Network Browse Problem

This is a problem with regard to a class of computers (24) running Win98 with a server using Win98 as well(all connected using 2x15 port hubs). Each PC has a static ip in the range 217.183.54.? and a network mask of 255.255.255.192. As the existing network stood, all was OK, clicking on network neighbourhood brought up a list showing the two shared PC's (one server and another shared PC)on the network almost instantly. The network was then expanded to include 10 more PC's (win98) by use of a 1x15 port hub. Now here is where the problems are:

1. Each of the new PC's can ping each other but not the original 24. However network neighbourhood does allow you to browse the whole network as I can only see one (the server) and the printer shared out on it, and indeed I have installed the printer on the new PC's via network neighbourhood. The time taken to show the resources available is also slow, about 10 seconds!

2. I have one of the new PC's refuse to browse the network at all, yet it can ping each of the new PC's in turn.

I have checked they have the same workgroup, imaginatively called 'WORKGROUP', I hasten to add not by me! TCP/IP is installed correctly as I can ping the loopback 127.0.0.1

Any suggestions would be welcome as to:

How I could speed up browsing on the new PC's.

What is causing the new PC's to not be able to ping the other existing PC's (they have the same workgroup and subnet mask)

What may be stopping the new PC browsing the network?

Could any of the network problems be due to the design of the network structure, i.e. hub to hub to hub?

Sorry its taken so long to explain my questions. If you need any more info please ask.

 

Say again???...................intranet networks have allocated set ranges so as to not conflict or cause security problems when connecting with external networks as defined by RFC1918 these ranges are mentioned here.You can in essense have any IP range you wish but as soon as you try to connect to the internet it causes major problems.

 

What I meant was that all the PC's have a static ip address assigned i.e. they are not using DHCP. The ip stated was just an example of one of the static ip's. All the original PC's have an i.p address between 217.183.54.1 and 217.183.54.27 and the new pc's are given addresses between 217.183.54.70 and 217.183.54.78.

Hope that makes it a little more clearer. The network is connected to the internet but uses NAT so I wouldn't have thought the Internet side of things would have been an issue with the problems I have.

 

There shouldnt be any problems with you going hub to hub to hub. Are those new computers the same as the old ones?? I'm assuming if you are running Win98, you are using old pc's which would be slower anyways and the more computers you add to the network, the slower I would imagine the network browsing would get. Do all the old computers still browse at a good speed?? Are all the new computers on the new hub or is it mixed up a bit? If they are all on the new hub your problem may lie there. Im assuming you have your server hooked up to a hub and then your second hub hooked to the first hub. But is the new hub connected to the first hub, or the second hub? If its not connected to the first hub, I would do so, because otherwise that would make all the computers on the third hub respond much slower because of the way hubs operate, meaning that any data sent from the computer to the hub, is therefore sent to all the computers on network instead of just to the intended recipient, thereby slowing down the process. The only thing I could think of that might possibly help speed up the network browsing might be using Switches instead of hubs but that might be a little costly to do. Regarding the one PC that will not browse the network at all. Is that PC plugged into the Uplink port on the hub with the Uplink button enabled? Thats all I can think of right now but I dont know if it will help your new computers to see all the other computers on the network aside from the server.

 

Think I may have found the problem, but could someone confirm I am thinking correctly?

I have a network of 40 PC's, each assigned with a static address of their own. 30 have an address in the range 217.183.54.1 to 217.183.54.30 and the other 10 have addresses in the range 217.183.54.70 to 217.183.54.80
The last 10 new pc's can ping each other but not the original ones. I think the problem is that someone has originally set the network subnet mask to 255.255.255.192 therfore subnetting the network into two! which is why the last set of PC's are now in a different subnet to the original ones.

Can someone confirm I am thinking correctly and would this also cause the slow appearance of shared resources when using the new PC's to browse in network neighbourhood? i.e. the browse function is now having to search for the available resources on other networks rather than directly on its own subnet.

 

Having a different subnet mask would certainly cause the problem. Is there a reason they all don't have the same one?

 

Thanks Bob, thats what I thought.
I have only just started looking after this particular network so I don't know why it was set up like that or any history of its development but that was the first problem presented to me on my first day. I would have just used the standard 255.255.255.0

Any ideas on my next quest:
I have a set (5) of PC's networked together (TCP/IP, Microsoft Networking, print and file share). One has a printer connected to it and it is shared out for the others to use. The problem is that the PC with the printer attached must be turned on first otherwise the others don't seem to be able to connect to it and the printer on the other PC's report that the printer is offline. Can this be changed so that the order of turning the PC's on does not matter and when the PC with the printer is attached to is turned on it makes itself available to the others. Hope you can understand my problem.

Many Thanks

 

That subnet should allow for 63 nodes. They all have to be from 1 to 62. Reassign the IP addresses and it may work for you. Another problem is that you are trying to run a workgroup this large and you are going to ocntinually run into problems. This is getting to the size of a network where you want to have a DOMAIN setup with a designated master browser, centralized administration and management of users and resources on the network.

 

Thanks for that. I think I will have to do a survey of the network to find out what IP's are being used and which are free as the previous technician has not left any info at all!

 

If you turn all the computers on, there are several utilities out there that will scan a subnet for IP address.

One is SuperScan at http://www.foundstone.com
Another is WS Pint at http://www.ipswitch.com/

 

Thanks Bob, your help has been much appreciated.