Switch is dropping packets

[Usher]

I have and 4 port SMC EZ switch 10/100 it is has been working fine for a year. Now it is randomly dropping packets. Does anyone have any ideas what inside the switch could degrade to cause this or how to open up the switch without tearing it up. I know it is the switch dropping packets, it was replaced with another switch and the network is running fine. I also tried to set the switch up in another network and same problem occured. thanks for any help or ideas.

 

[spidey07]

please describe your testing methods (ip addresses/masks, cables used, nics used, OS used, applications used, physical layout) and I'll try to help.

Switches drop packets all the time when given the correct (or is that wrong?) configurations. This could be a fun thread if the switch is truly is dropping frames.

 

[Usher]

Okay... the network setup is just internet connection sharing with a win2k computer as the internet server. The internet server is set to ip of 192.168.0.1 and the others on the network obtain their ip's automatically. One win2k system(internet router), and 3 Win98 computers. The cables are all cat 5e and none are over 50 feet. I am not sure what NIC cards are being used in the computers, but I am sure at least 2 of them are Linksys and probably all four. I was off at school when the switch started acting up and I had the fun of troubleshooting this over the phone. Originally the setup had an uplink to a hub because we were running 7 systems on the network. My parents complained that they lost internet capabilities on all the computers except the one hooked directly to the cable modem. They claimed they havn't added any new programs recently to any of the computers, which I believe because all they do is play everquest and surf the web. I used the windows dos ping command to see if the internal computers could reach the net. They could but every other packet was timing out. Then I tried to see what happened if I pinged the internal computers. All of them were timing out sending packets to each other. Yes this was tested on each computer. Next step I wanted to just narrow down the variables so I had all the computers removed from the network except for the internet server and one other machine. Still had the same problems so I changed out the switch for the HUB and the network was running smoothly again. I bought a replacement 8 port switch and that one is also running perfectly.

When I got home I hooked the bad switch to my personal network of computers (Yes yes yes... All of us Ga tech kids have at least 2 ) a laptop running win98, another machine running win98, and my main computer running winxp. All these computers use linksys network cards. I used different cables that are all around 15 feet in length. The same problems continues. I can get packets through randomly when pining but all other web programs can't find the net. I also know the cables in my room work fine because I am using a Linksys Hub at the moment.

Also the model number of the SMC switch is SMC6405TX

 

[ScottMac]

I'd be more inclined to blame the WIN2K box if the packets are indeed being dropped on your side of the connection.

It's a much more likely candidate than the ASIC-based switch. When we tested these things (nearly a year ago), they out-performed full-blown commercial switches (since they're not expandable, have no spanning tree or other features, etc).

Make sure your WIN2K ICS box has all the updates (like the COM+ rollup and security updates), check it for viruses, trojans, and worms, defrag the disk, and make sure there are no other programs running in the background.

Good Luck

Scott

 

[Usher]

I know its not the win2k box. I set up a two win98 computer network with the switch. Still does request time out for at leat 1 out of 4 packet request using the dos ping command. As stated earlier it worked fine for a year and then just started acting up.

Usher

 

[spidey07]

In that case the switch is truly bad. barring any speed/duplex issues I'd return it or have it replaced under maintenance.

 

[techshock]

USher, are all of your boxes running at the same speed. Example 100BaseT FullDuplex?