Hubs, Routers, and Switches

There are three different devices you can use to hook computers together: hubs, routers and switches.

Hub: Think of a hub as a splitter, splitting a single incoming line into multiple destination lines. The most common use for a hub is for small home or work networks.

The problem with hubs is that they are practically brainless. Every time a packet of information is received by a hub, it is broadcast over all outgoing ports. This can lead to network congestion and packet collisions, hubs can be slow.

Switches: A switch is a hub taken to the next level. On the outside, a switch can appear cosmetically identical to a hub; it's what's on the inside that makes the difference.

A switch has the ability to filter and send data to specific hardware ports. If a packet comes into the switch, it can choose the correct path rather than broadcasting it to the entire network and help eliminate network congestion. Switches also tend to offer advanced filter options, bandwidth metering, and traffic statistics.

Router: A router is a piece of equipment that connects at least two networks and forwards packets the most efficient way based on its knowledge of the connected networks. Routers typically maintain routing tables that contain available route, distance, and network congestion information. The router uses these tables along with complex algorithms to determine the most efficient way to send a packet across the network.

For most home and small business users with casual file transfers, a simple hub is sufficient. However, anyone transferring large amounts of data or using network-intensive applications should highly consider purchasing a switch.

A common differentiator in all three devices is the number of ports they have. The more ports a device has, the more computers or devices you can connect together. Each computer takes a port, as well as a cable or DSL internet connection, or additional hubs.

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Computers have addresses similar to the address of your business. Computer address are called IP addresses, and come in the form of 4 sets of digits separated by decimals, like this: "192.168.0.1" . In order for the computers on your network to see each other, you must assign addresses to each.

If you have a dial-up internet connection, and your internet provider is supplying you with Dynamic IPs, your IP address will change every time you connect to the internet. If you start up your computers, and connect to 4D server, they will be able to talk to eachother. However, if you connect to the internet on one of the computers, your IP may change, and 4D server will not know where the computer went. Simlarily, if you were sending letters to someone's house and they moved, they would no longer receive the mail. Connecting to the internet can cause your computer to "move".

If you are always connected to the internet you will have an IP. If you connect computers together with Ethernet, they should have an IP. If they do not, or if you are running server software and client software on the same computer, then you will have to set your own IPs.

How to set your IP on:
Mac OSX:
1. Click on the Apple menu in the top left of your screen, and select System Preferences
2. Click on Network
3. Change the second pop-up menu to "Built-In-Ethernet"
4. There is a pop-up menu next to Configure IPv4, change it to Manually
5. Replace the IP address with an appropriate IP address. The first computer you configure should be 192.168.0.1, the second one 192.168.0.2, and so on
6. Your subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0
7. Hit Apply Now, and close the window

Mac OS9:
1. Click on the Apple menu in the top left of your screen, move down to control panels, then select TCP/IP
2. Change the top pop-up menu to "Ethernet"
3. Change the second pop-up menu to "Manually"
4. Replace the IP address with an appropriate IP address. The first computer you configure should be 192.168.0.1, the second one 192.168.0.2, and so on
5. Your subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0
6. Close the window and hit Save

Windows:
1. Click on the Start menu
2. Select Control Panels under Settings
3. Double click on Network
4. Double click on Local Area Connection
5. Click on Properties
6. Select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) out of the white box
7. Click on Properties
8. Click on "Use the following IP address"
9. Replace the IP address with an appropriate IP address. The first computer you configure should be 192.168.0.1, the second one 192.168.0.2, and so on
10. Your subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0
11. Hit OK, and close the windows

Miscellaneous

Firewalls: Firewalls can cause networking problems by blocking ports of communication, 4D server may not be able to communicate with client computers.

Folder/File Permissions: You need to be able to read and write to the data file, your Operating System needs to know this. How to set permisions on:
Mac OSX:
1. Right-Click or Control-Click on the Sixth Sense POS or Sixth Sense Cafe folder and select Get Info
2. Click on the "Ownership & Permissions" arrow
3. Next to "You can" select "Read & Write"
4. Click on the details arrow
5. Click on "Apply to enclosed items" and hit "OK"
6. Close the "Details" arrow, then the "Ownership & Permissions" arrow
7. Close the window

Mac OS9:
1. Right-Click or Control-Click on the Sixth Sense POS or Sixth Sense Cafe folder, move to Get Info, and select "Sharing"
2. Make sure the "Share this item and its contents" is checked
3. Choose your user name from the pop-up menu next to "Users/groups"
4. Click on the double arrow to the right of "Users/groups" and select "Read/write"
5. Hit the "copy" button at the bottom, and hit "Copy"
6. Close the window

Windows:
1. Right-Click\ on the Sixth Sense POS or Sixth Sense Cafe folder and select "Properties"
2. Click on the "Security" tab
3. Make sure none of the "Deny" check boxes are checked
4. Hit "Advanced..."
5. Check "Reset permissions on all child objects and enable propagation of inheritable permissions."
6. Click "Apply", and hit "Yes"
7. Hit "OK", and close the window

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Networking Ethernet Printers

Macintosh:

The objective of this operation is to make the IP addresses for your printers match the addresses of rest of your network. Your computers already likely have addresses, if not, you can see how to give your computer an address by viewing the HELP section of your operating system, or the Networking/Computer Adresses section of the Sixth Sense support site above, on this page.

Each IP address is made of four sets of numbers. The first three numbers for each computer or Ethernet printer in your network will need to have the same first three sets of numbers.

PLEASE NOTE: Dynamic IP addresses from your internet provider cannot be used because the printers require static IPs. IP addresses MUST be static (never changing).

 

The following steps give your printer a new address:

1. Connect your Ethernet printer to your computer network. If you have multiple printers, connect them one at a time and repeat the following procedure for each.
2. Go to a computer in the network. Go into your Macintosh operating system’s System Preferences.
3.Select “Network”. Select “Ethernet Connection”. Select “Configure”.
4. Under the drop down menu for Location: - select “New Location…”. Name the new location: Temp
5. In the drop down menu “Show:” choose “Built In Ethernet”.
6. Under the line “Configure Ipv4:” select “Manual”
7. Under “IP Address:” Type 192.168.192.1 into the IP field
8. Apply changes

9. Open your internet browser, type 192.168.192.168 into the address field and press ENTER. This will access the Ethernet printer. The browser will connect. Click on TCP/IP and set the IP address to match your network. For example, if your network is using 192.168.0.x, then change the IP address of the printer to 192.168.0.110

You must remember which numbers you have assigned to each printer. Write these numbers down. We recommend writing these numbers on the printer, or labeling the printer.

10. Choose where that printer is going, for example Kitchen Cold. Go to Sixth Sense Café’s system preferences, Hardware section. Under Kitchen Cold type in the address you just created, eg.192.168.0.110.

11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 for each printer. When you are done, go to step 12.

 

12. When you have finished changing the addresses on your printers, correct the computer’s address to its original (eg. 192.168.0.1). To do so, go to the operating system's system preferences. Select Network, then Ethernet Connection, then Configure. In the drop down menu for Location, choose your previous location. Then Apply changes.

 

Note: Ethernet printers can only have addresses ending in x.x.x.110 to ending in x.x.x.250
Eg. 192.168.0.121 or 192.168.0.205

Note: If you are using a router, be sure to check the range of available addresses. Some routers may not let you go as high as ending at x.x.x.250.

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