IT consultant here. This sounds like a non-standard configuration, specifically that you have a router behind a router, or that your wireless router is running in bridge mode - in which case you’re going to be hard pressed to find the IP address to talk to it. There are ways to do so.
First of all, we need to verify that the connection is indeed from the ISP to the switch and then to the desktop and router. Second, we need the specific make and model number/name of all the networking equipment - the ISP modem or router, the switches, the wireless router and the “PowerLink.” Third, we need to know what ISP you are using.
This particular setup sounds quite old and you may be handicapping your speed quite badly with it.
Hi, thanks for the reply! I’m finally getting back to more of the replies to me.
Yes, the ISP “feeds” the “fast switch”, and then the switch presently “feeds” my desktop machine and a D-Link wireless router. Normally the switch would also feed another switch (which feeds various equipment including yet another switch out in my shop, which “shop switch” is in turn connected to various goodies), but I have the feed to the 2nd switch disconnected as I’ve been trying to diagnose this bugaboo. I’ve also swapped the feed to the PowerLink “send” or “injector” module to an Ethernet port on the wireless router since my original posts. It even appears to make no difference in what I “see” if I disconnect the Cat6 cable to the PowerLink “send” module, though of course that defeats its function, which is to send data back and forth over that AC power circuit. (Basically, it substitutes the AC house wiring for ethernet cable.)
So... The PowerLink “send” module is plugged in to and sends data to / receives data from a 120v AC power circuit in our house. At the far end (sort of) of that AC circuit is another PowerLink module (transceiver?) that plugs into said “far end” (bedroom) power outlet. The latter Powerlink module is both WiFi and also has an ethernet connection to my wife’s desktop machine.
Again, I don’t think any of this last matters — I can pull the Cat6 cable that feeds the Powerlink “injector” module from the router (previously the switch) and it makes no difference - except for losing the wired network connection to the bedroom...
I instead DO suspect that you are correct in that the problem with locating the D-Link wireless router is that the D-Link wireless router is “behind” the fast switch, as “viewed” from the connection to the ISP or my desktop machine.
The setup was done this way because the fast switch is much faster than the ethernet capability of the D-Link router, and the Powerlink module is supposed to be faster too, although in practice the speed turned out not to be of great practical benefit. I just don’t do stuff that is all that demanding, and the connection to our ISP usually ranges around 80 mbps upload and download: Slow by today’s standards, but plenty fast for us. Probably the most demanding thing we do is my wife’s watching movies over the web. I had ideas to do backups over our network, but, I never got that working. Instead of fighting it further, I freed up a HDD for direct backups of my wife’s desktop machine, and left similar “as they were” for my machines.
As the network is “pared down now”, I’ll try to find time to get the info. as it stands now, to you. I “busted” almost a day fruitlessly trying to figure out what the heck was going on, so I have a bunch of other “criticals” (not computer problems) I have to get to, too. A decent meal would be a good start...
Thanks much!