How can I test my NIC?

[Antoneo]

Hey guys, well I bought a used DFI NF3 250GB board on the FS/FT here several months back. Unfortunately I discovered damage to the wires inside of the NIC's port; several of them were bent and so they were returned back to their positions to the best of my abilities.

I have no idea how the wires inside of the port could be moved like that.

Is there a way to test the NIC's reliability? Or are there tell tale signs that I should be aware of? I don't see the taskbar icon alerting me of LAN connection disconnects.

 

[Goosemaster]

ping 127.0.0.1

 

[Kibbo86]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
ping 127.0.0.1

I don't think that would test the reliability of the wires. I think the OP is more concerned with maintaining a solid connection to a cable, and the self-ping you suggest works even when the plug is out.

OP, what is your NIC connected to? A modem, router, or other? Do you know the IP address of that device?

Try pinging the following two addresses:
192.168.2.1
192.168.0.1

If you get replies from either, take that device and enter the following command:
ping <ip address> -n 20

That will ping 20 times, giving you a big enough sample to pick up on any dropped packets.

No way to test for long-term reliability on this NIC, unfortunately, I wouldn't plug and unplug the cable 100 times a day.

 

[skyking]

Originally posted by: Antoneo
Hey guys, well I bought a used DFI NF3 250GB board on the FS/FT here several months back. Unfortunately I discovered damage to the wires inside of the NIC's port; several of them were bent and so they were returned back to their positions to the best of my abilities.

I have no idea how the wires inside of the port could be moved like that.

Is there a way to test the NIC's reliability? Or are there tell tale signs that I should be aware of? I don't see the taskbar icon alerting me of LAN connection disconnects.

Easy to do. simply plug a phone cord into it. The plastic on either side of a 4 conductor RJ11 plug will tend to bend the outside wires of an RJ45 female every time.

IF you got them straight, plug it into a device and note the lights. If you have green lights, there is a link. If not, get a PCI NIC and disable that one in the BIOS.

 

[Antoneo]

Ah, thanks for the responses guys. Yes, I was trying to test for whether or not a solid connection has been made and if it was being maintained. I was curious if there was any other way than the usual LED link lights or just through plain usage. The NIC in question is connected to a router and has successfully passed the ping tests. I guess there's nothing to worry about then hehe.

 

[Zap]

Nope, nothing to worry about. I've done those repairs to network card contacts before with success. If you're really paranoid you can do a continuous ping (-t) and let it go for as long as your computer is running, then CTRL-C to stop it to get results. Ping doesn't eat up much LAN traffic so you can let it run indefinately.