Network Connection Unplugged !

[Noise]

Hi

 

For some unknown reason - randomly, our network connection will just unplug and the bubble will come up on the bottom right of the screen saying this.

 

It will happen similtaneously on all machines and we have no idea why. It might last for 5 seconds or until we reboot all machines including the server 3 times.

 

Has anyone experienced this before ?

 

We are using Win XP Pro x64 as the OS on all machines including the server.

[SandmanNinja]

It would suggest a non-node issue - i.e. if it happened to all of the workstations at the same time, it sounds centrally located.

 

It sounds more router based than server based.

 

Since the workstations sync their clocks with the server time, you should be able to compare the exact time in the various logs on the server with the logs on the workstations and see what that reveals.

 

Do you have another router you can use as a replacement to see if that fixes the problem?

 

Do you have the ability to flash upgrade the ROM on the router?

[Noise]

I changed the router to a previous one and it still happened.

 

I think you are right that it is centrally located but, it goes offline when I do something like saving a file (not always though) so I am semi getting the blame !

[SandmanNinja]

Check the various logs then.

 

The server log should have a bunch of data.

If it's full and confusing, just clear the log and then do a bunch of saves to try to re-create the trouble.

 

How many nodes are connected to the network?

 

What if you unplugged all but 2 nodes and then try to re-create the effect.

Could it be some sort of excess data flooding the router??

 

What brand name is the router? Cisco and Dlink are both good.

 

Nothing else was done prior to this happening?

No service patches, upgrades? Have you scanned for spy ware and viruses? If so, install a different brand of virus scanner and check again. If it happens during a disk write on the server, then perhaps there is a virus that sees the big block of data coming in and tries to do something else (like copy itself) and that is confusing things.

 

But it really sounds Router related.

[bmcgonigle]

Check the network card on the server and replace the network cable from the server to the router. Either one could be failing and dropping communications which could cause the router to lock up.