This would have told me the MAC hardware address of the offending NIC.
Had I been in my office, I could have used the management server running HP OpenView, a network monitoring software product. I informed the student he needed a new network adapter. As soon as I disconnected the offending NIC, the problem went away.
Armed with this information, I was able to go to the building, find the switch port with a solid light indicating it was sending out constant traffic, and disconnect it. The point at which they stopped was the device with the NIC problem.
In the worst case, a PC with a bad network adapter was bringing down all student PCs in the buildings within a particular VLAN.īy using the Ping command, I found I was able to send packets of data only so far down the network. I have experienced a “junk-spitting” NIC more than once. If this is broadcast traffic, any device in the same broadcast domain as the offending network interface card may experience problems, including slowdowns. When a network adapter goes bad, it may begin to broadcast junk packets (useless packets of data) onto the network. Bad adapters have been known to bring down an entire network.
Network slowdowns often result from a bad network adapter on a PC. Please remember that the possible causes of such problems are numerous and sometimes occur simultaneously, making it even more difficult to pinpoint where the problem originates. What follows is a list of some of the causes of network sluggishness. However, if you determine that a consistent network slowdown or bottleneck exists, the hard part is pinpointing the location of the problem. These intermittent slowdowns are to be expected. Network traffic also has a habit of peaking from time to time, which may result in a slowdown. The very nature of networking can cause intermittent slowdowns. I’ll also introduce you to some basic tools you can use to locate where such problems originate.
In this article, I’ll explain how to identify some of the common causes of network slowdowns. If he’d had the proper knowledge and tools, this poor tech might have discovered the source of the problem without the embarrassment of having his mistake pointed out. The electricity from the power lines was adding an enormous amount of noise on the network.
But after running the cable, he spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out why he was having so much trouble and such a slow speed on both networks.Ī more knowledgeable IT pro told him that while using the poles seemed like a good idea, wrapping the coaxial Ethernet cable around the high-voltage power line to hold it in the air was not. “Aha!” he said, realizing he had found a solution to his problem. Not wanting to just run the cable across the grass, he looked up and noticed there were power lines on poles connecting the two buildings.
This was before wireless was the easy answer. One of the techs at a different school district needed to get network connectivity between two buildings that were within a couple of hundred feet of each other. Here are some basic techniques and tools to help you out.Ī few years ago, when the use of twisted-pair cabling for Ethernet was still a young science and RG-58A/U coaxial cable was the norm, I was working for a state agency that supported many local school districts. The right arsenal of skills and tools can help you identify and fix the issue quickly. Network bottlenecks and downtime can ruin an IT manager's day.