Networks Desperately need help with my networking setup.

I've been trying to fix this by myself for about a week now, and had no such luck - time to admit defeat and ask for help!

There are three PCs on my home network. They are:

- Laptop. (Network interface: Centrino 11Mbps wireless)
- Main PC. (Network interfaces: Dlink PCI wireless card (54Mbps), nVidia 100Mbit network (on board))
- Media server. (Network interfaces: Belkin PCI wireless card (54Mbps), Linksys 100Mbit PCI card)

All three PCs are connected to the net wirelessly, by the a Dlink wireless ADSL router.

This is how it was for a long time - but transmitting large files over the wireless network was too slow, so I decided to connect the Main PC and the Media server with a 100Mbit wired link.

With the Media server, I assigned the wired network card an IP of 192.168.0.1, subnet mask 255.255.255.0.
With the Main PC, I assigned the wired network card an IP of 192.168.0.2, subnet mask 255.255.255.0.

Both PCs are connected through a Netgear switch:
{Media server} - {patch cable} - {Netgear switch} - {patch cable} - {Main PC}

Now, I can ping one PC from the other, but there always seems to be a lot of packet loss. As a result, the link doesn't function correctly... large file transfers always seem to die, and connecting to the other PC is always a slow process.

For example:

Code:

Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Request timed out.
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

About 10% of the packets seem to be lost.

Duplex settings for both cards are set to auto-negotiate, and they connect at 100Mbps (full duplex).

Please help me out! This whole thing has been driving me insane.

 

Skip the Netgear switch and link them with a crossover cable.

 

The switch has to be there so I can link up my Xbox and Gamecube to the network.

 

Yes ok, i meant to say do not use it between those 2 PC's. If your only goal is to have faster transfer speeds between your main PC and the Media server then a crossovercable without any switch is the fastest way.

edit: try it this way and see if there's still packet loss, if so then likely one of your NIC's isn't 100%

 

Although they're not directly connected, make sure your D-Dink router isn't trying to give your wired computers IP addresses by DHCP, as it may get upset if they refuse to accept them? I certainly had this problem with my netgear router.

If you want to keep DCHP for wireless, but give static IPs to your main PC and the media server, you should be able to get the router to give the same address each time to the computers: on my netgear it's called "DCHP Address Reservation"

good luch

ch424

 

Also if your wireless network range is also in the same 192.168.0.x range you can expect packages to go through the WLAN instead of the wired LAN. You can change the network range of the wired LAN to another like 10.0.0.x

 

The wireless LAN is 192.168.1.x, wired is 192.168.0.x.

And I get the same problems with the wireless network disabled, so it can't be that.

 

like coorz said, you should try a crossover cable without the netgear switch, or perhaps try replacing the netgear switch with the d-link while it's got dhcp switched off.

ch424

 

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=73877

 

Unlikely cause but certainly not impossible . Perhaps generating some airflow with extra fans or some mesh side-windows.
I guess the onboard LAN is integrated in the Southbridge/chipset so stick a bigger heatsink on it.

 

It's not unlikely, it's certain.

Case off = network on.
Case on = network off.

Network uptime so far is 20 hours. My previous record (with the case on) was 15 minutes.

I think I might need something more drastic than more ventilation. Are there any watercooling options?

 

i would try this, in this order:

swap-test your patch cables. check the tabs, make sure you get a tight fit.

update nic drivers if available. ( i had a linksys card that was flakey about windows drivers. had 4 v.4 cards, and 1 v.5, apparently totally different chipsets)

try different ports on switch

is switch powered?

try class a or class b ip's.

try different subnet masking.
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on my htpc, when i plug in the cat5 for large files, it's still the same router. (2wire .11b + 4port switch) so it reads the netbios off the windows install, and winXP automatically bridges the connections. when i remove the cable, i have to do a "ipconfig /renew" to kill the 100mbps link.