Workstations loose internet connection - Believe it is HP 4000M Switch

[SBrummer]

Hello. Please bear with me, I am not a savvy network guru. The problem we are having, is that our workstations will randomly loose their internet connection (amount of downtime differs each time - minimum is 2 min, maximum has been at least 2 hours). The servers in our server room will stay online and have internet capability during this downtime. Workstations are able to access mapped drives to our servers during this internet downtime.

Our team has derived at the fact that it could be our HP 4000M Switch (it is between our workstations and servers). HP states that the switch does not have the capability to do this. Does anyone know what would be causing this to happen? Please let me know what specific information you need from me. Thanks!

-sb

 

[Thraxis77]

If the PCs can talk to each other, and to the servers, but not the internet, it leads me to believe that the switch is NOT the problem. Data packets are data packets, if it is 'switching' some, then it is switching all, (for simplicity sake). We have this problem all the time here, but it is attributed to ad/spy/mal ware hosing up the IP addresses, or redirecting them, or screwing up the local hosts file. In short, it sounds like it is a workstation issue, not a switch issue.

 

[SBrummer]

Is there a way to search our network for any users using this ad/spy/mal ware? What have you done for your network in order to eliminate this problem?

Thanks for you help!

-sb

 

[Thraxis77]

We usually go from PC to PC and use Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy, both available at download.com. Try these set on their most thorough settings, as well as a good virus scan, and see if it fixes the issue. Short of checking each PC remotely to see what processes are running and if any are out of the ordinary, this is the cheapest answer. There are network scanners, such as Pest-Patrol, that will do this via a login script, but they aren't free.