Degraded network performance
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You may experience degraded performance on your local area network. This can be signified by excessive logon times, slow access via mapped drives and poor Internet performance. You may also receive timeout errors when trying to access network resources. |
| If a network patch cable has both ends inserted into either the same switch or a neighbouring switch that's part of the same LAN, you can create what's called a loop back. This results in broadcast data getting looped through the switch(es) and holding back genuine data transfers by eating up a huge amount of bandwidth. |
| Review any changes made to the network recently. Have any wall ports been activated? Have any new switches or hubs been added to the network? Examine the cabling and look for any cables with both ends plugged into a switch. If you have managed network switches, the diagnostic section of the web interface may give an insight into a loop back situation and highlight the offending ports. It can also be useful to observe the activity lights on the switch as well. Are there a group of lights flashing repeatedly and in time with each other? The odd group flash can be ignored, but a constant group of lights flashing together is worth investigating. |
This issue tends to affect older infrastructure only. Newer switches usually have built in loop back protection, whereby they will disable a port if it suspects a loop back. Some other switches will turn the loop back cable into a redundant link. This is known as spanning tree. |
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Symptoms
