I should mention that I followed a TP Link guide to configure VLAN with 802.1Q. Although familar with VLAN, I dont find the configuration clear.

I tried the following without success. I basically dont need several VLAN, so I tried to configure only 1
TL-SG108E "basement" --> Port 1 is plugged to the internet box, port 8 goes to the TV switch
-- I added VLAN 101 with members ports 1-8 with Port 8 tagged
-- In PVID settings, I assigned VLAN to 2-7

TL-SG108E "tv" --> Port 1 is connected to port 8 of basement switch and port 8 goes to Desk switch
-- I added VLAN 101 with members ports 1-8 with Port 1,8 are tagged. <--- Not sure I should actually tag port 1 as it's not a trunk line to another switch.
-- In PVID settings, I assigned VLAN to 2-7

TL-SG108 "Desk" --> Port 1 is connected to the TV switch
-- I added VLAN 101 with members ports 1-8 with Port 1 tagged
-- In PVID settings, I assigned VLAN to 2-8

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freddb,
First you list two TL-SG108E and one TL-SG108. The 'E' on the end is significant because the 108E is a managed switch and the 108 is a "plain" switch. I'll assume that you have three 108E switches.

I have to comment that managed switches seem to be a bit of an over complication for your application. A network with a single TL-SG108E will work OK out of the box. Interconnecting multiple 108E's requires some advanced planning to get the configuration right.

As R1D2 suggests, part of the planning is to assign each switch a static IP within the subnet you are using. Also, you must decide what network device is going to handle the DHCP role. Unless you are setting up an advanced segmented network, you can have only one DHCP server on your network.

Once you have your network plan is set, the best thing to do is to start from scratch. Do a factory reset on both switches (use a paper clip or fine tipped pen to press the Reset button for 6 seconds). Next you REALLY need to use the East Smart Configuration Utility software to configure these switches. Trying to use the web interface is painful at best. The config utility should installed on a Windows machine (it MUST be windows) and be directly connected to the switch that is directly connected to the Internet (just makes it simple).

You will need to know the MAC address of your switches to do the initial configuration. It can be found on a label on the underside of the switches.

It helps if you put everything together on a table and connect them with short Cat5e cables. Power up the switches and boot the PC. Run the config utility. The Discovered Switches page will display and hopefully all three switches will be listed. This is where the MAC address comes in. On the line with the MAC address for your first switch (the one the PC is direct connected), click on the gear icon in the IP Setting column. In the IP Settings pop-up enter an appropriate name for the switch in the Device Description field, then complete the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway. Enter 'admin' and 'admin' in the User Name and Password fields. Leave DHCP disabled! Click Apply and Yes. Repeat for the other two switches.

One final note: Unless you ABSOLUTELY need VLANs (e.g. you need to segment your network for security reasons), do not use them. Properly configuring VLAN's is complicated unless you have a good grasp of Ethernet (layer 2) protocols and concepts such as port ingress and egress rules, port VLID assignment, etc. In most cases you will need a DHCP server that is capable of assigning IPs from different scopes based upon VLID and one or more Layer 3 switches (big $$$$).

Dear everyone, First thanks for the replies, and sorry for the late feedback. Unfortunately it did not help

 

to answer some questions and hopefully add background

- I have only managed switches TL-SG108E : two v3 and one V2.

- I have 3 because I have to connect basement to First floor; then to second floor.

- I have computer science background (15 years ago); so I get most of the stuff around network, but I have no applied experience here

- I bought managed because those were super cheap for 1G 8 ports, and plus eventually I want to setup QoS

- I bought them because In french there's an expression "who can do more can do less"

- I dont need VLANs

 

 

To talk about configuration I did after I reset the switches

• ISP box is a Fritzbox 7490 with stock configuration -> this is normally the only DHCP server; IP address is 192.168.178.1
• Only 1 port is used of the ISP Box and goes to the 1st switch
• The Wifi is enabled and used
• I have recent cables - at least cat 5e cables
• I made sure I used the latest available firmware for all 3
• I assigned a static and unused IP addresses to each, gateway to the IP of the Box for all switches
• DHCP is deactivate for all switches
• I wrote down the MAC address to not make any mistakes
• I did a factory reset of my ISP box - just in case
• I did not want to activate VLAN ,but it seems in the interface that I have to leave one enabled at least / MTU / Port based / 802.1Q

 

This is looking like:

ISP box ---> Switch "basement (v3) —> Switch "TV" (v2) —> Switch "Desktop" (v3)

About what’s connected:

• switch basement —> I have a NAS, and a computer
• Switch TV  -> I have TV, playstation, TV box , Apple TV, and a laptop I can plug
• Switch desk -> two computers, Apple TV

 

Here are my findings

 

• There’s internet at the switch basement. All is OK
• There’s not internet from switch TV (all devices connected to TV and Desktop)
• If I unplug the Desktop switch —> nothing change
• If I switch the TV and Desktop; same results --> here I was suspecting a conflict with V2 and V3.
• If I replace the switch TV by an unmanaged switch -> I have internet everywhere
• From the PC connected to switches TV and Desktop -> I never see the switch basement -- But I suspect this is because I am not connected to it directly although that's not the same bevavior as if I use the PC connected to desktop; I see both desktop and TV switches

 

Hope that helps… I am quite lost; It seems like Switch basement is OK but somehow is not able to talk to another manager switch I have.

 

 

@freddb @tx350z @R1D2 

 

I am having a similar, if not the same, issue I think and tried everything you have too. (including static IPs)

 

I have three easy smart switches: TL-SG1016PE, TL-SG108PE and TL-SG105E. The 8 Port connects ok into the 16 port ok. However no traffic seems to pass to the 5 port if I have it connected directly into the 16 port. So in order for the 5 port to work I have to have connected directly into the router. (ER-X). The 8 port into the 16 Port seem to be working ok but I cant really see any configuration difference so very confused. 

 

I haven’t tried specifically plugging in the switches to specific ports, do I need to worry about that if I haven’t specified ports in any of the config?

 

I also don’t need VLANs and would prefer just to turn them off, but like you said above you cant. So which one do I choose?

 

So another way of asked my question, how do I connect all three of my switches together in the most simplest mode?

@R1D2 - Thanks for your help, really useful.

 

Usually you configure the ports of an ER-X to be part of the built-in switch (e.g. LAN = switch0 with port members eth1 to eth4, WAN = eth0 or whatever config you did set initially).

 

 

Correct, that's how i have it setup actually.

 

I have not idea why chaining the switches doesn't work, except if you would have missed to change the switche's default IPs. They must be unique for each switch, but I guess you did change them already, didn't you? 

 

 

Pretty sure i've done that right, i've also turned off DHCP for all of these as well and set them as static IPs.

 

 

Anyway chaining switches is not recommended for more than two or three switches (where the ER-X counts as one switch already). You can do that, but a star topology is better. So there is nothing wrong with connecting the switches directly to the ER-X if you can use three spare ports of the ER-X.

 

I wasnt aware of that actualy, good to know and maybe i should just be ok with it plugged into my router. I just felt it should work, and perhaps if it's not then it's a signal on wider probelm.  I have had some other problems which seem like looping, so was hoping to get the switches working together more.

 

You can't turn VLANs off on a VLAN-aware switch. Just leave the VLAN at its default settings. Easy smart switches use the Default VLAN 1 for all ports. Don't worry, it's just that the switch needs to divert internal traffic into a VLAN. As long as you don't change port assignments to the Default VLAN the switch behaves like a VLAN-unaware »dumb« switch. You won't even note that the switch uses a VLAN internally.

 

Is this correct then, i did the same for all three switches?

 

 thanks again for your help

@R1D2  Great, then i see this and i'm confused about what's in the VLAN then, sinse it's missing some ports from the list?