i m getting a strange problem , i m working as an internet distributor for my area, from the last few days all of my clients r getting slow speed problem, i got it checked from my company n they told me that some "ARP GENERATION" from some clients is there which is flooding the network due to which the network is slowing down, what shud i do to stop that? someone suggested me to put a LAYER2 SWITCH as a MAIN SWITCH in my office instead of my normal 10/100 switch....will that work? or shud i go n check each n every PC on my network for viruses or other worms to stop that(but this results in a very time consuming n lengthy process) what shud i do m confused n tensed with slow browsing complaints?.....help me please

I hope you don't mind me asking but, are you running antivirus and antispyware software on all PC's in your network? If not, I'd start by first scanning every PC for viruses (online, I recommend using eTrust online antivirus scan) and then install antivirus software and then antispyware software and run it too. If you don't have antivirus, that could very well be the problem and it's a lot cheaper to clean the offending PC(s) and prevent it from happening again than it is to buy a new switch.

Easiest method would be to use a QoS product like Packeteer. The product would monitor your network and report to you how much of your bandwidth is being used by ARP, ICMP, SMTP, HTTP, etc...all in an easy to read pie chart (which makes it easier to read than a sniffer). It will also tell you exactly which PC (via IP address) is creating that traffic. Additionally, not only can you monitor, but you can then apply rules (policies) that would then limit the amount of bandwidth that is being used by applications, or by offending PCs. I.e. you could input a rule that ARP only gets 1 kbps of bandwidth, so you still get ARP to your clients as needed without them overly consuming precious bandwidth. If you like more info I'm a professional IT consultant, and authorized on sales of Packeteer. Drop me a line. D

Like those packeteer's....we have one at work. But, using a QoS doesn't resolve the issue if it's caused by virus type activity. Best to find out what's causing it without masking the symptoms. Then if you have need, and the $, think about buying a QoS product.

thanks for all that support but that really doesnt solve my problem, m running a linux based software on my server to distribute lines it can tell me which IP is creating a mess, i've checked those IPs n found a hell lot of virus in them , i've told those customers to get their PCs cleaned some of them even formatted their PCs, but the very next day i got a list of those IPs which they had cleaned/formatted, as all of them watch porn sites heavily on net, i cant stop them to see that, what i want is something which can stop sending viruses onto other PCs on my network, i just talked to one software engineer who suggested me to put a network security management software which his company has made, he guarantee me of reducing the congestion by 70% but it is too costly for me to buy- around $1000, i'm confused what to do?