Network Switch

Question

Network Switch

We have a network in our office with about 20 Macs ranging from Power PC's to current Intel duo core iMacs. We have a current Intel iMac as our server. We are using two Netgear switches, one 16 port and one 24 port. We have intermittent slow downs on our network but they occur enough to make you want to pull out your hair! The switches are less than 2 years old. We use ethernet and airport and often have both turned on in individual computers (should we have both on?). Our ethernet cables are CAT5. We do not have an IT person, I am it. Occasionally an individual computer will lose connection to the server; sometimes we cannot access a program on the server. Restarting the problem computer does not always resolve that problem.

Is there a "best" switch to use? Would the switches be where we should be looking for the problem?

Thank you for any help.
Linda

Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Jan 20, 2011 11:48 AM

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Answer 1

satcomer

Level 4

1,539 points

Jan 20, 2011 4:29 PM in response to Linda in Phoenix

Are these real switches or Hubs? Why on Earth are you using very old CAT5 Ethernet cables? Why not CAT5E or CAT6?

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Answer 2

Jan 20, 2011 4:50 PM in response to satcomer

Hi, yes these are real switches not hubs. Cable was installed within the building many years ago. If necessary I guess we could pull different cables but that would probably be after all else failed (we have a large building).
Linda

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Answer 3

satcomer

Level 4

1,539 points

Jan 20, 2011 10:13 PM in response to Linda in Phoenix

As a network tech the place I work I have seen "professionals" with the same problem. They bought 100 base T switches and new computers and wondered why sharing had not seed up. When I pointed out that even though they spent thousands of dollars on the catalyst they were still using old CAT 5 cable (CAT 5 is only 10 MBs). As soon as they went to CAT 5E (100 MBs) cables their sharing speed up. Now you can think of CAT6 cable (1000MBs). Now all CAT cable can go backwards and looks almost the same. So you would want to take this up with your IT staff.

Plus i was wondering if anyone tried to ping the central router during one of these "slow times". Then we could see if it is the Macs or the network itself. It could be one of the things, network congestion, cables going bad or switches going bad. You will have to play detective on the network to get to the bottom of this mystery.

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Answer 4

Jan 21, 2011 2:40 PM in response to satcomer

Thank you very much for your reply. The information is very helpful. We have not pinged the router during slow times. Since I am the IT person if you could possibly tell me what to use to ping the router and any settings and what to look for when I ping it, I would be very thankful.
Linda

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