Ethernet switch and third party router no longer working

[Edskimk]

Hi All, 

Thought I'd give the community ago as I've not had much luck with Vodafone over the phone. Thanks for all help and suggestions in advance.

I'm on FTTP 500 mb with a Deco M4 connected directly to the modem. I originally had it set up off the Vodafone router which also worked, but this was just until I got my password and username from Vodafone. 

I've had a TP Link Deco mesh set up since March working absolutely fine, two days ago this abruptly stopped working. I've been informed by Vodafone that they can see the internet was down from 3.15 pm to 7.30 pm which appears to have triggered this. Trying some trouble shooting, I have connected the original router back up which works with Wifi, however plugging the Deco mesh system in to the router only works for about 30 seconds and then decides to stop. I have since connected the deco back to the modem directly entering username and password as well as vlan ID of 911. This again works for about 30 seconds and then promptly stops. 

Using the original router with wifi working fine, I have an ethernet cable that runs out to an office in the garden, it then goes into a TP switch which connects 3 devices. This TP switch now works for again, about 30 seconds and then I get an identified network error. If I plug the ethernet directly into the PC it does work. I really want to avoid running 3 25m cables into the garden and would actually like to use my mesh router also. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Update - I use a dock for my laptop as this doesn't have an ethernet port, the ethernet cable works fine plugged into my PC but even placing it into the dock does not work for the laptop - not sure if this further information helps. 

Further points to add - I have tested the ethernet cable, mesh system and tp link switch at my neighbours house, they all work fine. 

Kind regards,

Edward

[Jayach]

I can understand Vodafone not being able to help, as long as their router woks, that is all they need to establish.

I suspect you have some type of problem with clashing IP addresses. Have you tried resetting every thing back to factory defaults and starting again?

If I understand you correctly, taking the problem back to minimal configuration, Just the THG3000 with Ethernet cable will work if that cable is connected to a PC, but will fail after 30 seconds if it is connected to a switch?

However it doesn't work if connected to a laptop dock?

If you reboot the laptop does it then work? If so it may confirm that IP addressing is the problem as it should get a new one from the THG3000.

I could be completely wrong, but I think trying to get the simplest configuration working before adding the mesh is a good idea.

[Edskimk]

Thanks so much for your reply. I've since been back on to Vodafone and after a factory reset of the Router the Ethernet has stopped working on the pc, throwing up the same error of unidentified network, when I do a Windows diagnosis it gives two errors:

[I'll add it when I get to my pc, something about gateway not assigned and IP address not configured].

The person I spoke to was really helpful and they've escalated it there end, 

I do agree about it being something to do with IP addresses, I say this as when I googled the errors it seemed to be a common theme, my limited technical knowledge was exhausted a while ago! 

My only other concern is that everything seems to fail after about 30 seconds to a minute, this is either using the Ethernet cable from the Vodafone router or TP link router connected to the modem directly. This leads me to believe it might be something to do with either the modem or connection into the house. 

I'll give your suggestion ago for the pc and laptop dock as like you say if we can get something working it might point me in the right direction. 

Thanks,

Edward

[Jayach]

Have you tried powering the ONT (optical fibre modem) off and on again?

[Edskimk]

I have indeed. 

[Jayach]

Now that the PC no longer works, what if you power that off and back on?

[Anonymous]

As Jayach has suggested trying the simplest configuration as possible is the best start.  The other thing I'd ask, is does it all fall over if you disconnect the switch?  A 30-second delay before the network falls over sounds rather like a network storm, the normal source of such being network switches, or a device connected to such!

[Edskimk]

Thanks for your reply, I've not had a chance to get to the office yet, although I'm intrigued by your suggestion. I've had a brief look online at network storm and actually that would make a lot of sense, fingers crossed.

I'm thinking that this would explain that when I try my third party router (I've been setting it up with the old network name and password so I don't have to reconnect everything) that I'll have 20 or so wireless devices all trying to connect and get an IP address at the same time. Would also explain why when the internet went down it caused the issue with everything trying to reconnect at once when it came back up. 

So like you've both suggested, when the kids are asleep I'll pop into the office, try my pc and laptop one by one restarting them (fingers crossed), I am then thinking of disconnecting all Ethernet from the switch and putting in one at a time. If this all works I may then try the third party router again with a different network name to see if this has any luck. 

Really do appreciate the help.

Thanks,

Edward