[GoombaSmasher]

I have a 120 foot line of cat5e cable going from a DSL modem in a communications room to a linksys network switch in a computer lab with 8 computers. Everything was working fine for 7 months or so.

I went back to this site to add another computer to the lab (9 computers now). I unplugged the line coming in from the modem for about 20 seconds and plugged it back in. My internet connection went down. I power cycled both the switch and modem and 10 minutes later my internet connection came back on. Right before I left, my connection went down again. Im going back to this site soon, are there any suggestion? Could it be a bad cat5 cable?

Thanks for any help!

[JohnWill]

I'd start by closely examining the connector on the side of the cable you were manipulating. It might be as simple as crimping a new connector on that cable.

[GoombaSmasher]

I have a feeling it might be that. I'll update the thread when I get back. Im also investing in a network cable tester. Is this a good idea?

[JohnWill]

Well, if you work with cabling a lot, a network tester can't hurt. OTOH, if this is a one-time shot, I'd probably just crimp another connector on the wire.