Troubleshooting Wired Networks

Network

 

This is article will discuss how to troubleshoot problems with wired networks.
If you're using a wireless network, click here for the Wireless Network troubleshooting article.

 

Only the Studio Organizer is Supported

Please note we can only support the commands and features of the Studio Organizer software. If you are in need of assistance with routers, wireless equipment, networking, servers, operating systems, printers, or any other hardware or software please ask a computer expert for help.

 

First and foremost, you'll need to get a computer expert involved. Preferably, this should be the person that set up the network and security.

Shut everything down and disconnect the power to all routers.

Examine all network wires. Be sure network wires have not been coiled up. This will create an impedance that can dramatically decreases signal throughput. Also, be sure your network wires are not near or draped over the other electronic equipment. For example, fluorescent lights have large ballasts that create wide electro-magnetic fields of interference.

Wait one minute then restart the equipment in this order: router, server, guests. Wait for the router to completely reboot before starting the server, and wait for the server to complete reboot and open the Studio Organizer as shared files before opening the guests. 

Verify Port 5003 is unused and clear for all traffic. You'll want to check both the firewall of your computer and the router settings. 

Ping the server from a guest computer.

Have a networking expert perform network diagnostics.

Try using a different computer as the server.

 

Set up a Test Wireless Network

If at this point you're still having no success, it's possible there is a problem with your router, the wires you're using, or the operating system of your computer. The fastest way to verify your Studio Organizer data files are functioning correctly and that the problem is elsewhere is to set up a test network on a wireless network. In other words, you're removing your existing wires and router from the equation.

To do this, purchase a wireless router and connect your server and one guest computer to the new wireless router. Test the performance. Once you’ve verified everything works on a different network using different equipment you now know for certain there isn’t a problem with the code of the Studio Organizer. This means you can now move forward with finding the culprit on your school network. It may be a corruption issue, or it may be a hardware issue, but in either case you've now verified the problem is only occurring on the wired network.

If a wireless network performs as expected, this tells you 1) the router is bad or 2) a port in the router is bad or 3) the wiring you're using is bad.

 

Replace the Router

At this point you can try replacing the router. I once had a client with a large network and overnight they began experiencing dropped connections, networking errors and long delays. I recommended the above troubleshooting, then suggested replacing the router. Back then it was an expensive piece of equipment so my advice went unheeded until one day the manager emailed me in frustration saying he'd spent far too many hours and dollars and the network was still unreliable. At this point he felt his job was on the line. 

I responded, "Did you replace the router?" but didn't get a reply. About a week later, he sent me an exasperated email. One evening after everyone was gone he climbed into the ceiling where all the network equipment was stored. It was in a dirty, dark and hard to get to location, but he got up there and removed the old router. He took it back to his desk and in the light of day he could see small black marks on the plastic housing of the router. This was suspicious, and suddenly it dawned on him -- the router had been hit by lightning!

He took the router to ComputerLand and they sold him a newer, faster router as well as a heavy duty surge suppressor. He ended the email by telling me the network runs better than ever -- and he wishes he'd replaced the router weeks ago.

 

Bad Port

If a computer runs fine on a wireless network, it may be connected to a bad port on the router. In this case, replacing the router would be the best bet, you could also connect the wire to a different port on the router.

 

Replacing Ethernet Wires

If an ethernet wire is bad, this can be confirmed by a network technician. Bad wires may be damaged due to age, lightning or improper placement. Quite often a wire will be fine, but it's signal is interfered with due to being coiled, or placed near a source of electro-magnetic radiation, such as fluorescent lights.

 

Reinstall the Operating System

If all else fails, at this point you'll want to reinstall the operating system on the computer being used as the server. This is time consuming, and a definitely a task for a computer expert, but solves a multitude of potential problems.