Massive network collisions

[Tripitz]

I've been complaining about poor network performance a couple of times. I have finally spent a good deal of time troubleshooting the issue and I have some results. I checked the cables out with a cable checked and found an error on a cable that I just installed 3 days ago for a new machine I built. I fixed that and borrowed a Linksys switch from a friend that has collission indicator lights on it. I then isolated my 3 main pc's on this one switch and tried testing performance. Basically, I am getting horrible collissions, which is directly ruining my network performance. Any idea what could cause these collissions? All 3 nics are set to 100 full duplex. Could the different nics just hate each other?

The nics are:

Broadcom Nic on an Asus P4PE/l integrated
Intel Pro 100/s pci card
Nvidia integrated NIC on an Epox 8RGA+

Any idea where I should look to figure out where I'm going wrong would be appreciated. Netstat -es is finally showing some errors, so its all coming together now. Would swapping in different nic cards help?

[ua549]

Check the error stats for each NIC from a command window.
Type netstat -es.

[Tripitz]

Originally posted by ua549
Check the error stats for each NIC from a command window.
Type netstat -es.

Where I am seeing errors is in the "Received Address Errors" section. This number varies. What does that mean?

Thank you for the help btw!

[ua549]

There is either a bad NIC or cable.
If one of the NICs has far fewer received address errors, disconnect that card.
Either note the NIC stats on the other machines or reboot them to zero the stats.
Generate some traffic between the machines and check the stats.
If they are clean, or nearly so, you've found the problem NIC/cable.

You can swap NICS one at a time to see if the problem moves.
If it does, the NIC is bad.
If it doesn't the problem is in the cable leading to the problem location..

[Tripitz]

Originally posted by ua549
There is either a bad NIC or cable.
If one of the NICs has far fewer received address errors, disconnect that card.
Either note the NIC stats on the other machines or reboot them to zero the stats.
Generate some traffic between the machines and check the stats.
If they are clean, or nearly so, you've found the problem NIC/cable.

You can swap NICS one at a time to see if the problem moves.
If it does, the NIC is bad.
If it doesn't the problem is in the cable leading to the problem location..

I'm curious... can a cable be "bad" and still pass a cable tester test? I checked all cables and they all pass now (not a signal strength test since I don't have that tool).

I changed the nic on my Asus since I suspected that was the problem machine. My transfer rate of transferring a 8gb file went from 300+ minutes to 10-11 minutes. I no longer see collisions being reported on my switch and it now shows up correctly as full duplex on the switch. However, I still see some address errors received on that machine. Any ideas?

[ua549]

You'll always see a few transient problems. The key is to calculate an error percentage. It should always be very very small.

Connectors are a major problem, especially if there is dust or humidity. Simply disconnecting and reconnecting can often resolve an issue.

[Tripitz]

Originally posted by ua549
You'll always see a few transient problems. The key is to calculate an error percentage. It should always be very very small.

Connectors are a major problem, especially if there is dust or humidity. Simply disconnecting and reconnecting can often resolve an issue.

Great, thanks for the help. The network performance is MUCH MUCH better now. Unfortunately, it looks like its time to RMA my asus board.