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Losing network connection

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by sheri.newell

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I have a user that seems to be losing her network connection. There are link lights on the network card and the device manager doesn't indicate a problem w/ it. I have updated the drivers for the network card. I have changed out cat5 cables. Theonly thing that works when she loses her connection is unplugging the cat5 from the network card and plugging it back in. I feel this is a temporary fix for this problem. Does anybody have any suggestions on what else might could be wrong? Thanks.

9 replies

by jmoore

Is the NIC set to power off during idle times or is it set to bring the computer out of Stanby or possibly both? I had this same problem just recently, and found my NIC was set to power off.
Good Luck :)

by alpha-male

There are several possibilities here. I'd check the power management settings - particularly if it loses connection when left idle for a while.

I'd likely use a packet sniffer here just to see what's happening, but not everyone likes to work that way.

If it drops connection while active and you have already replaced the cable, I'd replace the NIC.

If with a new nic, power management set correctly, new cable and new drivers it *still* has problems, my next steps would be to look at your networking software. You don't mention a server software or OS of the workstation...

If you're using windows, I'd consider stripping out the networking software (TCP/IP, Netbios, etc) and completely installing it from scratch. I'd add the latest versions of Dial up networking and winsock.

If after *all this* you still have trouble, then it is time to work with the packet sniffer and see what's happening on the network. Look for drops, crc errors, etc, and particularly the packets that the troublesome system sends and receives to the server. Watch for "keep-alive" packets that are not being answered.

Hope this helps! Good luck....

by b_pope

You could also get a line test done, I had a similar problem went on for months till I called the phone company to do a line test. Turned out there was a old splice in my line that was barely holding together & whenever it was raining or just a small breeze my connection would go off & on randomly only for seconds at a time.

by jdroba

I had this problem with a bunch of Dell computers I installed as part of my department life-cyle program. They would just "suddenly" lose their LAN connection. I did 2 things to fix this problme and it has not surfaced since.

1. I updated the NIC driver to the most curent version. The key point on this, however, is that Dell ships its systems with an integrated 3COM Nic Card (a 3COM 3C920 card). Their drivers are set to the default Windows driver. I neede to replace it with the current 3COM driver for this model.

2. I updated the system BIOS to the most current version. check to see if you manufature has a newer Flash BIOS available.

Hope this helps.

Joel

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