Computer or Hub???

[curly85]

Me and my two friends tryed to set up a network last weekend and when we tryed to use my friends one hub we kept getting collisions at 100mp/s and when we took him out it stoped and me and my other friend could talk to each other just fine and when ever he plugged himself in the collision light would go crazy, so then he took windows (windows xp) out and put it back in and still the same thing, so i took out all my network drivers and protocalls, and still the same thing, so we went to my house and got my dads hub and put it in and it worked fine, then he took his hub home and put it back on his home network and it worked fine at his house, what do you think it is because i am stumped, PLEASE HELP. thank you.

 

[brianF]

Was it a 100mp hub, or 10 mp???????

Sounds like the hub was 10mp and his machine was set for 100mp. But it;s just a guess.

 

[curly85]

it was a 10/100mb/s hub

 

[JMSolyk2]

Alright, here's the dealie...

(This is the friend who's comp. seems to be the problemo...)

3 Computers:

Comp 1. Windows XP Professional, 750Mhz PIII, 324MB RAM, etc... Installed Protocols: TCP/IP, Client for Microsoft Networks, File and Printer Sharing, and the two IPX-equivelant protocols...

Comp 2. Windows XP Professional, 1.2GHz and 256MB RAM, same exact protocols as Comp 1.

Comp 3. Windows 2000, 1.2 GHZ, 196? MB RAM (Not sure exact amount.), same exact protocols as Comp 1.

HUB: SMC EzHub 10/100 5604DS (Auto-Sensing Hub, (10/100))

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Comp #2 and Comp #3 are fine when plugged into the hub. No collisions, etc... When Comp #1 is plugged in, there is a sudden mass of collisions on the hub, at 100Mbps... This is constant and doesn't stop. Comp #1 cannot see Comp #2 or #3, but Comp #2 and Comp #3 can see each other fine, and transfer files as usual.
I (Comp #1) cannot even ping the other computers. We've transferred cables back and forth many times, so we know it's not a bad cable... All computers are set to auto-sense the speed of the network and adapt.

All computers are at 100mbps according to the lights on back of network cards.

Tried changing the settings of the network on Comp's many times:

1. Tried setting the IP on Comp #1 to 192.168.0.2 and Comp #2's to 192.168.0.1 as ICS Host and Comp #1 told to connect to the internet through a LAN ICS Host. Could not see other computers or even ping them.

2. Tried Setting Comp #2 as "Connect to internet through hub" (Since that's what it's set to at home.) and then Comp #1 was set to the same and also "On a LAN but no internet connection" etc, and even set Comp #1 to ICS host at one point... Again, could not see any other computers or even ping them.

3. Formatted C: and re-installed XP. Still to no avail...

4. Other various things, mainly testing various pairs of connection settings (On a LAN - no internet... ICS Host, etc) on Comp #1 and Comp #2...

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Extra facts:

When Comp #1 was unplugged from the network, only the 100Mbps light would be on (on the back of the card) for Comp #1... but Comp #2 would have a steady 100mbps light and a constantly blinking transfer light.

When Comp #1 was plugged into the network, the 100mbps light would be on, and the transfer light would blink constantly like Comp #2 was doing, but now Comp #2 has a steady 100mbps light and a steady transfer light...

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After 10mbps hub was brought in, all worked flawlessly... ?

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-Thanks for help, in advance...

 

[Brooks]

Could it have actually been a switch?

Connecting switches to hubs is a little different from connecting hubs to hubs. Depending on the switch, you might need a crossover cable to hook the switch correctly.

 

[skinnywhiteboy]

If it's not a switch, get one. Switches decrease collision domain because it stores its own MAC table reducing the amount of broadcasts on your network.

 

[Brooks]

Amen on that Skinny. I have swapped almost all of my 3com hubs over to Superstacks. The responsiveness of the network is much improved. Also, don't forget that stacks run in full duplex mode if the cards and wiring support it. This helps throughput also.