Router can't cope with 2 PCs at a time

[chssvl]

At the office we have a D-link wireless router (DI-624) and we have 3 computers: A dell Dimension, an Apple Powerboog G4 and an old iMac G3. The 3 computers are hooked up through ethernet connections but lately, as soon as the G4 is started the network starts to fail. Every 30 seconds I get a message on the Dell that the network card has been disconnected, then reconnects then disconnects again. The rest of the PCs also start to have network problems.

The strange thiong is that this started happening a couple of weeks ago because it worked without any problems before.

Any suggestions?

[glc]

Do a hard reset on the router, update the firmware, and reconfigure it.

[chssvl]

Already did it but the problem persists.

[glc]

Quite possible the router has seen better days.

[mojo]

I'd say that the mac has been taken over by malicious software and is spamming the network, but this is highly unlikey with a mac. I'd say GLC has it right.

[akira]

Hi,

Is it a particular port (ie. the one the Dell is connected to) only that is failing? Have you tried the Dell in different ports? If you're using Ethernet have you tried a replacement cable? Can't see it being a hopeless case if one one port is reporting this issue - have you checked the Dell's NIC?

Good luck

[Gene K]

It could be the Ethernet card on the Dell or perhaps the G4. You state that the problem begins when you start the Mac G4 so I would suspect it first. My advice would be to replace the Ethernet (NIC) card in both the Dell And G4 since NIC cards are fairly inexpensive ($20 to $40 in the US) and are not difficult to change. Ethernet cards are somewhat more prone to failure than other PCI cards because of heavy usage (I am guessing) with broadband.
Gene

[chssvl]

Thanks for the reply and sorry for the delay answering but I've had a pretty hectic week.

I've tried connecting the computers on different ports and the problem persists. Also, the problem does not arise when the iMac G3 is turned on. Only when the Powerbook G4 is.

[akira]

Originally Posted by chssvl Thanks for the reply and sorry for the delay answering but I've had a pretty hectic week. I've tried connecting the computers on different ports and the problem persists. Also, the problem does not arise when the iMac G3 is turned on. Only when the Powerbook G4 is.

Hmmm, any IP Conflicts reported or suspected?

[ktkendall]

Well I would certainly be looking into the problem device the G4 and seeing what the trouble is. Are you using DHCP for all the PCs? Could it be something to do with wherever else that notebook is going and connecting to has brought some kind of problem into your network? Is there vpn software or anythign like that running on the notebook? The ip conflict thing sounds likely also that is why we need to know if your using dhcp. Doesn't sound like there is any problem with the router but rather with that notebook.

[mojo]

Most likely the problem is an IP conflict as others have mentioned, but there is a very far-out possibility of a MAC address conflict if any of the MAC addresses were manually (purposely) changed in the past. This happened when I made a friend's MAC address the same as my currently turned off laptop so he could use the school's resnet for 5 minutes without registering. A couple month's later when I was living with him and very strange network issues started happening, I realized the error of my ways.

[glc]

You may want to borrow a router for testing purposes.