Internet lost at one specific network switch

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praxitilies

Aug 8, 2018
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At one of our client locations we have a network switch connected to the modem which runs a 100' ethernet cable to a second switch which provides internet for a workstation and several other devices.

This workstation and the other devices connected to the switch experience internet loss at seemingly random intervals despite our best efforts to keep them from reoccurring.

The first time the issue happened we replaced the network switch at the workstation. The second time we replaced both the network switches that are connected to the modem. The 3rd time this happened we replaced the 100' ethernet cable that connects the two switches.

Each of these incidents happened days or even months apart from each other with no obvious relation. The workstation has been used by 2 separate employees and both have experienced this issue with varying intervals of time between them. Sometimes the issue is resolved and stays resolved for several months, other times we receive a call back that the issue has returned mere hours after restoring internet access.

We're officially out of ideas as to what could be causing this issue. The cables are routed out of the way of where they could be pulled or moved, and there is no evidence of a rodent infestation or some other animal damaging the cabling.

Does anyone have any ideas of what could possibly be killing the internet to this one device without affecting the network connection of any other devices in the network?
 
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You are now in the situation of the blind leading the blind. It is hard enough for example me to explain to you how to issue commands for example to check see if the port is up, does it have a ip, does it have arp entries etc etc. But now you have to somehow remotely do that with someone who has even less knowledge. This is almost a impossible situation but you are not going to get very far blinding guessing what the problem is.

You have already replaced the hardware so that indicates it is likely something else.
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praxitilies

Aug 8, 2018
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But I personally went to Best Buy & picked up the replacement cable. It's not a custom made one. How likely is it that a store bought cable has a bad connector?
 
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bill001g

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Aug 9, 2012
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If it is not the switches and not the cables then you are left with some software issue....can be many things from dhcp issues to duplicate ip or mac addresses.

You need to do more testing to see what works and what doesn't when it is broken. Saying "no internet" to generic. If it was a hardware issue most times the ports on the devices do not light up.
 
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jsmithepa

jsmithepa

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Jun 14, 2014
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Highly unlikely. Inspect cable and make sure it doesn't say CCA.

Next, like said above, I suggest a shielded CAT, these have a metal hood on the RJ45, I don't know what u have to do if the switch themselves are not shielded. Google.

Can run fiber over existing switches via 2 media converters, or maybe same price? (really don't know) buying 2 new switches with built in fiber uplinks.
 
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praxitilies

Aug 8, 2018
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We provide remote services, so we're rarely on site when this issue presents itself. The symptoms that the client reports are that the internet is not available, and all the devices that are connected to that switch (a photo server, a credit card reader, the workstation in question) are not able to be reached by the server or any other devices on the network.
 
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bill001g

Titan
Aug 9, 2012
28,283
2,743
125,640
You are now in the situation of the blind leading the blind. It is hard enough for example me to explain to you how to issue commands for example to check see if the port is up, does it have a ip, does it have arp entries etc etc. But now you have to somehow remotely do that with someone who has even less knowledge. This is almost a impossible situation but you are not going to get very far blinding guessing what the problem is.

You have already replaced the hardware so that indicates it is likely something else.
 
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Solution
jsmithepa

jsmithepa

Polypheme
Jun 14, 2014
13,096
263
60,840
Remote support really calls for some kind of remote desktop, and when I was remote supporting networks, dial-up (remembers those?) were tied so routers' console ports (the enterprise kind of course) as backdoor.

Trying to talk tech to an end-user is like, once somebody told me, trying to troubleshoot a jet engine over the phone.
 
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praxitilies

Aug 8, 2018
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0
10
The solution we went with was to simply remove the switch & the wire and place the workstation on the wifi network. Once connected, we created an RDP session to the server.
 
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