Ethernet connected, but no link

I am having trouble connecting a SonicBlue Receiver to my network. The network layout is as follows.

ADSL - [Netgear wireless router/switch] - [Netgear 5port switch] - [Netgear 16port switch] - [music server]

Any Receivers I connect to the 16port switch work perfectly, but if I connect to the 5port switch or the ADSL router it doesn't work, the Receiver's link LED doesn't even come on and of course it'll never find the server.

The 16port switch is the older thin flat and square style of Netgear switch, the other 2 devices are the newer silver oval boxes.

This problem is peculiar to the Rio since computers connected to any of the switches work perfectly, play music and can access the 'Net over the ADSL connection. What is failing between the Receiver and the switch? Is it a 10/100 sensing problem?

Anyone found a solution to this?

The Ethernet in the Receiver is notoriously sensitive to variances in other equipment.

See if you can replace the 5port switch/hub with another (older) one.

And are you telling me that Netgear no longer make the nice blue stuff? That silver stuff is ugly.

Hi Roger, actually the Receiver needs to be connected to the Router and at the moment I cannot replace that. One might think that as Netgear have their own music player now maybe this is sapbotage.

What I have discovered is that if I put a simple hub (Also Netgear in fact) in between the Receiver and the switch it works perfectly. What I also found is that if once the link is established I then take the hub out of circuit (i.e. Receiver now connected directly to the switch) the Receiver continues to work. If I then reboot it by hitting the power switch 3 times it maintains the link, but if I pull the power and re-connect then it fails to link on the next start.

My conclusion from this is that it seems to be a problem with the actual ethernet subsystem of the Receiver, not that that really helps me:-( I would also hazzard a guess that it is something to do with Autosensing speed or the Auto Uplink capability of the new switches. Can anything be done about this, apart from using an additional hub?

I think the older flat blue devices are still available, but as these particular units needed to be in my garage I preferred the rustless plastic of the new designs, not such a good idea it now seems:-(

Can anything be done about this, apart from using an additional hub?

Only if you can force non-duplex, 10Mbps operation on the switch. Being a consumer product, you probably can't. You'll have to use an additional hub.

At the moment I have used an old hub to get it going, then removed the hub and it has since been functioning perfectly as I expect it to until I need to power it off. Then I'll need to dig out the old hub again.

I confess I've NEVER had any other ethernet device that wouldn't work with any other device - until now with the Rio Receivers which is disappointing.

I'll be taking it up with Netgear though, see what they say.