What problems can cat5 splitters cause?

[MulLa]

Hi all

There's one user here who has got a cat5 splitter connecting her PC and network printer to the same wall jack. She's experiencing occassional (once-twice a day 'freezing' and 'exterme slowness' in her terminal server application). The funny thing is she's never had this problem before until a month ago. I tried everything imaginable and now I'm down to the wiring and connections.

I've changed her connection on the netgear 24 port switch to the Intel 8 port switch, which is connected to the netgear via an uplink. Yes I'm out of ports on the netgear. The funny thing here is, the lights indicates a 100mbps on the netgear but as soon as I plug it into the intel it indicates a 10mbps connection??

I was just wondering if the splitter could be causing these problems? Terminal server weirdness and 10-100mbps detection weirdness.

Thanks all for any ideas to this strange problem.

 

[spidey07]

splitters can cause exaclty the symptoms you describe.

Flaky network.

-edit- just run the other cable and see if the problems disappear.

 

[MulLa]

Thanks spidey07 for the quick reply. If indeed it was found to be the splitter causing the problem. I should go out and get a little hub/switch for her yeah?

 

[cmetz]

MulLa, regardless of whether the splitter turns out to be this problem, getting it out of there and replacing it with a small switch is a good idea. Just fewer potential problems.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: MulLa
Thanks spidey07 for the quick reply. If indeed it was found to be the splitter causing the problem. I should go out and get a little hub/switch for her yeah?

For a temporary deal (and I stress temporary) then a small hub/switch would be fine.

Its just one of those "less is more" kinda things. The less active network devices in your net the better. While cat5 splitters may work fine, I've seen 'em cause problems. Just like any "mucking with the physical layer" problem.

Don't fvck with the physical layer. :beer:
Now where's the Jack Daniels and coke emoticon?

 

[MulLa]

cmetz, Yes I understand where you're coming from. Unfortunately I'd need some proof that this setup is causing some sort of problem before I can ask my boss to spend some money on the network. Unfortunate fact in the workplace :disgust:


spidey07, I didn't put that splitter there. The consultants before I started working here did that :evil:. So what do you suggest long term wise? Should I move the printer elsewhere so it'd have its own wall jack to plug in to?

I definately have no desire to fvck with the physical layer.... Those cables in the switchboard is giving me a headache just looking at it! :beer:

:gift: Maybe your Jack Daniels and Coke is in the present!


Thanks to both of you for your advice!

 

[spidey07]

have somebody run the cable. 150 bucks.

If you have to prove to your boss you need to spend 150 bucks...you guys need to have a talk.

"I'm going to spend the next 6 hours working on the 'proof' you need, how much does that cost?"

 

[MulLa]

spidey07, thanks again for the reply. Well, it's nice to locate the source of the problem first before spending the $150. What if I did that and the problem still exists . Just like to be more certain that's all.

Still this thread has made me more confident in solving this problem now.

 

[rw120555]

Just as a matter of curiousity, why would you run another cable for $150 instead of getting a hub or switch? Are you really going to see that much difference in performance or reliability?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: rw120555
Just as a matter of curiousity, why would you run another cable for $150 instead of getting a hub or switch? Are you really going to see that much difference in performance or reliability?

Why would you add another switch to a network? What are the consequnces?

Consequences include another active point of failure, higher latency, more difficult troubleshooting, increased chance of a spanning-tree failure.

So the question really is "any good reason to use a switch instead of running a cable?"

NO.

-edit- What I'm trying to get at here is many folks think "I'll just add a switch", fortunately these same companies pay me to come in a fix their now barely working, goes down many times a day network. So please keep my side consulting business a float! Keep throwing those switches on to a network. Daddy needs the money!

-edit2- you have no idea how easy it is to completly screw up a small network. I was playing at a LAN party a few years ago and the IT guys kept saying "OH, the networks down again" and this went on about once or twice in a single game. They had about 15 switches and hubs thrown all over the place for an office of about 40 people. I asked a simple question "does this happen often?" And they said "yeah about 10 times a day".

"here's my card. for 1000 bucks and 4 hours I'll fix it for ya."
That one visit gave me about 20 other small customers. Apparently small businesses think it is OK for a network to stop working and there was no such thing as a reliable network.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: rw120555
Just as a matter of curiousity, why would you run another cable for $150 instead of getting a hub or switch? Are you really going to see that much difference in performance or reliability?

RW, what I'm really trying to say is "what compelling reason is there to placing a switch in an office for somebody who just needs a network attached printer?"

 

[rw120555]

Thanks Spidey. For my dinky little home network, I just add a switch here and there and it seems to work fine. But it is mostly just internet and printer sharing -- No gaming, and I'm the only one who does any file sharing at all.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: rw120555
Thanks Spidey. For my dinky little home network, I just add a switch here and there and it seems to work fine. But it is mostly just internet and printer sharing -- No gaming, and I'm the only one who does any file sharing at all.

Yep, for a few nodes throwing switches all over the place is plenty fine.

 

[cmetz]

MulLa, if possible, move the other device to somewhere it has a clean jack, problem solved.

MulLa and spidey07, the reason I suggested a SOHO switch is that it's cheap (4/5 port switches come in cracker-jack boxes these days), it's a tool you need in your network bag of tricks anyway, and it can demonstrate that the splitter is the problem by letting you get that out of there. Swap a 4-port mini switch for the splitter setup and let it run for a week - if you have no more problems, that's a way to show that the splitter is the problem. How you permanently solve the problem from there is a trickier question. Obviously, once you've got the SOHO switch approach working, justifying spending more money to do something different might be a tough sell. One way to help with this is to simply buy your own switch / bring it in from home and so "you have to take it back."

 

[spidey07]

Right on the money once again Cmetz.

I mean all you have to do is plug it in right?

 

[MulLa]

Gee a lot has happened during my absense.

I think I'll give cmetz's idea of bringing a small switch along one day and loan it to the company while I test it out. At the moment it's still on the splitter into the Intel 8-port switch.

Don't think I can move the printer else where since this girl prints out stacks of invoices each day and do need to be next to a printer. Althought I could suggest swapping her printer with someone else who has a personal USB/Parallel printer. That way she just needs one network jack.

Will wait a coupla days and I'll keep you all posted for any results.


Thanks