Switch configuration issues?

[markie]

Hi all,

I have a small home network that I'm trying to reconfigure. It has a WinXP pro box with a dual NIC, one side connected to a cable modem. The WinXP box is acting as a firewall/gateway device.

I have connected the second NIC interface to a new 5-port Belkin switch, and have my laptop (win2k) and second pc (mandrake linux) also connected to the switch. The WinXP box is set up for ICS (hence DHCP is enabled) and the private side of the WinXP NIC has an IP address of 192.168.0.1.

The DHCP appears to work, with 192.168.0.174 and 192.168.0.45 IP addresses being issued to the mandrake box and win2k laptop respectively. However, the connectivity from either of the mandrake box or laptop only exists for about 60 seconds before stopping! When connected, I can ping internal and external addresses and surf the web. After a minute, I have no external connectivity from either of the two clients, although the link lights on the switch are still lit. After about five minutes, both link lights on the switch go off....

If I reset the switch, on powerup it displays the same symptoms (ie initialises, both connections work for 60s, both connections stop, link lights go out). The WinXP box still retains its connectivity directly to the internet.

The switch is a Belkin F5D5131-5. I have used ethereal to capture traffic on the private side, if anyone wants it please let me know and I'll send it to you (only 50k). The etheral capture shows a heap of SSDP (?) notifications, and some live TCP/IP and DNS. There are some scattered ICMP "destination unreachable" packets as well. The connectivity just stops abruptly after about 60s with no new packets (even control ones).

I have already returned one switch to the shop with the same symptoms. Any suggestions would be appreciated... really, it shouldn't be this difficult (or maybe it's me)!!!!

Thanks,
Mark.

[Compunuts]

Your XP gateway's internal NIC is connected to which port of your switch?? Some switches uses the first port as WAN/Stackable link combo.

If you put that connection to port#2 and don't use port#1, does that still exhibit the same sympton?

Let us know.

HTH ..

[trickster]

Have you tried alternating the nics on the xp box? Does the xp box show any related errors on the event viewer?