For the past month and a half (maybe longer) I've had a problem with Windows boxes on my network losing connection. I've replaced an ancient switch (10 yrs old, 10mbps), the Sonicwall, yet the problem still persists.

This network is mostly used for public access in our library. They are mostly XP machines, however, there are a handful of Win98 boxes that it has plagued as well. There is no rhyme or reason to when the machines lose connection... it's fairly sporadic.

The only way to temporarily solve the problem is to uninstall and reinstall the NIC driver. This fixes it for an intermittent amount of time

I'm fairly new to networking at this is driving me insane! The hub is probably next on my replace list.

Could this be a DNS virus? Someone mentioned this and I've found out about DNS changers. I just ran an AVG Pro scan under diagnostic mode in XP and haven't found anything. It has happened on computers used by staff only which makes me think it is probably not a virus. However, I thought perhaps this could be spreading all over the network. Any scanners you'd recommend?

Someone told me to try and unplug everything from the hub and go straight into the router. I only have four ports, though, so that might not work.

Our wired network is all that is affected by this. Wireless is perfect.

Your hub may be the first reason, secondly scan your entire network node for virus. Recommended scanner is MacAfee sdat file, you can download it from this link

McAfee, Inc. - Downloads - Virus Protection - DAT Files

Download the latest sdatxx.exe from Superdat TAB.

Odd, I though I already posted to this thread. Anyway. The common point of failure among the machines is their hardwired LAN connection. Change the device they are all plugged in to and your issue should be resolved.

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Originally Posted by TechEmperor

Odd, I though I already posted to this thread. Anyways. The common point of failure among the machines is their hardwired LAN connection. Change the device they are all plugged in to and your issue should be resolved.

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The linksys is the only thing left to replace. I hate to buy more equipment without knowing, but, unless a miracle happens, I guess I'll have to.

You could try borrowing a switch from someone before buying a new one.

We already replaced our switch. When I said Linksys, I meant the router... sorry for not specifying. It's a higher quality Linksys router than the home ones, however, I see it has a bad rep on the net.

The guy that we buy our hardware from is going to come take a look on Tuesday. He's going to bring another router to try.

That sounds like the way to go then. Test it out and see. It almost HAS to be the router since the wireless machines are working fine.

Do the wired machines use a static or dynamic IP address?

If dynamic, low long is the lease?

If Dynamic, change lease time to a year or switch to a static address.