d-link wireless router with printer server

Windows SBS 2003 – Changed router and now intranet is down?

We’re running Windows Small Business Server 2003 in our office. I replaced a router that crapped out on us today with a new one, and with the help of D-Link’s tech support, got the internet working on both wired and wireless computers.

However, now none of our shared network drives, networked printers, or networked programs are accessible by client computers. I know this is probably as simple as plugging an IP address from somewhere into somewhere else, but I can’t figure it out. Can anyone help?
We are using WEP security, and the guy who had previously set up our network (who is no longer available to us) didn’t want us to lock down the network via MAC address for some reason or another. Plus, like I said, the internet access is working for everyone, so they are able to connect to and use the router, they are just not able to connect to and use the server.
The router is set up as a DHCP Client, not a DHCP server. I don’t know how to check what the server is set up as.

Jenna A

One thing you may want to look at right off the top is which one of the systems is the DHCP server. I know that out of the box, these routers come set up as as DHCP servers by default.

If you are running Windows Small Business Server 2003, chances are good that you probably have that set up as the DHCP server as well. So it’s possible that you now have 2 DHCP servers on your network which will cause some confusion.

Go to your server and see if it is ser up as your DHCP server. If so, go to your router config and see if it is set up as a DHCP server. If your router is set up as your DHCP server, disable the service and let the Windows Server fill that function.

Chances are good that if your server is acting as your DHCP server, then it was the DHCP server with your old router and your old router had the service turned off.

Also, you may want to consider moving from WEP security to WPA2. WEP is a deprecated security protocol that is easy to crack with minimal tools. WPA2 is the industry requirement. However, you will need to make sure all of your laptops will support it. If they are fairly new, then it shouldn’t be a big problem.

JennaA

It’s time to get some more information. On one of your client systems. I’m assuming her that the router is one of D-Links SOHO wireless routers that have 4 Ethernet ports in the back and one port for your WAN connection.

On one of your client machines, open a cmd prompt window and run the command: ipconfig /all

This will print out the network configuration. It will also tell you the DHCP server it is getting its IP address from. Take note of the machine’s IP address and in particular, the first three numbers in the address (for example, if your client machine has an address of 192.168.0.101, you want to take note of the numbers 192.168.0 — this is the subnet that you are working with).

Now go to your server, open a cmd prompt window there and type the same thing there. The system will print out similar information. It will also tell you if it is working as the DHCP server as well as its own IP address. Now, if the first three numbers of this servers address are different from the first the numbers on your clients address (for example, if your client is operating on 192.168.0 and your server is on 192.168.1) then you’ve got a problem. Then go to your router and look at the network setup (not the internet setup) and look at the router ip address. The first three numbers (or octets) of the router’s IP address should match those of the clients IP address and your server’s address. If those numbers don’t match, then that system wont be available on the subnet.

So I’m going out on a limb here in making an assumption. If your setup is anything like any ours, then you don’t have people logging onto your server and getting out to the Internet. They aren’t supposed to be doing that anyway. Leave the server resources free to do what it’s supposed to be doing, serving up files, providing print services and application services. So if your server is playing on a different subnet, none of those services will be available to any of the other clients.

D-Link has a router setup emulator that allows you to get the feel of setting up your router without setting up your router. you can find the link here:

http://support.dlink.com/faq/view.asp?prod_id=1457

Gather up this info and see if all of your devices (client machines, servers, and router) are using the same subnet.

Solución de impresión inalámbrica para multifuncionales