Intermittent network drops on Cat5/Homeplug circuit

[stagger321]

Hi there,

Having strange issues that happen a few times a day on my home network, that have a me a little baffled.
Like a lot of people here I have many LAN and WLAN devices in my home - phones, tablets, netbooks etc etc
However I try where possible to use hard-wired CAT5 cabling for my static devices. I also use a couple of 5 and 8 way unmanaged switches (one in office, one near TV unit.

Where CAT5 is not possible I have deployed 4 x TrendNet 500mbps Homeplugs. One is connected to the router, another to my sons xbox, one to my NAS and the other in the office connected to a switch (connecting main PC, printer/scanner etc)

The only problem I have on this setup is the Office PC. All other WLAN, and LAN devices connect 24x7 without any issues.
The office PC however will on occasion - maybe a dozen times a day lose connection to the network - for a couple of minutes maybe, not just internet, but to the router and every device on the network.
Its almost like its losing a lease to the router.
There is nothing I can think of that is being switched on at the time to affect or interfere with the traffic.

I have tried swapping the homeplugs round, changing the router, the cat5 cables, the switches, pretty much everything except the mains (lol) to see if I can get to the bottom of the problem.
Suggestions welcome - like is there anything (ideally free ) I can run to trap where the problem lies.

Cheers

Stagger.

 

[thiggins]

So that I understand, the problem device (Office PC) is connected to a switch, which connects to the rest of your network via a 500 Mbps HomePlug adapter?

When the Office PC loses connection, does anything else connected to the switch lose connection?

When the PC loses connection, is all of its IP address info still correct? Can you ping your main router?

 

[stagger321]

Hi thiggins,

Thanks for the reply

So that I understand, the problem device (Office PC) is connected to a switch, which connects to the rest of your network via a 500 Mbps HomePlug adapter?

You got it

When the Office PC loses connection, does anything else connected to the switch lose connection?

Ah, thats a little more difficult for me to answer. Only have 5 port switch in office, which has one port for the PC, one for my printer/scanner, and one for the homeplug. I only use the other two free ports occasionally, and to date have not been able to run anything through that switch at the same time I get the network drop. I guess this is something I can look to having avail - to trap success/failure.

When the PC loses connection, is all of its IP address info still correct? Can you ping your main router?

By "all of its IP address info" - not sure what you mean. Basically from the office PC, I can't get to, or ping, any other device during the outages, and this includes the homeplug connected router.
By contract - all other connections to the router, either via the routers homeplug connection (for example the other homeplug connected NAS) or the CAT5 devices (for example all 7 devices in the TV unit - bluray/TV/etc) connect to the router and each other from what I can see, and don't drop connection to the internet.

Cheers

Stagger.

 

[thiggins]

You should check the network connection status properties next time you get a drop and see if the IP address information (IP, gateway, DNS) looks correct.
Look at it when it is working to get a baseline.

If nothing else connected to that particular homeplug adapter is connecting when you get the outage, the homeplug adapter is likely where your problem lies.

Could be an electrical noise problem causing the outage. Can you correlate it to any particular event like an appliance switching on and off? Do you have any cellphone chargers or other "wall-wart" type supplies plugged into outlets in the same room? Is the Homeplug adapter plugged directly into the wall outlet? Anything else plugged into the same outlet?

I think you are going to have to do some experimentation with the homeplug adapter in the office.
Slow HomePlug? Five Ways To Boost Powerline Network Speed

 

[sparkyone1973]

Same issue

Hi,

Was this ever resolved? I have the same issue with TPL-407E2K.
I have 4 adapters and one has a switch connected to it.

I have never lost connection between any of the devices except the one connected to the switch.

Rotating the devices does not move the fault, seems related to the switch.

Any advice / suggestions welcome.