Question

Linda has been assigned the job of connecting five computers to a network. the room holding the five computers has three network jacks that connect to a switch in an electrical closet down the hallway. linda decides to install a second switch in the room. the new switch has four network ports. she uses one port to connect the switch to a wall jack. now she has five ports available (two wall jacks and three switch ports). while installing and configuring the nics in the five computers, she discovers that the pcs connected to the two wall jacks work fine, but the three connected to the switch refuse to communicate with the network. what could be wrong and what should she try next?

Answer 1

First, Linda should check if the problem is at the computer or at the switch. She should try to connect one of the non-working computers to a wall jack. If the computer communicates with the network, then the problem is: the switch, the cable connecting the switch to the wall jack, or the wall jack the switch is using.
So, next she should connect the switch to a jack that is 100% working. If it is ok, than the problem is the jack or the cable. She should replace the cable with new one. If it is OK, then the problem is the jack.