GS108 Cat6 Ethernet does not connect

[chabotjeff]

Hi. I’ve been having problems getting connections with a new Cat6 Ethernet cable - it does not show lights on either side. I have the same trouble with the GS105. The Cat6 cable is about 110’ and passes the wiring test (with a meter).

The 110’ cable connects to an RJ45 port on both sides. Then, male cables are used to go to the switch on one end, and a PC on the other.

The other cables in the switch are Cat5 and work fine (connected to TVs, Wi-Fi, security cameras, etc.)

Any ideas what could be going wrong?

[chabotjeff · Accepted solution]

Thanks again. Finally figured it out. There were multiple issues that might help someone else out with the same problem. 1. The USB-C dongle for Ethernet was faulty. 2. The Eero gateway does not like sharing wired output from the modem (better alone). The whole chain needed to be reconnected to set the IP priorities correctly. The chain had to be: modem > Eero > Netgear switch > cat6 (long run) > second Netgear switch > PC

[plemans]

have you tried a different cable? or just a short cable to test between the switch/pc? 

Reason I ask is that i've seen cables pass using a basic tester but not pass when connected between devices. 

[chabotjeff]

Hi thanks. Yes, tried multiple short cables. I even made some new cat6 cables to connect to device and switch.

[plemans]

But did they work? 

You put that other devices on the switch work fine. 

Is it just some devices that don't work? 

Some ethernet wires? 

Just trying to clarify

[chabotjeff]

Thanks for sticking with me! I seem to be having the most trouble with PCs now. I was able to get a 100Mbps connection to a Roku (only the left green light was on the switch). But still no Ethernet will show on MacBooks (I tried a couple). The string is modem > Aero > Switch > cat6 to RJ45 long run > cat6 cable to PC Ethernet.

[plemans]

the GS108 is a simple unmanaged switch. Usually they either work, or they don't. There isn't much "kind of works" in between because they're not doing any traffic managing or anything like that. 

What I usually recommend is simplifying. 

Take out that "long run" and just go eero--->short 6ft good cable---->switch---->short 6ft good cable----->pc/devices 

Test them like that. its to often I see sketchy cables cause issues where devices won't connect. So if you have 2x 6ft cables of good quality (cat 5e or cat 6) and your still having issues, then it can be the switch. If it works while setup like that, then it points at the cables or runs. 

[chabotjeff · Accepted solution]

Thanks again. Finally figured it out. There were multiple issues that might help someone else out with the same problem. 1. The USB-C dongle for Ethernet was faulty. 2. The Eero gateway does not like sharing wired output from the modem (better alone). The whole chain needed to be reconnected to set the IP priorities correctly. The chain had to be: modem > Eero > Netgear switch > cat6 (long run) > second Netgear switch > PC

[plemans]

What modem is it? 
if its a modem only device, most ISP's only support 1 connected device to the modem. 

And if its a modem/router combo device, the eero would need to be setup properly to prevent a double nat. 

Eitherway, glad you got it working! Might mark it solved so others aren't trying to fix it still 🙂