Weird netwroking problems

[#1]

For about a week I have sufferred weird networking problems in my home.  Intermittantly I cannot connect to the Internet but it does not seem like a WAN problem.  When I cannot connect to the Internet from a desktop PC I also cannot connect to the router.  During the time when the wired network is not functioning properly, wifi access from mobile devices is usually working fine.

I have a relatively complex setup for a home user but it has been working well for several years and I didn't change anything before this issue arose.

I have some desktop PCs connected to a separate switch.  The switch is connected to the router via a standard patch cable.

As I said before the problem is intermittant.  I can experience hours when it is working fine and also extended periods when it is up and down repeatedly.  Ocassionally the network connection is down continuously for a longer time.  As first I tried moving the LAN connection on the router to a different port and/or power cycling the router.  This seemed to help for a while so I suspected the router was the problem.  However I have now swapped the router and I still get the same kind of problems.

Since then I have tried pinging the router and another desktop PC at the same time.  I notice that I get failures on both at approximately the same time.  Therefore I now suspect the switch.

Can anyone help?

[#2]

Try plugging one cable from a single PC directly into the router - if possible.

If this fixes the error, the chances lie with either the switch or the cable from the switch to the router.

I have a similar set-up as a Gigabit cable speeds up inter-PC speeds, but still allows full speed internet speeds.

BTW Switches are very reliable and rarely fail.

[#3]

You have some weird wired, netwroking networking!

[#4]

It's not weird (its the same as mine)!

If you use CAT5E (Gigabit) cabling, you get high speeds between PC's and the router only provides internet services + DNS + DHCP - and this is true, even if you have poor internet speeds.

[#5]

Thanks for the reply.

I haven't managed to connect a PC directly to the router yet -- they're too far away.  I will do this when I can.

I know switches are very reliable which is why I did not suspect it at first.  However I have recently cycled power on the switch and things seem a lot better (touch wood).

However I am concerned that the underlying problem is not solved yet so I will keep trying things....

[#6]

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@mapleleaf wrote:

I know switches are very reliable

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They tend to be about the only reliable bit of computer hardware if you ask me! I've had several old routers over the years that have randomly stopped working as routers and yet the switch function on them continues to work flawlessly for network traffic. Even old locked routers like the ones plusnet and sky send out are still good for network switches and WiFi AP's.