Chaining TL-SG108 Switches Not Working As Expected

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Chaining TL-SG108 Switches Not Working As Expected

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
Chaining TL-SG108 Switches Not Working As Expected
Chaining TL-SG108 Switches Not Working As Expected
2023-03-15 02:03:27 - last edited 2023-03-19 12:34:57
Tags: #Chaining TL-SG108 Switches
Model: TL-SG108  
Hardware Version: V6
Firmware Version:

Are the TL-SG108 switches supposed to work when chained together?  I thought you can chain unmanaged switches.  I ran out of ports and purchased another TL-SG108 8 port switch to chain of my existing one.  Both are the same model and HW version 6.6 and work fine individually, i.e., if I connect the router/AP directly to the switch, all devices get the proper DHCP-assigned IP and connect to the network and internet.  However, if I chain the switches, the devices connected to the switch that is chained (connected to the switch that is directly off of the router/AP) then they do NOT get a DHCP-assigned IP and cannot see the network nor the internet (see rough drawing below).

 

I drew up a quick-n-dirty architecture to show how I have the setup.  Devices 1-6 are fine and connect to the network/internet.  Devices 7-9 do NOT see the network.  I have tried different cables to make sure it wasn't the issue between the switches so that's not part of the problem.  Devices 7-9 get some funky IPs like 254.x.x.x and the wrong subnet like 255.255.0.0, etc.  Similar to how the network behaves on a Windows computer, for example, when no actual connection exists.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  The setup seems pretty straightforward but not sure if I need a different type of cable to chain them? I recall, in the old days, we used to use "crossover" cables (iirc) to do certain kind of chaining but I think that went out a long time ago.

 

chain architecture

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#1
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1 Accepted Solution
Re:Chaining TL-SG108 Switches Not Working As Expected-Solution
2023-03-19 12:34:40 - last edited 2023-03-19 12:34:57

I wanted to post an update.  I had ordered a whole new set of cables as I've been wanting to replace the thick ones with slim ones to help better manage the cabling.  Replacing all the cables has resolved the issue.  Not sure what was going on and what cable may have been causing issues, but everything's working as expected now.

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Re:Chaining TL-SG108 Switches Not Working As Expected
2023-03-17 09:03:37

  @AYColumbia 

Hi, It is fine to chain two switches together.

 

And here are some suggestions to help you figure out the problem.

1. switch the location to see whether the issue always happened on the second switch.

2. connect two switches separately to the main router and check whether all Ethernet devices get the correct IP addresses.

d3491ba7e13347d9b6c83d2526b68df7

Wait for your reply.

Best regards.

 

 

 

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#2
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Re:Chaining TL-SG108 Switches Not Working As Expected
2023-03-17 12:06:26
Hi, As mentioned in the OP both switches work fine when connected to the router/ap directly. It's only when they are chained that the one that *is* chained/connected to the other switch does NOT see the network or the network doesn't see it. I'm connecting the switches using the last port on each. Maybe I need to fiddle with trying 1>8 or 8>1 to see if that makes a difference. Even though, as I understand with an unmanaged switch, that shouldn't' matter. Thanks.
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#3
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Re:Chaining TL-SG108 Switches Not Working As Expected-Solution
2023-03-19 12:34:40 - last edited 2023-03-19 12:34:57

I wanted to post an update.  I had ordered a whole new set of cables as I've been wanting to replace the thick ones with slim ones to help better manage the cabling.  Replacing all the cables has resolved the issue.  Not sure what was going on and what cable may have been causing issues, but everything's working as expected now.

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#4
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