Re: Unable to sign into GS308E

Question

I'm having some issues with this product. I recently purchased it and set it up last week. But as soon as I set it up via the admin page and enable Advance 802.1Q VLANs, then I'm no longer able to access the admin page.

I have the correct IP address as I have it assigned a static address via my PFSense box. I can see it active via PFSense, but I cannot reach the admin page.

The switch does not appear when I use the NETGEAR Discovery Tool either. I have a GS305E further along in my network and that appears in the Discovery Tool and is reachable via the assigned IP address.

I know the switch is working, as I the IP cameras I have hooked into the port for my camera network are working, as are other segregated networks. I just cannot reach the switch to do any modifications to my setup.

If I do a factory reset, I'm able to reach the switch and redo the setup, but once I do, I can no longer reach the admin page.

Any ideas?

schumaku · Answer

burgler2112&nbsp;wrote:
I know the switch is working, as I the IP cameras I have hooked into the port for my camera network are working, as are other segregated networks. &nbsp;I just cannot reach the switch to do any modifications to my setup.
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If I do a factory reset, I'm able to reach the switch and redo the setup, but once I do, I can no longer reach the admin page.

A little bit thin details to help. Could be a VLAN config issue, or a problem with a an IP address in use more than once on your network, or tricky error on the switch static IP config....
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Hope you have not missed that these switches need to bo operated on a flat IP network, since a tagged management subnet can't be configured and used.
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Some screenshots of your pfsense and the switches (working and non-working), and some network design plans available?&nbsp;

burgler2112 · Answer

Hi, thanks so much for getting back to me!

I'm a bit of a novice on this, so I'm not quite sure what the "Flat IP Network" is referencing, but I will try and look into that after I post this response.

I'm attaching a few screenshots, and please let me know what else you would like to see on the PFsense side (or anything else).

2 of the shots are examples of me being able to access the web interface of 2 existing switches on my network.

The PFSense screenshot is of my "trunk line" DHCP leases showing that the IP address that I can't reach (10.27.99.204) is not being used by another device on my network.

As an aside, while troubleshooting this I discovered that my original netgear smart switch (the GS108Ev3 at 10.27.99.200) is also not reachable via the web interface, but that is the very first switch in my network and has been running for a few years as I expect it to.

Both these switches are showing as "Idle/Offline" via the PFsense screenshot, but again, I know they are online and working, as my network is up and running.

I'm also attaching 2 more screenshots of my VLAN setup via PFsense.

burgler2112 · Answer

Just a couple more details. &nbsp;I connected my laptop directly to the switch on 2 different ports. &nbsp;One that is setup for my VLAN 40 and one that is my "trunk line" 99.&nbsp;The VLAN 40 connection found 2 of my other switches via the Netgear Discovery Tool, but the 99 connection only found 1 of them. &nbsp;Seems odd, but figured I'd share.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

schumaku · Answer

Start to understand what you designate trunk is exactly what I define as a flat IP network on Ethernet - your network "99" (confusing to me at the first view it's not a VLAN).
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Ok, so we face two or two potential "issues":
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Under some conditions (cause still unknown), not all Netgear Plus switches (GS108E, GS305E in your example can be discovered successfully by the Netgear Discovery Utility
Some routers tend to "forget", marking devices "Offline" after some time once these are no longer talking to the router (IP-wise) or to the Internet.

The first cause is still unclear to me.&nbsp; This "99" network looks like the typical flat (untagged) IP address network Ubiquity does use since there is a Unify controller and there are several AP
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On the second point, devices "calling home" or systems with cloud services are typically not affected. Saying that much: All Netgear Plus switches (resp. their uC with the tiny IP stack and Web server) remain very silent on the network and are keeping silence to the Internet by design.
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In general, users expect by far to much from these "consumer class" network "monitoring" views,
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Do these Netgear switches in question operating on locally configured static addresses or operating on DHCP with reserved IP addresses on the router?
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Depending on the traffic on the network, I know the simple IP stack and Web UI isn't the most reliable thing on earth, a simple cold reboot (power reboot) does commonly recover very quickly.
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Regarding to the GS108Ev3 (and the Discovery Utility): According to&nbsp;GS108Ev3 Firmware Version 2.06,24&nbsp;release notes, I take it the legacy discovery, using the legacy&nbsp;[Wikipedia] Netgear Switch Discovery Protocol (NSDP)&nbsp;was probably substituted by the more industry standard&nbsp;[Wikipedia] Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP)&nbsp;or a combination of both. The legacy Plus Utility can continue to be used for these switches as it was desperately wanted by some users again, despite the known huge security vulnerabilities - with the recent Plus switch updates, the NSDP usage for config features was disabled, the discovery part remains active.&nbsp;
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burgler2112 · Answer

Ok, so we face two or two potential "issues":&nbsp;Under some conditions (cause still unknown), not all Netgear Plus switches (GS108E, GS305E in your example can be discovered successfully by the Netgear Discovery UtilityOk, I guess I’m not all that worried about it then, since as I stated I know my design is working as intended.&nbsp; It’s just a little frustrating that if I ever want to modify the ports/VLANs I already have setup, I need to do a factory reset and do a complete new setup on that swithSome routers tend to "forget", marking devices "Offline" after some time once these are no longer talking to the router (IP-wise) or to the Internet.Interesting, as this seems to be what’s happening.&nbsp; I’m running PFSense on Protectli Vault FW4B - 4 Port, Firewall Micro Appliance/Mini PC - Intel Quad Core (Celeron J3160), AES-NI, Barebone as described on geekpub’s website here: https://www.thegeekpub.com/14863/the-best-pfsense-box/I’m sure what’s happening with the switches showing offline is as you described.The first cause is still unclear to me.&nbsp; This "99" network looks like the typical flat (untagged) IP address network Ubiquity does use since there is a Unify controller and there are several APIf memory serves, this is exactly why I have the 99 network.&nbsp; I was following along on some suggested Ubiquity setup process.&nbsp; The idea is that the 99 network carries all the data for my network and then I have a smart switch that segregates that info to the appropriate ports.&nbsp; So my IP Camera data travels from the cameras to say port 5 of my switch, then it travels via the 99 network to my PFSense box and gets segregated there to the appropriate location on my network to my desktop running my IP Camera software.&nbsp;&nbsp;Do these Netgear switches in question operating on locally configured static addresses or operating on DHCP with reserved IP addresses on the router?The setup on the switch itself is DHCP, but I have them all assigned on my PFsense box as static IP’s.&nbsp;Depending on the traffic on the network, I know the simple IP stack and Web UI isn't the most reliable thing on earth, a simple cold reboot (power reboot) does commonly recover very quickly.It didn't work for me when I attempted this previously. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Regarding to the GS108Ev3 (and the Discovery Utility): According to&nbsp;GS108Ev3 Firmware Version 2.06,24&nbsp;release notes, I take it the legacy discovery, using the legacy&nbsp;[Wikipedia] Netgear Switch Discovery Protocol (NSDP)&nbsp;was probably substituted by the more industry standard&nbsp;[Wikipedia] Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP)&nbsp;or a combination of both. The legacy Plus Utility can continue to be used for these switches as it was desperately wanted by some users again, despite the known huge security vulnerabilities - with the recent Plus switch updates, the NSDP usage for config features was disabled, the discovery part remains active.&nbsp;I will look into this. &nbsp;&nbsp;Overall, I really can’t thank you enough for taking the time to read and respond to this.&nbsp; As I said, I’m a novice, but I enjoy learning more about this stuff and seeing if I need to take any action on my current setup.THANKS!!!