port for?)
I google and it appears the Google mesh stuff can only function in “Bridge” mode with a single unit. (Bridge - i.e. instead of being an access to the internet, they are simply like another ethernet switch, relaying traffic to the Verizon router) So you’d have to run wired ethernet to each unit, then put them each into Bridge mode. Essentially, instead of relaying traffic wirelessly, they’d all just repeat onto the wired LAN (and possibly out another puck if it’s Wifi to Wifi)
For those old routers like Linksys, the solution to turning the router into a wireless switch and access point was to turn off DHCP and do not connect the WAN port. Then, DHCP requests are relayed to the main router, which provides the connecting devices with IP address and info like Default Gateway (which is the main router) and DNS servers. Even devices connecting to the WiFi of that Linksys router would get relayed to the main router.
Unfortunately, most modern ISP modems are also routers, and the ISP does not really want to give you direct control over assorted functions. For some reason Google Mesh seems to be like this too. AFAIK you have no ability to go in and monkey with its IP address, default gateway, DHCP settings, etc.
All you can do is select “bridge” mode where it acts like a router whose DHCP is disabled and is connected to wired ethernet locally, but won’t mesh with other pucks - or mesh mode, where one puck is wired as if it were connected to WAN, with its own NAT, network and IP setup, and the other pucks are not wired but connect and relay over Wifi to the main puck.
I do not have Google Mesh, so cannot directly test this. How about leaving Google Mesh with its DHCP settings, etc and putting the Verizon router in bridge mode? So it connects to the Internet, but Google mesh is the only network doing NAT, DHCP, etc.
The problem may with the switch, or how I am using it. When I plug my computer directly into the Google Router, it shows me connected to GoogleGas and everything is great. When I plug the router into the switch, and the computer into the switch, the computer says unknown network without Internet.
It’s a brand new Netgear GS308v3 switch. It shouldn’t matter which port, but I connect the router to port 1. The same thing happens on my other computer.
I have a similar problem with the switch if I connect it to the Verizon router.
If you can plug directly into the Google router (on the “mesh master” I assume?), then I assume this means it has at least one wired local LAN port, as well as the WAN 9global) port.
Simplest is to plug a switch into this Google’s LAN port, and connect all your wired devices through this switch, forget about your Verizon network - only plug the Google Mesh master into it.
The problem is that a router does NAT. (Natural Address Translation) It bundles all the outbound traffic from the LAN side and makes it look like it comes from the one address assigned to the router on the WAN side. (And typically does not forward broadcasts, like your printer’s “here I am!”) Obviously, then, you cannot send packets from the outside to the inside (unless you use “Port Forwarding” to forward packets for a specific port to a certain internal IP address)
What you have for now is cascading NAT - the Google router gets a internal LAN address on the Verizon as its “external” IP and to Verizon LAN devices, everything behind Google Mesh looks like it comes from GM’s “external port” IP address. Broadcasts don’t go through the router(s) (Basically, a packet that says “hello! this packet is for anyone who cares to take it”) and broadcast is typically how Windows finds printers etc. the first time. Even if you know the Google LAN address of the printer, if your PC is on the Verizon LAN, the Mesh router will not pass that traffic into the Google LAN.
The GS308 is a simple switch. It connects any devices on the same LAN. As long as it is also connected (directly or by another switch) to the LAN side of a router, it’s the same effect as if the devices were plugged into the router’s LAN ports.
If you plug the PC or the switch (and then the PC into the switch) into the Google Mesh (LAN SIDE!) you will be on the Google LAN.
If you plug the switch into the Verizon side, anything connected to it will be on the Verizon LAN.
If you can plug your PC into the Google mesh and be on the Google LAN, then instead plug the switch into the Google LAN port, and the PC into the switch. Plug the Google Mesh (and nothing else) into the Verizon router. Plug everything wired into the Netgear switch. Everything then should be on the Google LAN if the switch is.
I tried an older 4-port switch and everything works as expected when I use that. If I plug it into the Google router, I get connected to the Google network. Same for Verizon router.
If I connect the new router the same way, all the traffic lights blink but the computers do not see a connection.
A router (generally) creates a new network inside it’s local area. Devices on the outside cannot see things on the inside, and things outside may not respond to things on the inside.
A lot of discovery between devices happens with broadcasts on the LAN, and broadcast packets do not go through the router from local to global or vice versa.
This does not even get into “what happens if the routers both create LANs with the same IP numbering system?” (Such as 192.168.0.X or 10.0.0.X)
All of this is consistent with my understanding. My problem is simply that if I plug a switch into the Google router port designated for the purpose, that devices plugged into the switch do not see an Internet connection. A device plugged directly into the Google router does.
Does the switch show a link light for the Google connection?
In the good old days, there were ports and devices (i.e. switch and PC). If you connected two switch ports together, you needed a “crossover cable” (wires 1,2 to 3,6, and 3,6 to 1,2) In the last decade this is irrelevant, most switch ports were capable of automatically detecting and reversing the connection when connected to another switch instead of a PC.
(Please tell me Google is not this backward. How old is the Netgear?)
I assume we’re talking about the LOCAL LAN port on the Google, not the same port (Globe icon?) you’d connect to the internet otherwise?
I can’t find anything about the 308v but all the newer 308’s are “autosensing” or MDI/MDI-X which means no crossover necessary. I would be very surprised if the Google device, being new, does not do autosensing too. Obviously it works with your Verizon router using standard cable into the Netgear.
(An intermediate step back years ago was to make one port uplink capable, but you say you’ve already tried connecting port 1 of the Netgear.)
I assume you’ve checked for loops in the network, that you don’t have the PC and Netgear somehow connected to both LANs…
Another Doh! moment - how did you connect and test? When an ethernet port is disconnected, and then reconnected, it reacquires an IP address, since it may have been moved to another network. If you change the cable from the Netgear from V to G without powering it down, and also do not power down the connected PC, the PC will never realize it has changed LAN and not do a DHCP request for another IP address.
Very simply - when you move the switch over, either power it off and on again in the new connection, or unplug and plug your ethernet to the PC back in; either way the PC loses its link connection to the Netgear for a while and so when everything is connected, it will look for a new IP address and get one for the LAN which the switch and PC are currently connected to.
If you’re like me, I leave my PC almost always on, so the DHCP IP address renewal will not happen for a day or many if the ethernet link does not go down.
…and the same applies to any device connected to the switch. Unless they detect the link to the switch going down, and then back up, they will never look for a new address.