Need home network help

[Good Companion]

I'm really at a loss of why I'm losing connectivity for file transfers. I've got 3 PCs connected to a D-Link DI-713P wireless gateway/router. Two of the PCs are hard wired to the router with CAT 5 cable, the third has a wireless NIC. I know I have connectivity with the router because I get my cable internet connection with each.

I've got TCP/IP and Netbeui installed on each computer, with file and print sharing enabled. When I start up the any of the computers, I can see the others in Network Neighborhood. I can also access the shared resources. However, when I try to transfer a fairly large amount of data (MBs of data), it starts the transfer and eventually freezes. I have to use task manager to close the transfer window and from that point on when I try to access any other PC on the network, I get a "network unavailable" error message.

I'm starting to get really frustrated, because one of the reasons I got the router was to be able to quickly share files between computers without emailing them. Any ideas?

Dana

Don't know much about hardware routers, but does it set all the IP addresses via DHCP? If so, can you set them all manually and see if that fixes it? ust wondering if it's trying to resolve IP addy's while it it in the middle of sending a large bunch of data.

Cheers
Mick

[Good Companion]

Mick:

I checked the Properties of TCP/IP and DHCP is not enabled. I recall that the router setup requires that it be disabled (I think). In any event, I'm pretty sure I don't want to specify IP addresses because the router assigns them automatically. As a networking newbie, I really not sure ...

Dana

If DHCP is not enabled, then each NIC must have a manual IP address set in TCP/IP, as far as I'm aware. One or the other. Does each NIC have a manual IP addy already? If so, maybe the router is trying to set DHCP?

Dunno. DVNT1 will probably know, though. He normally browses this forum regularly.

Cheers
Mick

[DVNT1]

I don't believe IP addressing would be the problem in this case. Regardless if manually assigned or via DHCP, once it has the IP address it is set (until the lease expires but that normally isn't a problem because it would be automatically renewed before the lease is actually up).

Frequently this type of problem relates to faulting wiring (like a short in the cable) or poor/incorrect NIC driver.

But some other things to check:
If you similarly transfer files between the other two computers does the same thing happen? If yes, then I would check for newer firmware for the router.
Could be a resource conflict related to the NIC (like two devices on same IRQ but they actually don't work well; move NIC to a different slot).



Keep in mind that Internet traffic and LAN file transfers are much different in the load the put on the computer. LAN file transfers will definitely make use of more resources and will effectively magnify problems with drivers and cabling.

[GroundZero3]

what os are you using?

[Good Companion]

GroundZero: All of the comps are running Win98SE.

DVNT1:

I know the router/gateway assigns IP addresses to the comps for the purposes of internet traffic. I don't know whether it does so for file transfers.

I'm pretty sure I've got the right drivers. For example, this happens on all of the comps, and one of them uses a wireless NIC. I used the CD that came with the NIC (purchased 4 months ago) to install the driver.

With regard to resource conflicts, I don't recall seeing any conflicts in Control Panel/System (I forget the actual tab). I can call D-Link and chat with their tech support about the problem, and see if they have a firmware update.

With regard to cables, I can swap them out, but like I said it occurs when I use wireless or wired NICs. Just to be sure, I'll try hooking up the laptop (for which I normally use a wireless NIC) to the router via a Cat 5 cable. I'll see if it still occurs.

Thanks,

Dana

[JimG]

Since no one's mentioned it ...

There should be a little light on your router for Packet Collision. Just wondering if you've checked that when trying to transfer large files. I believe that if the packet collisions keep occurring, the network slows down and eventually just stops working. That would explain your problem ... then you have to figure out what's causing the collisions and fix it.

[originel]

also, have you tried installing the newest NIC drivers. since your NICs are already 4 months old, there has prolly been a realese after that. plus the drivers you're using are, more than likely, at least a year old. you can download firmware updates from d-link's website (no need to call tech support there).

[DVNT1]

Originally posted by Good Companion ...I know the router/gateway assigns IP addresses to the comps for the purposes of internet traffic. I don't know whether it does so for file transfers...

Generally same IP address for all communications. If you have multiple protocols installed, then the file transfers for MS File Sharing will depend on the protocol binding order (and common protocols with the other computers) to decide if file transfers go out TCP or a different protocol.

...I'm pretty sure I've got the right drivers. For example, this happens on all of the comps, and one of them uses a wireless NIC. I used the CD that came with the NIC (purchased 4 months ago) to install the driver...

The corect drivers may be installed but that doesn't rule out driver problems. But it certainly lowers it down on the checklist for probable causes.

...With regard to resource conflicts, I don't recall seeing any conflicts in Control Panel/System (I forget the actual tab).

Similarly, Windows may think shared IRQs are working fine but in actuality the relating devices may not be working well in that situation.

I can call D-Link and chat with their tech support about the problem, and see if they have a firmware update.

With regard to cables, I can swap them out, but like I said it occurs when I use wireless or wired NICs. Just to be sure, I'll try hooking up the laptop (for which I normally use a wireless NIC) to the router via a Cat 5 cable. I'll see if it still occurs....

D-Link may (should) have firmware available on thier website for download.

If this happens to all combinations of LAN file transfers (A to B, B to C, & A to C) than it is more likely to be the hub/router or a failing NIC like JimG comment can relate to. Sometime when a NIC fails it will flood the network with useless packets and cause congestion which equals poor performance. This can be detected by looking at the hubs/switches for lights indication very rapid/frequent data on one ore more ports. If multiple ports seem affected then pull the wires out and connect them one at a time while looking for the indication of flooding.