I take it you are not versed in TCP/IP networking...
I will give you a little lesson on how this works, but you really need to involve your network guy for this.
When a network device (computer, router, hub, switch) sends data over a network, it is in the form of packets.
A packet is a unit of data sent across a network. When a large block of data is to be sent over a network, it is broken up into several packets, sent, and the reassembled at the other end. Packets often include checksum codes to detect transmission errors.
When a network device sends these packets out (be it in the form of a WEB request, file request, access to a server - basically any data that a computer sends/gets on a network), these packets hit EVERY network device on that local network.
Everytime a network device sees a packet on the network, it inspects the packet to see if it was intended for itself. If the packet does not contain the IP address of that device, it is discarded. (this includes devices with different sub net masks on the same network.)
The more network devices on a network, the more packets sent on that network.
Now, modern PCs are able to inspect a large number of packets with minimal problems. The CP, however, has a small processor and does not have the speed or memory to inspect a large amount of packets.
If the CP is getting more packets than it can keep up with, the processor will begin to lock-up. This, of course, is the same processor that controls the function of the CP itself.
The only way to resolve this problem is to put the CP behind a router or put it on it's own psycial network (which would still require a router).
The router will inspect the packets for the CP, and will only send the packets intended for the CP.