Unstable Network Connection

[Robert Pankiw]

Hey! I've been having network connection issues while using LAN for a long time. I'll describe the network.


[Router] - - - - - - - Macbook Pro (Wifi only)
| | | |
| | | └------Win7 Laptop (Wifi and LAN)
| | └--- iMac (LAN only)
| └---[(CAT 6 Patch) long cable]--- [wall jack] -- Win7 Desktop (LAN only)
└----[(CAT 6 Patch) long cable]--- [wall jack] -- [Not used]

The picture is a rough estimate.

What works:
Everything connects to the network. Absolutely no problems with WIFI.

What isn't stable:
Any computer connected to the long cables. Changing which port on the router the long cables are connected to does not fix the issue. The Win7 Laptop connected to a short cable in the same ports as the long cables works perfectly.

Symptoms:
-Server not found (when trying to load pages) - Fix is to press retry / refresh
-DRM cannot connect to DRM servers - Fix is to re-launch game (sometimes I relaunch upwards of 15 times)
-Pages do not load layout, meaning every item on the screen loads below the previous one. - Fix is to reload / refresh the page (Sometimes leads to server not found error)
-School email client (Webmail) has issues saving / sending emails - Fix is to just try later
-Images do not fully load - Fix is to reload / refresh page
-Only part of the page loads - Fix is to refresh page

Not all problems happen all the time. Some are more rare, like the page loading only partially, others are nearly constant, like the server not found error.

Oddities:
-Once a site is loaded, I rarely get any connection issues that require refreshing the site.
-That is, unless, I leave the page open and untouched for a long period of time. Then the sequential loading happens on refresh.

Both of the long cables are a separate run from the router to the wall jack. The problem is present on both cables.

I am only home for a few days, then back to school. The problem is terribly annoying, and in the Summer when I am home for 4 months, it is aggravating. If anyone has any suggestions, even if it's trivial, I will love to hear from you.

All the best
-Robert

 

[john-b691]

The length of a patch cable should make no difference. I would try the long patch cable sitting on the desk and plug it into one of the devices that use a short cable. If these are commercially made cables its highly unlikely they are defective.

What the likely cause is you have some kind of cable problem with the wires in the wall. You could be getting errors on the connection but few consumer routers or end devices will tell you that it detecting errors. You first need to verify that the wires in the wall are correctly done. It can be as simple as a loose connection but it can also be that someone did not follow the standard pattern for the wires and connected the pairs to the wrong pins. Worse would be if the wire is not rated for data...if you have telephone wire or cat 3 cable it will only "sorta" work. The cable should be marked on the side indicating what it is

 

[Robert Pankiw]

Thanks John-b691

Your comment that the router might not be registering errors got me thinking, so I connected the long cable to the modem directly and all my problems instantly went away. By the way, the long cable is Cat6. It is hand made, but looks professionally done. Every wire is set up properly and tightly. Devices which work on short cables aren't stable on the long cables.

If it matters, this is the router I am using: http://www.dlink.com/ca/en/support/product/di-604-4-port-broadband-router

As you can see, they stopped selling them in 2007.

I'm going to look into getting a new router as soon as I can. Your help is much appreciated!

On a side note, I can't seem to set your answer as the best, and oddly, it gives me the option for which is the best answer on threads I didn't start. I'm not sure who is a moderator I can get in touch with to talk about that problem, or if that is some weird new feature.