Hi everybody, In my office, we have two computers in the conference room. They are both connected to a switch which connects through the wall to the main switch for the building. The problem is that they can only see each other in the workgroup. I want all of the computers in the building to be able to see each other and share files along with access to the internet. (1) What do I have to do? (2) What might I be doing wrong?

I would start by looking at the cable that connects the switch in the conference room to the main switch. It could have come lose, broken. Check with a known good cable if possible or get a multimeter on it to check for continuity. Right kind of cable for the switch? Does the switch in the conference room have an up-link port and is the cable from the main switch connected to it. If not you may need a cross-over cable unless the ports are auto sensing. Check these two computers are on the same Workgroup. Are the IP address's in the same range as the other computers. In you title you mention a router yet talk about switches in the question. Are they switches or routers as it does make a difference. Stuart

I have no idea how I messed up the subject, of all things. They are both switches. I have checked the cable. There is an "uplink" button. What does that do? All computers are in the same work group. This used to be working before and I don't know what happened. The IP addresses are all 192.168.1.XXX. However, on the computer I am managing in the conference room, when I don't specify an IP address, DNS servers, etc. it chooses an IP not starting with 192.168.1.XXX and Windows says it has "limited connectivity".

>> There is an "uplink" button. What does that do? << Its not an up-link button, its an up-link port. A socket specially wired to accept a link from another switch, router or modem. You cannot connect two identical Ethernet devices together with a straight through cable. You need either an crossover cable or a specially wired socket or auto-sensing sockets that will adjust themselves. >> when I don't specify an IP address, DNS servers, etc. it chooses an IP not starting with 192.168.1.XXX and Windows says it has "limited connectivity". << This indicates that it cannot find an IP address from a DNS server which is usually the router so Windows allocates one of its own in the range 168.254.x.x. This would indicate a lack of connectivity between the two switches. Have a look at this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314067 Stuart

The uplink button changes the port associated with it [usually port 1] to either regular [straight thru] or crossover. It is a manual mdi/mdix :-) "when I don't specify an IP address, DNS servers, etc. it chooses an IP not starting with 192.168.1.XXX" Is it a 169.254.x.x address? That is a auto assigned ip when the wkst can't find a dhcp server. This indicates this switch is not connecting to the main one which in turn is connected to the dhcp server handing out ip addresses. How to troubleshoot: note the ip of the one switch which has the pc getting the 169.x.x.x ip. Note the ip of the upstream switch. From a connected working pc ping the one switch. Can you ping it? If not the connection to it or it or what it connects to is broken. Imagine the power if you knew how to internet search