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Inconsistant network data transfer rate

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9 replies

by johnliss

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We have a peer-to-peer network with 12 workstations (95/98)thru a router. On some PCs the following occurs:
We work with access Db (and other large files)over the network with very acceptable speeds, however this may instantly slow to snail pace. Network activity light shows a slow steady blink. Other PCs access data fine. This continues thru many reboots then weeks later returns to full speed, only (weeks later) to slow to snail pace again.

9 replies

by joseph moore

Personally, I would put a packet sniffer on your network to see what is happening. A sniffer would be able to tell you how many packets are bouncing around, and to whom they are going to. Perhaps one of your users is running a file trading application, like Morpheus or BearShare, and clogging up the network.
Anyway, a sniffer like Sniffer Pro (what else, actually!) could tell you a lot, like network utilization and such.
www.sniffer.com

by johnliss

Thanks for the tip - I've now a few areas to investigate.
Hopefully one will crack it!

by cool_apj

As my friend said, a packet sniffer wld be a real good idea. I also sugget u to chk the router config. there is some activity which might be running in the background and causing bottlenecks in the Network

by johnliss

Thanks for the tip - I've now a few areas to investigate.
Hopefully one will crack it!

by isys

You should have a hub or switch to aggregate your users to the router, don't you? Is it capable of full-duplex communication on all ports? I had a similar situation and that fixed it for me.

by johnliss

Thanks for the tip - I've now a few areas to investigate.
Hopefully one will crack it!

by d_v ant

One other thing that hasn't been mentioned yet. If you have the network cards set to autonegotiate their connection speed can cause problems. The best thing to do is manually set them to 100 full duplex or whatever your network is using. Depending on the router yopu are using, you will want to configure those ports as well.

Hope this helps

by johnliss

Thanks for the tip - I've now a few areas to investigate.
Hopefully one will crack it!

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