Small Network Problem

[Jon80FLT]

I'm sort-of a newbie with networks, though I have had this small network up for a couple of years. My problem is that I just upgraded my server, now my clients seem slower.

Some details:
* I am connected to the internet thru a cable modem.
* I have upgraded to an AMD K6-III, 333Mhz acting as a dedicated server for 4 clients.
* I am using Sygate 3.0 as the DHCP server with 2 PCI NIC's (one connected to the cable modem, the other connected to a 10baseT hub with a private IP of 192.168.0.1).
* I have TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, and NetBuie protocols installed.
* The server has two matched Netgear 311 NIC's.
* All systems are using Win98SE.
* All clients use "auto detect settings" and no proxy info.

Before I updated the server, I had 2 different ISA NIC's in the server (a 3com 3C509B-Combo for the intranet, a Linksys Ether16 for the Internet connection) on a Pentium 166.

Before the upgrade, MSN's bandwith test:

http://msn.zdnet.com/partners/msn/bandwidth/speedtest500.htm

would return results of about 900Kbits/s for both the server and the clients (on average). After the upgrade the Server gets speeds like 1800Kbits/s, but the clients average about 50Kbits/s!!!!!

I made no changes to the server software, except to designate the new NIC's. I made no changes to the client machines at all.

Could someone please help? I think I need to change a setting I'm not aware of.

Thanks in advance.
Jon

 

[kjonnnnn]

Dump the IPX.. and netbeui
What OS?

 

[Jon80FLT]

KJonnnnn said:
Dump the IPX.. and netbeui
What OS?

All machines are running Win98SE.

If I dump the IPX and NetBeui, won't I loose the ability to share resources (printers, fax, harddrives)?

I have a little more info to add. After working till 3am last nite on the network, I made some changes and may have found the problem.

I went and bought the Linksys Cable/DSL home gateway, to do away with the dedicated server computer. My test speeds started off in the 2000Kbits/s range, until I added back into the system a length of coax that makes the run between the 2 buildings.

The coax had a connector that had corroded, and pushed the impedance of the cable up to 30ohm (with a 50ohm terminator on each end). Since the network needs to see 25ohms on the coax, I modified one terminator to have a 39ohm resister in it, thereby reducing the overall impedance to about 25ohm.

My speeds are back up, but only to about 500Kbit/s.

My next question then is: How fast can a length (175') of coax (RG/59) transmit data, and why would it slow down the whole network? The configuration I have is like this:

|cable modem| --> |Linksys Gateway router| --> |10baseT 8-port Hub| --> |10baseT 4-port hub with BNC Coax cable port| --(RG59 coax)--> |10BaseT 4-port hub with BNC Coax cable port| --> 1 computer

In other words, I have a length of coax going to the other building for one client machine with a hub that converts from 10BaseT to 10Base2 at each end of the coax. No other clients are attached to either of these 2 "converter" hubs. The other 4 computers are attached to the 8-port hub, then I have 1 "uplink" connection to the "converter" hub from the 8-port hub.

Isn't the coax portion "isolated" from the rest of the network? I could understand the coax portion, and anything downstream from it going slower, but why does it effect the part of the LAN that is upstream from it?

Is the "overhead" for 10Base2 bigger? Is that why my speed across the whole LAN is effected?

I may be forced to string CAT5 cable to the other building. Is 175' too long? Is there an exterior grade cable that has a "suspension" wire attached? Now that I see the rest of the network can surf at about 2Mb/s, I don't want this single computer dragging us all down to .5Mb/s

Thanks for any input you may have.

Jon

 

[wybnormal]

I would guess if you throw a sniffer on the network you will find a bunch of corrupted packets due to the corrosion. Get rid of the connector and fix it right. It's not just the ohms that you need to worry about. The corrosion will antenuate(spelling?) the signal strength to a point where the noise overcomes it and the packet is "lost" or corrupted.

Mike S
"Diplomacy; the art of saying 'nice doggie' till you can find a rock" Wynn Catlin

 

[Jon80FLT]

WyBNormal said:Get rid of the connector and fix it right

I guess I neglected to make it clear that I DID replace the bad connection, but the impedance on the coax still stayed too high. Maybe the coax has stretched from being strung between the 2 buildings? I had continuously taped it to a steel cable that I affixed, under tension, to the two end points. I didn't think the coax would stretch, since I didn't put it under tension, but maybe it did.

But that still doesn't answer the speed question about 10BaseT vs. 10Base2 networks.

Thanks,
Jon

 

[Jon80FLT]

I'm thinking of replacing the Coax with the Linksys Wireless Network Access Point.

http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?prid=157&grid=19

(it looks like you will need to Cut & Paste the whole link. How do you post a link here? This board keeps adding a ";" between the "&" and "grid" that should not be there.)

Has anyone used this product yet? How well does it work over about 200', mostly outdoors? Their whitepaper says it will do 11Mbits/s over 820' outdoors, but is that only during the most optimal conditions? What about wind and rain?

Thanks,
Jon

 

[wybnormal]

You can run CAT5 100 meters.. or roughly 330 feet. Another option would be to run a fiber pair and use optical transcievers at each end. This will give you an option as speed increases without having to repulling the link.

Wireless is ok.. but not for anything sensitive.. it's easily hacked as shown by recent news releases and the fact that NAI has a wireless sniffer available. It's also subject to interference and so on.

I doubt your coax stretched.. did you check the loads to make sure neither decided to go out of spec? If you have a TDR, it will tell exactly where the problem is ..

Mike S
"Diplomacy; the art of saying 'nice doggie' till you can find a rock" Wynn Catlin

 

[Jon80FLT]

What is a TDR?