Troubleshooting


Can't Drill Through Walls or Ceilings

My lease or the physical limitations of my building prevent me from drilling through walls or the ceiling to install network cabling.

In this case, you can install wires along baseboards, around doors, and so on. It's not as pretty, but because network wiring is low voltage, it's not risky to do so as it is with power wiring. (My office has a cable shamefully strung through a skylight, across the ceiling, and into a closet.) You also can use products called wiring channels to conceal the wires run along baseboards and rubber guards to protect them where they might be trod upon. You can find these products in the hardware store or in business product catalogs. Of course, you can also consider using a wireless network.

Hub Lights Do Not Come On

One or more UTP hub link lights do not come on when the associated computers are connected.

The problem lies in one of the cables between the computer and the hub. Which one is it? To find out, do the following:

1.

Move the computer right next to the hub. You can leave the keyboard, mouse, and monitor behind. Just plug in the computer, turn it on, and use a commercially manufactured or known-to-be-working patch cable to connect the computer to the hub. If the light doesn't come on regardless of which hub connection socket you use, you probably have a bad network card.

2.

If you were using any patch cables when you first tried to get the computer connected, test them using the same computer and hub socket. This trick may identify a bad cable.

3.

If the LAN card, hub, and patch cables are all working, then the problem is in whatever is left, which would be your in-wall wiring. Check the connectors for proper crimping, and check that the wire pairs are correctly wired end-to-end. You might have to use a cable analyzer if you can't spot the problem by eye. These devices cost about $75. You connect a "transmitter" box to one end of your cabling, and a "receiver" at the other. The receiver has four LEDs that blink in a 1-2-3-4 sequence if your wiring is correct.

View Workgroup Computers Shows No Other Computers

The View Workgroup Computers display doesn't show any other computers when I boot up.

If you've eliminated the network card and any UTP wiring as the source of the problem, you can use Windows own built-in diagnostic tools to help. Here's how:

1.

The first thing to check is whether the LAN hardware itself is working. Check the Device Manager to be sure that your network card is operating properly. Be sure you're using an approved network card and have up-to-date drivers for it. If the Device Manager gives you a message that reads The Card Is Not Functioning, you almost certainly have the wrong drivers. Check with the vendor to see whether up-to-date Windows XP or Windows 2000 drivers are available for you to download over the Internet.

2.

If you have a UTP LAN, make sure all the expected indicators on your hub are lit.

3.

On each computer, start a command prompt. Then type the command ipconfig.

4.

When you see IP addresses listed, be sure each computer has a different IP address. They should all be similar but different. For example, they might look like 209.203.104.x, where the x is different for each computer. If not, check the Internet Protocol properties on each computer to be sure each was correctly configured.

5.

Type ping x.x.x.x, where x.x.x.x is the computer's own IP address. It should have four "replies," which look like this:

 Reply from x.x.x.x: bytes=32 time<10msec TTL=128 

If not, remove, reinstall, and reconfigure the TCP/IP protocol.

6.

Type ping x.x.x.y, where x.x.x.y is one of the IP addresses of the other computers on your LAN. If the replies don't come back, your network hardware is at fault. Check the wiring as follows:

On a 10BASE-T or 100BASE-T LAN, see whether an "activity" LED flashes on your network card when you type a ping command. If it doesn't, the problem is your network card. If it does, you might have to get a cable testing device to find out what's wrong with the wiring. (A professional installer will have oneit's time to call for help!)

Another possibility with combination 10/100BASE-T network cards is that the cards might not have decided to use the correct speed. You can force them to use one speed or the other in the Device Manager by viewing the network card's Properties page and selecting the Advanced tab. This tab usually has a Link Speed/Duplex Mode property. Set all the cards to the appropriate value for the type of hub you are using.

7.

If the ping commands work between computers, be sure that each computer's Network Identification has the same workgroup name. This information is on My Computer's Properties page.

8.

If none of these steps help, see whether the Event Log has any helpful error messages. To do so, right-click My Computer, select Manage, and view the logs under the System Tool Event Viewer.

9.

Finally, you can use a diagnostic provided with Windows. Click Start, Control Panel, Network and Internet Connections. In the Troubleshooters panel, select Network Diagnostics.

For more troubleshooting tips, see Chapter 22, "Troubleshooting Your Network."



Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Professional (3rd Edition)
ISBN: 0789732807
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 450

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