I'm a little confused but I'll try to help.  You don't mention what is hooked up to the switch besides being connected to the router.  Most switches have an uplink port for connection to other switches or hubs which is what your router is also.  The uplink port will autosense if you are using a regular or crossover cable and connect correctly.  I'm not sure about the Dell switch, but for a Linksys 8 port switch there are 9 ports.  The eighth port is associated to the uplink port and the only time I have ever had a problem with the switch is if someone plugs into both the 8th port and the uplink port at the same time.  On the Dell switch I would look for a port marked uplink and use that to connect to the router, if none is marked uplink I would use port 24 for the router and start all the other connections from port 1 on up.

Thanks for your input.  I will try your recommendation.  My switch has different items hooked to it, including dvd players, pre-processor, xbox, printer, etc.  You may have touched on something when you mention crossover cable.  I may run to the store and pick one up since they are inexpensive and this would be an easy check to see if that is the problem.  I will let you know if it works.  If not, I will try your recommendation to use port 24 to connect to my router.

 

Thanks,

 

Jeff

I don't think a crossover cable will help.  I looked up the specs for the switch and it says:

Each port supports Auto MDI & MDI-X functionality. When cascading with other switches or hubs, each port can connect directly to a switch or hub with straight through twisted pair cable.

The manual show two switches connected using ports 1 & 3.  The default IP address for a LInksys router is 192.168.1.1 so I would try connecting the computer to the switch and see if you car ping 19.168.1.1, you might also try a different cable in case it has been damaged.  If I think of anything else I will let you know.