siebkens Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 I have one computer upstairs, 2 downstairs. I have had an ongoing network problem - for months (at least). The 2 computers downstairs communicate, but the one upstairs can see the downstairs computers only part of the time. My last 2 pings returned only half the time - picture here.XP Pro on all 3 machines. Have tried different routers, switch, with ICS, without ICS, different network cards. It seems the longer that the computers are turned on, the worse communication gets. I have unplugged everything & turned on in every imaginable order. The one thing that I haven't tried yet is to bring one of the boxes from downstairs to hook directly to the upstairs box. I don't want to face that it could be the cable because it replacing it will be a major pain. I believe the ethernet cable is about 100 feet long running from upstairs to downstairs and I'm not sure why it would get worse. It did work fine for years. Any suggestions for how to diagnose what is causing the slowdown?Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebkens Posted July 31, 2004 Author Share Posted July 31, 2004 I forgot to mention that I removed Norton's firewall from all computers. Have been running without Norton's for a couple of weeks - have the same problems with all firewalls turned off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 I have unplugged everything & turned on in every imaginable order. The one thing that I haven't tried yet is to bring one of the boxes from downstairs to hook directly to the upstairs box. I don't want to face that it could be the cable because it replacing it will be a major pain. I believe the ethernet cable is about 100 feet long running from upstairs to downstairs and I'm not sure why it would get worse. It did work fine for years. 100 feet? You're asking for trouble. Although Ethernet is rated to work across distances of up to 300 feet before you need to regenerate the signal, I can assure you that a 100-ft cable in a home network is asking for trouble. 10-15ft should be the ideal. I would definitely replace the cable. It's probably worn out somewhere along its length. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackR Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 In your Ipconfig output it shows IP 169.xxx.xxx.xxxThis is the default IP that Windows assigns when the computer can not get an IP.I.e. It seems that the computer is not connected.A commercial made 100ft CAT5e cable should not be a trouble, unless it is severely Bended or Crushed somewhere along the stretch.I would take the "bad computer" downstairs and connected it with short good CAT5 and see how it behaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebkens Posted August 1, 2004 Author Share Posted August 1, 2004 Thanks folks - I was afraid of that. I'll be out of town for a couple of days, but will work on it more when I get back. JackR In your Ipconfig output it shows IP 169.xxx.xxx.xxxThis is the default IP that Windows assigns when the computer can not get an IP.I.e. It seems that the computer is not connected.The explanation for that is that I have just gone back to ICS to try to fix this problem & my upstairs computer should be handing out IP addresses & it's not doing its job. Bad computer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 Quick way to confirm that it is the cable and not a computer is to simply swap computers. If the problem follows the computer then it is the computer if the newly placed computer is also having problems then it is the cable.That is the only way, short of a wire diagnostic tool, to tell what is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebkens Posted August 5, 2004 Author Share Posted August 5, 2004 Haven't had time to make any changes or do any diagnostics, but SHAZAAM, my network is now working since I left it on & it had time to find itself (2 days worth). We all need that time to find ourselves from time to time, right? I haven't checked (don't really know how to) the speed between computers, but they are talking to each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.