Hi,

The LAN in my company is as the following.

-10-user workgroup
-server & all clients running Win98
-LAN connect to the broadband ISP via a Linksys router/gateway.

-no proxy installed.

-5 pc are linked by a hub, another 5 pc are linked by another hub

While our internet connection is perfectly ok, there seems to be some odd problems in our LAN since about 1 week ago.

The 1st situation is like this:

1 of the client pc(client 9 on LAN) had been taken out of the office for presentation. When it's brought back, i found the NIC got loose from the pci slot, so i inserted it back properly into the pci slot, & reinstalled the NIC driver(D-Link DFE-538TX Fast Ethernet Adapter). By double-check with my own working pc, i've made sure all settings for the following are correct:

-local IP for that client pc
-DNS IP
-workgroup name & that client pc's name
-gateway ip
-subnet mask
-file & print sharing

Besides, i've made sure the correct driver has been installed for the NIC. For the logon options, i've tried 'Microsoft Family Logon' & 'Windows Logon'.

For this client pc, no password is assigned, & what the user does is just hit Enter.

B4 this client pc was brought out of office, it had been working fine, can see server & all clients on the workgroup.

But now, despite trying many times of uninstalling & reinstalling the NIC driver, this client pc seems could not properly get connected to the LAN.

When it's log on to the LAN for the first few minutes, it couldn't see all PCs on the LAN(in Network Neighbourhood) instantly, unlike in the past. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes for this client pc to be able see other PCs on network. But even if so, it can only see the clients pc connected with the same hub, which are 5 clients. The other 5 PCs including the server could never appear in Network Neighbourhood.

When checked the UTP cable that links this client pc to the 8-port hub, i found only certain empty ports could provide connection( by looking at the led). But even having tried each available port, the situation for this client still the same: can see other pc but cannot access.

There was once when i plugged the UTP cable to 1 of the port, i notice the Collision led blink periodically. What does this mean ? What's the use of the Collision led on the hub ?

Then when i tried other empty port, the collision led no more blinking.

--------------
From this client :

ping to other clients that it can see -- each result is 'Request Time Out'

tracert to other clients -- each time no response

--------------

The 2nd situation is like this:

Client 8 on LAN suffers the reverse from the above: it can ping,tracert,net view, net use to server & other clients on the LAN with the results all show up instantly( but couldn't do so from itself to client 9 & client 7),
but couldn't see all pc on network most of the time.

In the past, when client 8 got into Windows, it could see all pc on the LAN in just a click on Network Neighbourhood. But now, it takes very long time to wait for all pc turn up in
Network Neighbourhood, sometimes even couldn't see at all.

Besides, other clients also have the similar situation -- wait for ages to see the entire network.

Would anyone pls shed some light on why is this happening & how should i deal with it?

Could occasional power blackout have long-term 'accumalative' effect on the cable & network adapter in the pc ?

Any ideas appreciated. Many thx.

Most likely the TCP/IP stack got corrupted. Remove and reinstall. And if it's not too much over head, install Netbeui.

Larry

If those are really HUBs, then you should invest in a 100M/10M SWITCH or two as it will improve network through put and Internet access. Allows full duplex between Switched systems and the router. And no collisions.

I assume you have power cycled the LinkSys router several times during all this.

Sounds like the first client has a damaged card. Have you tried swapping the NIC cards between two machines and see if the problems follow?

Have you checked the Network settings, under Configuration tab, select the Network card, Properties and check the Advanced tab settings. Is the "Receive Buffer Size" the same as the other machines? More important, is the "Link Speed/Duplex Mode" set correctly for you network. The default "Auto Negotiation" setting can cause problems with some Hubs and you may need to set it to Half Duplex mode to match the rest of the network cards, along with the correct speed of your network. With Switches instead of hubs, Auto Negotiation is not a problem and should work.

Recommend checking the system(s) for AD-ware and Spyware that may have been picked up from the Internet. Run AD-Aware_v6 or SpyBot_S&D on the problem machines. There may be something trying to call home.

Thx for ur response. Actually 1 of the hub is a regular switch/hub.

-May i know how to set the transfer mode between Switched systems and the router to full duplex ?

-In my case, do i need to set it to full duplex ?

-How do we decide in what conditions that we need to set it to full duplex or half duplex ?

-All NIC & hubs are labeled support 10/100 Mbps. How can i find out the correct speed of the network ?

-How can we configure and make sure there is no collisions ?

>>I assume you have power cycled the LinkSys router several times during all this.

i have't touch or reset the LinkSys router yet. Would u pls explain about the above ?

i haven't try swapping the NIC between clients yet. All client pc are using the same NIC driver. If i do, then after the swap, do i need to uninstall the NIC driver, and then reinstall again ? i'm a bit confused here.

Many thx.

Besides, if the led on some port on the router, eg. on the 100Mbps led, turn to orange colour after resume from abrupt power shutdown, then what does the colour tell ? ( normal is light green/yellow )

Why isn't the led get back it's normal colour after resume from power light out?

If a switch generate a very high pitch beep when resume from sudden power off, what does this tell ? Why is this happening.

Many thx.